If I join can Ovo make me have a smart meter?

You don’t have to have a smart meter installed - although there are minimal ‘standard’ meters now available as they are no longer manufactured.

One thing on specific tariffs is (as you’ve already seen) for some, there is a requirement to have a smart meter installed.

You can search for available plans and tariffs here

Thanks for your reply, do you know which tariffs I don't need to have a smart meter for? I can't read the terms and conditions until the final step of sign up as far as I can see.

Tariffs are offered according to postcode so even if I knew any detail, it could be different for your location.

You could try contacting and asking directly.

I could in theory, but I called them today and it wasn't a consistent message so can I trust what I get told?

I got two people. The first one said no you don't need a smart meter, then said "do you want me to sign you up?" I read the terms and conditions to her and said, can you guarantee that for this deal? She went quiet, the line crackled and about ten seconds later I was transferred to someone else who this time said "yes you would need to have a smart meter and it would be a radio one." Just think if I'd have taken the first one's word for it? I don't trust that they necessarily know what they are talking about.

Morning ​@qofb and a warm welcome to the OVO Forum! 😁

Thanks for your post, and thanks ​@BPLightlog for your really helpful replies here.

​@qofb we appreciate you flagging that old Forum article - I’ve now gone in and amended the information in it so that it’s up to date. To confirm, our fixed plans will often include an agreement to have a smart meter to be installed, and you can find out by getting a quote and clicking on ‘Extended Terms and Conditions’ via this page.

As ​@BPLightlog has correctly advised, traditional meters are no longer manufactured. This means that everyone will eventually have smart meters installed once their existing traditional meters have reached the end of their certification period. Also, if your traditional meter is faulty and needs replacing, it’ll be replaced by a smart meter.

Of course, there are people who don’t wish to have smart meters installed, and there are things you can read online that will detail negative sides of smart meters. However, like with any technology, there’s a lot of myth busting to be done. I’ve had smart meters for years and haven’t ever had a problem, as have many of our Forum members and customers in general. That isn’t to say they’re problem free, but the most common issue is that the smart meter won’t send reads to us automatically, in which case you’d just need to read it as a normal meter until we fixed it.

Having worked in the Energy Industry for a number of years now, I can confidently say that we have seen many, many more concerning issues with older traditional meters than we have with smart meters, which are much more highly calibrated, and safer in general. I’ll include below some previous Forum topics which will give you some further information on smart meters. Have a think - they’re not mandatory in the UK at the moment, however the UK Government are making a big push within the UK for all households to eventually have them installed.

Cheers - I hope this helps!

So ironically I got a message from someone called Portia telling me that I might not need a smart meter (again not a for sure answer at all). And when I tried to clarify, I got the following message from the email system, telling me to use my OVO account registered email address. How can anyone ask any questions about anything without joining this forum? Do you have another email address for questions for people who want info before signing up? See message received below

Also here's what Portia wrote: can you explain to me what the deadline is referring to? Are those particular meters that Ovo are fitting obsolete after 30/06 and no longer going to be fitted?

Thank you for contacting us regarding your interest in our extended fixed plan.

Please be advised that we will not force you to install a smart meter at your property.

Once you have created your OVO account, we will refer your call to our radio tele switch (RTS) department who will be in a better position to decide on whether you will be impacted by the upcoming RTS with the deadline of 30th June 2025.

For further questions you may contact us on 0330 303 5063 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm) and we will gladly transfer your call to our RTS department for further enquiries.

If you have an RTS Meter right now, chances are you’ll have to get it swapped for a Smart Meter soon anyway.

Per the terms of the Extended Fixed plan, you would NOT be required to have a Smart Meter. However, failure to accept one by the deadline would result in you getting booted off of the plan - incurring the exit fee - and kicked over to variable rate.

Please show us your current meters - we can check what you’ve got now.

I don't have an RTS meter. I pay one rate. I don't understand why Portia started talking about RTS meters as those aren't applicable to me. I thought she meant that they were going to fit one up until 30/6/25. 🤷‍♀️

This is what I meant about radio Vs mobile tech: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq52382zd1no

I live in the North.

​@qofb apologies, it sounds as if the advisor you were speaking to was getting confused. I’m guessing maybe if you mentioned the ‘radio signal’ smart meters in the North she may have thought you were referring to Radio Teleswitch (RTS). 

Just to clarify, if you sign up for the 15 month fixed plan, or any other fixed plan ‘you’re agreeing to have a smart meter fitted (if you don’t already have one). We’ll contact you to arrange a suitable installation date for a smart meter to be installed in your property’ (this quote is taken from our extended T’s and C’s).

With regards to the north / south divide, it’s true that there can be more issues with the radio signal, however the majority of our smart meter customers in the north don’t have issues. I myself live in Scotland, and my smart meters work perfectly and have never dropped out of comms. If the worst came to the worst and your smart meter wasn’t in comms, you can just take manual reads from it, as you would with a normal meter.