How to upgrade to a gas smart meter if I've got a large (U16) gas supply?

Hi, I currently have a U16 meter and so appear to be unable to have a smart meter fitted for gas.  

I’m currently not with Ovo (I’m with the creature with eight legs!) but my current supplier is being totally unhelpful.  

I understand that there are very few smart meters for a U16 meter - do you agree?

I only have a 40kW boiler attached to this supply (no gas cooker anymore) and so having read about the subject, a U6 with a 65kW capacity should be ample.  Do you agree?

My provider won’t do anything about changing to a U6 meter but it sounds like you guys are far more helpful.  Do you have any suggestions (including moving to you??)?  Also, as a consumer, do I have to pay anything for the change of meter?

Finally, how often should a U16 meter be replaced?

Many thanks for your help (I hope!).

The U rating as you probably know is mainly to do with flow rate in cubic metres per hr

so it will be prefaced by what your boiler requires.

Did you see the notes at the top of this feed about a load test? If you’re looking to downgrade, that would be required I believe. 
I’m not sure if anyone can offer further advice for the rest of your queries. 
There’s a helpful resource at gas connections in case you haven’t already found it

https://www.gasconnections.co.uk/u16-gas-meter/

There’s also more info here

Hello, despite my protestations that u16 gas meters are not available yet, OVO have arranged to visit and supposedly fit a u 16 meter tomorrow! Should I cancel?

Hi @funcarblur , it’s the smart meter versions which aren’t available yet as far as I’m aware. This was the last update I saw.

Hi. 

I am planning renovations on my home and wanted to understand from the supplier side the process of moving a meter.

From my understanding the transporter (in our case SGN) can move the whole meter as is to the desired location at a cost. After the move, could OVO upgrade my meter as its a U6 (is this free to upgrade it to a U16)?

It would also be good to know about upgrades for a old elec meter and fuse box too. I was told they are both outdated.

Is there a service where we can get advise from someone at OVO with a visit? (cost/free?)

Here’s a similar topic which might have some useful info

There’s also a guide here

Good evening ​@HarryZM ,

The upgrade to U16 by itself is free but you should be aware that a Smart U16 Gas Meter can’t be guaranteed right now. You may also need a Site Survey which OVO can do at a cost of £106.

If OVO needs to reposition the meter, the fee is £145 provided the circumstances allow OVO to do it.

Are you SURE you actually need this work done though? If you are, please contact OVO Support to make the arrangements.

As for the electric? Please post photos of your existing meters and fusebox so we can check what you’ve got now.

This is the meter, the fuse box is plastic… (I was told it may need upgrading?)

Oh WOW! I think that’s one of the super rare 45-year lifespan ones!

But yes, the Certification on that one has almost certainly expired by now. Please ask OVO to arrange a Smart Meter Upgrade when you can. This may take some time, but see what https://smart-booking.ovoenergy.com says for now.

While I have, this is the gas… haha. Do you know if OVO would upgrade the fuse box or is this a private matter? 

Umm… Yeah… Ok… I do hope you’re not pumping gas through that meter right now…?

Don’t suppose you can explain the scary huge warning sticker by any chance? XD

If you just need it replaced with a new meter, you probably don’t need U16.

The fusebox is the responsibility of yourself - you’ll need a private electrician for that. But OVO can do the meter upgrades for you.

Just going to throw in a suggestion here… instead of moving the gas meter etc, doing a renovation is exactly the time to think about installing a heat pump. Don’t forget there’s that gov grant of £7500 if you’re upgrading a gas boiler. Providing you use a knowledgable installer it’ll be cheaper to run than a gas boiler and you can do away with the gas meter standing charge of course. There are also schemes whereby you can borrow the money to pay for the installation at favourable rates.

I can’t be certain, but if pressed, I’d say that that meter will have earned its bus pass in a couple of years’ time!

That said, it’s probably counting watt-hours just as well as it always has. You (and your supplier) just can’t be sure of that.
 

Not in use, I assure you haha. Thanks for the info, very helpful in planning our upgrade! 

Any thoughts about getting a heat pump ​@HarryZM  ? Other than the one you’ll have in your fridge of course… people are told they’re newfangled technology but we’ve all been using them for years.

Considering but unsure if viable with a 19th century home that’s not in a modern state. I did a random check with EDF and got quoted just cost £6k. Know anything about someone coming round and giving info/qoute?

As long as you get a proper heat loss calculation done and a correctly designed system, any age of house can work with a heat pump. 

HeetGeek have an arrangement with OVO, have a look at this thread:

Hey ​@HarryZM,

Welcome to the community 🎊

We have energy savings experts that can come to your home and give you advice on improvements. Take a look at this link here it could be useful to you. It looks like you’ve had some really great advice from the community so far so please keep us updated! 

Further to these great ideas. I wanted to know if I moved my gas meter (via Cadent) will Ovo come and reconnect the meter to the boiler with pipes when I request it? (is this also free?)

If memory serves, OVO can’t reconnect anything after the meter. I think they can reconnect the Meter itself but it may have to then be temporarily capped until a Gas Safe Engineer does other checks on everything downstream and finishes the reconnection.