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How do I get an In-Home Display (IHD) for my Smart meter?



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Hi Emmanuelle

ManyĀ thanks for your reply.

I have say I amĀ  bit confused, back in June I requested an up to date IHD because my old Pipit IHD was unreadable.

I was informed that I would be put on the list, but there was a supply problem.

However as I was eager to see my daily usage on an IHD I bought an IVIE Budd, which I was reliably informed was compatible with my Smets 1 Meters. This was also confirmed by IVIE when theyĀ checked if my meters had been upgraded to the DCC format. I can also confirm this further becauseĀ both Ovo and my previous suppliers were able to see my meter readings.

Unfortunately my IVIE Budd would not pair with Ovo.

Having spoken to Ovo the response was as follows:

I'm sorry you weren't notified of this sooner however, we do not currently hold the functionality to pair your type of meters with IHD's of any kind at the moment. This is something that is in development however we do not have a timeframe of when we will have access to this functionality as a provider.

I believe Smets 1 and two meters have been in service for a number of years now, so I hope you can understand why I am confused when I am told things are still development.

Could you please explain what theĀ  problem is when everybody is saying the opposite.

Userlevel 7

Hey @Community K,

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Thanks for your response.

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Can you confirm if your SMETS1 meters have been enrolled on the DCC?

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Lets get to the bottom of this!

Hi Emmanuelle

I can only presume that my Meters have been upgraded to the DCC format for the following reasons.

  1. As I have said Both Ovo and my previous Service providers are and have been able to see my readings automatically
  2. Confirmation of Compatibility from IVIE and the following statement from IVIE :Ā 

    Which smart meters are compatible with the Ivie Bud?Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  Ā  The ivie Bud is compatible with most SMETS1 and SMETS2 smart meters that have been enrolled and adopted into the DCC. The ā€œcompatibility checkerā€ available before checkout means users can instantly see if their smart meter is compatible.

Userlevel 7
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Before you go ahead, you might want to run your meters throughĀ https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Thanks for info from Citizens advice.

I have just checked using the their link above and both meters are definitelyĀ connected to the DCC.

Userlevel 7

Thanks for checking, @Community KĀ - now that your smart meters have been enrolled onto the DCC, more up to date In Home Displays should be available, either through OVO (depending on stock) or using those third parties that @Blastoise186Ā has linked to.Ā 

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I have found out that my Smart meters are the Secure Smets 1 type, and they have been enrolled onto the DCC network, so I am still confused by the fact that nobody else appears to have the so called pairing issue as described earlier in my post and if this is not the case why has it taken at overĀ three months to obtain stock of the latest compatible IHDs?

Because according to Chameleon, stock supply is not a problem.

Ā 

Userlevel 7
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While the stocks of the ivie Bud are plentiful, that IHD isnā€™t one youā€™ll ever get from a supplier.

The only one OVO can/could potentially provide to you with an S1 meter is the Chameleon IHD6-CAD-PPMID-S1 and that one is gold dust because the stocks constantly run out.

Hi , ive had smart meters fitted for approx 3 years. Looking at energy issues at the present and realised i never received an IHD ( which i should have at time of installation. ) Who do i contact ? Tel no etcĀ 

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Howdy @Sean AĀ ,

In that case, your supplier should be able to send you one. If thatā€™s OVO, you can do that here.

If youā€™re unable to get one that way, Iā€™ve other options for you too. :)

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Hi , ive had smart meters fitted for approx 3 years. Looking at energy issues at the present and realised i never received an IHD ( which i should have at time of installation. ) Who do i contact ? Tel no etcĀ 

Ours was useless. Only ever picked up the gas meter. We gave up with it years ago.

I requested a new in home display months and months ago, still not got one, meter was fitted by SSE SMETS1, last thing I was told was they are no longer manufactured and there are none available and no alternative, so what am I supposed to do?? What's the actual point?? I feel like I've just been cast aside with a tough luck attitude from OVO. Right now I need to track my usage in real time so I can budget and fine tune appliances etc, I care for my son who has disabilities so money is tight, finding out via the app that I over spent yesterday isn't very helpful at all! It's stressful, I feel like I've been well and truly shafted for being a first gen smart meter customer, we clearly don't matter anymore šŸ˜¢

Userlevel 7
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HiĀ @WhirlyĀ ,

Iā€™m afraid it really is a case of S1 IHDs no longer being manufactured. Stocks of the SSE Smart Energy Tracker (in reality itā€™s the IHDL SmartView 1) have been depleted completely and itā€™s no longer possible to get hold of any, even if OVO wanted to get you one. Youā€™d have the same issue regardless of who your supplier is. This isnā€™t OVO casting you aside - they genuinely cannot get hold of the IHD you requested anymore.

