How far apart can my meters be to allow a smart meter upgrade?

Hi Emmanuelle_OVO,

It’s now almost 2 months since the health check was completed.

Is there anything else I can do to chase this up?

Hi @GrandpaG 

Are you eligible and  if so signed up to the Priority Service Register 

https://www.ovoenergy.com/help/article/priority-services-register

https://www.ovoenergy.com/register-for-priority-services

It is worth doing if you are eligible as it should help prioritise support.

I see you have had a few engineer visits where they didn't come with equipment to fix the issue.

Under the Ofgem rules and law you are entitled to £30 every time this happens and another £30 if not paid within 10 working days. @Emmanuelle_OVO will be able to provide more information on this.

Hi @Jeffus ,

Thanks for that, I’ll have a look at the links.

I think the previous messages have confused you, as I’ve only had one visit which was when the smart meters were installed.

The installer was unable to make the hub talk to the gas meter, and said he would report the problem. Since then, I’ve heard nothing.

Hi  Emmanuelle_OVO,

I’m still waiting for OVO to contact me about my problem.

My Smart Meter installation was in Edinburgh on 1 August 2023. The installer could not get the hub (EDMI Standard 420 DB) to communicate with the gas meter (Flonidan Uniflo G4SDZV-2). He tried rebooting the hub and it still failed to connect.

Based on replies to my post here, I expected OVO to be in touch long before now.

Despite saying they would send an OVO engineer, they sent someone from MDS on 11 Sept 2023 who had been given NO information about the problem. He asked me what the problem was, then had a look at the meters and left, saying he would add some notes on my account. He said I would need an engineer from OVO.

I had filled out the checklist, and it was suggested here I might have to wait 45 days, which would be around the end of October. Two more months after that, and nothing.

What can I do to get OVO’s attention?

Sorry to hear this @GrandpaG.

If it’s been over 45 working days since you submitted the smart meter health check and the meters still  not communicating then the support team should be able to book in an engineers appointment.

Please contact the support team to get this booked. 

Thanks Emmanuelle_OVO,

I’ve sent an email.

Hi Emmanuelle_OVO,

OVO just phoned me after I sent the email explaining the problem.

e.g. I said “The installer could not get the hub (EDMI Standard 420 DB) to communicate with the gas meter (Flonidan Uniflo G4SDZV-2).”

I now have an appointment for 26 Jan, and they are sending an SMSL engineer which I assume is good?

However, their email confirmation says -

I already have a SMETS2 electricity meter. So on the face of it, that sounds like they are going to swap my existing SMETS2 electricity meter for another one - which is hardly relevant when the problem is comms with the gas meter.

Despite that, do you think an engineer from SMSL will investigate my problem, or do they just follow orders?

Really glad to hear they got back to you and have booked something in!

We don’t have access to your account on the Forum @GrandpaG, my advice would be to double check with the Support Team if you have any concerns about the appointment. 

Hi Emmanuelle_OVO,

I asked them to confirm that the engineer would investigate the problem rather than just swap a meter, and got this reply -

“I have taken a look over the account and I am able to see your gas meter has lost communication with us meaning we currently have no live data resulting in your IHD not displaying any usage.

In order to resolve this we would need to complete a meter exchange which is what has been scheduled.”

The gas meter has never communicated, and it should be clear from the notes on my account that the problem is almost certainly due to the gas meter being outside the house. Ironically, the meter was moved from inside to outside the house to make it easier/quicker for their meter readers. Now it’s a chore for me!

I wonder if they’d contemplate moving it back indoors?

Ho hum, I guess I’ll just have to hope for the best.

Hi Emmanuelle_OVO,

SMS visited today. The instructions were to replace both meters although the electricity meter has been sending readings to OVO since it was installed in August 2023.

Despite the instructions, SMS spent a significant amount of time investigating the problem. He found that the signal at the gas meter was showing 2 bars out of 3, which he said should be sufficient for communication with the hub. However, despite doing a ‘reboot’, the comms problem between the hub and the gas meter was not resolved.

They were then instructed to replace both meters by whoever they were talking to at OVO or SMS. I asked about replacing just the gas meter, and was told they were not allowed to do that, which seems daft.

The SMS engineer told me that OVO had done something that stopped the electricity meter sending readings, so now I’m in a worse position with both meters having to be read manually.

For various reasons, including the time elapsed since they arrived, I said I didn’t want him to replace the meters and they departed. I have no complaints about the SMS engineer, who seemed very knowledgeable and helpful.