You may be able to get better luck if your meters are now migrated to DCC though, but again OVO is having to prioritise most of the S1 Compatible IHDs towards PAYG members who absolutely have to have one in order to stay on-supply and force manual top-ups through.

However, I can give you some options. Check out my guide below as chances are at least one of these will work for you.

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Hi @Blastoise186Ā 

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Thankyou so much for the reply and link, it looks like my best option is to save up for aĀ Hildebrand one. I think I felt so defeated as I wasn't offered any other solutions when told mine was now obsolete, I didn't know what I was supposed to do.Ā  I think going forward they do need to look into sourcing some form of alternative replacement ihd for them as time goes on. Many thanks again you've been really helpful.Ā 

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Would something like that Bright app help here, for real-time viewing the energy use ? I havenā€™t used it myselfā€¦..

Userlevel 7
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Bright might help, but it needs the Glow IHD or Glow CAD to be active on-site to enable real-time data to work.

Hi I moved into this home and there is smart meteres that I pay dd for but no Iā€™m home display Iā€™ve rang and asked and was told soon about six months ago how do I get one I need to know my use age thanksĀ 

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Howdy @KeithbuffyĀ !

Sure thing. Try this guide out. :)

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Userlevel 4

I'm sure I saw something somewhere that if you've just moved into a home and there was no IHD, and I think you have to be a new OVO customer too, then you're supposed to be able to get an IHD if there's none in the house.

However (bet you knew that was coming didn't you?) certainly as far as OVO goes they're as rare as pink unicorn poo, and the ones they have they're prioritising for prepay customers I believe.

You have a couple of options in the short term:

1) Buy your own and follow the guides in here about that. It's easy enough. They're not cheap, but depending on circumstances they're not overly expensive either. Usually Ā£50-70 I thinkĀ 

2) Let OVO get you one when they eventually can, and just use an app like Bright, Loop, and I think uSwitch have one. Just give them permission to access your meters and you'll have all your usage information. You won't however have real time usage information in them since they tend to be historical only. For me Loop has been the best since it seems to update every half hour or so if it can. The uSwitch one never worked for me since it was never able to connect to my meters.

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First thing to check though is that your meter is either SMETS2 or SMETS1+ asĀ @Blastoise186Ā calls it. Easiest way is probably to google Ivie Bud and use their compatibility checker with your postcode and house number. If they say your meters are completely then any of the apps or IHDs should work with your meter.

Pre-Covid, when was with SSE, we got our smart meters installed. They were/are working fine but the in house display never did. I had a few hurdles trying to get a replacement organised but then Covid came and things fell by wayside so never got it sorted. Anyway, since then, we are now obviously with OVO when they took over. We continue to use the smart meters as before but still no in house display. Is it possible to get a new one from OVO that can connect to the meters easily?

Userlevel 7
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Hey @nicpacitti139Ā !

Chances are the answer is yup. :)

Let the Support Team know, they can sort you one out. https://help.ovoenergy.comĀ or 0330 303 5063

Thereā€™s more info in my guide too

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I have just moved to my new house and signed up with OVO for my gas and electricity. I obviously have a smart meter as I can see my usage online. How do I acquire a home display unit so I can view my use age?

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Heya @JennyHĀ !

You can request one from OVOā€™s Support Team for free and they can post it out to you. Alternatively, check out my guide if youā€™d like to see other options.

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Hi,Ā 

Iā€™m currently with British Gas but would like to switch to Ovo, but want to check if I will encounter the same issue once Iā€™ve switched.Ā 
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When we moved into our house, we already had a smart meter fitted with Octopus however we didnā€™t have a smart monitor so cannot see our usage.Ā 

We are now with British Gas and they take the meter readings however their app doesnā€™t work and we still canā€™t have a monitor as it is not compatible so we are unable to see our current usage and the bills are very high.Ā 
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British Gas have sent out an engineer but are not willing to change the current meter as they are receiving the meter readings.Ā 
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If we switched to Ovo, would they change the meter so that we could now have a compatible monitor and check our usage? Iā€™ve heard the live updates also work online.Ā 

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Any help would be appreciated.Ā 
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Thanks
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Hey @katy.parker58Ā ,

Can you show us a photo of the meters please? I can definitely help you figure this out!

If I get stuck, Iā€™ve got access to resources that can help me out and if I getĀ really stuck, thereā€™s also a few people I can call on. :)

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