Smart meters

When we have high demand in our house (like switching on a shower), the lights go dimmer. Recently our car charger has frequently stopped working saying there is a supply problem. I’ve just discovered that we can see the voltage on our smart meter, and it goes down as low as 190V.  The highest reading I’ve seen, with virtually nothing on, was 220V. We are in a very rural area. We have storage heating and when the meter was installed we were told it was a 3 phase supply. Does anyone know what’s going on? 

I had a smart meter installed. Chose economy 7 tariff as have storage heaters and water heated by thermostat on off peak. Since meter installed off peak does not work. Ovo sent an engineer who changed the meter. Still no off peak. Ovo then said they’d fix the problem remotely. They said it was successful but still no off peak. Now they are saying it must be to do with my wiring or configuration and they can’t do anything more. Now what am I supposed to do? No heating or hot water since July 28th.

I'm told I cannot have a smart meter beciase my standard meter is located outside Electric is in a white box and gas in a brown box I'm trying to get one as I would benifit greatly from one any ideas what can be done?

I have a SMETS1 meter (software upgraded to SMETS2). What happens now that 3G (mobile) has reached end of life? Can it be upgraded with a new SIM?

I have smart meters for both gas and electricity. However, neither is currently able to connect to OVO and hasn't done so for quite a while now. An engineer came to try to boost the signal but all his attempts failed. He said something about needing to wait for an additional bit of kit to be installed locally. How much longer do I have to wait? I really don't want to have to provide meter readings...I shouldn't have to with smart meters! 

I had a smart meter installed 2 weeks ago and since then my storage heaters and immersion element to heat up the water in a big cylinder tank are not working anymore. Both only run on off peak electricity. I have raised this with OVO, an emergency engineer, a commissioned engineer, came but couldn’t solve the problem. Since then I’m daily on the phone with OVO but nobody is able to help. I’ve raised a complaint, got a call from OVO and was told that my case is being looked into and I would get a call back. Nobody was ringing back. It’s very stressful to call daily, explain the same problem each time and not getting anywhere. I was even told by one operator that it’s my problem and not OVO’s.. It’s absolutely outrageous that an organisation like OVO is not able to rectify the problem. I wonder if someone had similar experience and can give advise how to handle the matter. Thank you

Hey forumengers, Past week or so Ive been having calls and have had two letters from SEEKA who just work on OVO’s behalf to get meter readings.I got a call on sunday, or at least some voicemails, so it seems I can read the number out over the phone. No?My account says the meter is working fine and last sent a message yesterday.My loop app is matching my IHD too… So why are they threatening me to force access for  a meter reading lmfao?My meter isnt in my home, they cant force entry either. Its a rental.Just wanting to hear other peoples experiences in this situation, I dont think its nefarious. They can put me back to PAYG remotely whenever they feel, Nothing I can do to stop that.

Many of those who are used to retrieving their usage data from third parties have noticed an interruption in the service recently. For me, it started on 13 June and has yet to be resolved.Third parties (called ‘other users’ by DCC) are supposed to be able, with the customer’s permission, to contact a smart meter and retrieve usage and tariff data stored in it, which they can then present in a friendly form and also make it possible to download the data. This is in many cases a more efficient system than what suppliers offer via their websites.So far, we’ve heard from customers using n3rgy and Hugo, and also apps like

So on the 9th May 6am nothing changed to our daily lives but my electricity usage increased by 12 times. It went from a constant 0.03kwh to 0.4kwh, nothing has changed and we are now spending a huge amount on electricity for no change of actual usage. Please can someone help asap as this is rinsing my money each day!

Hi,I have just moved into a newbuild apartment where the utilities have been handed over from the developer. The current meter reading is 03552 (shown by the photo), slightly above the confirmed reading I received off the developer on completion.I registered with OVO Energy this week and found out from them that my meter is apparently a smart meter. However, upon checking the readings it has sent to OVO (photo also attached)  they appear to be completely different and far lower than the reading I see on the meter.Is it possible this is fine and it sends different readings from the display I see when reporting as a smart meter, or is there something potentially wrong with my electric meter/out of sync and I need to call ASAP.

The title pretty much says it all. I looked up the website on the Pipit documentation - www.securetogether.com - and they don't seem to exist any more. Do OVO have spare Pipits?

I’ve recently received an email stating that my analogue Electricity Meter is out of its Certification Period and needs replacing. I suspect that replacing like for like will not be an option so I may have to have a Smart Meter.I don’t (and won’t) use WiFi. I’m sometimes told mockingly that I am a member of the “Tin Hat Club” – well each to their own.Instead I use AV2 MIMO Homeplugs (made by Solwise/AZTech) to route Ethernet traffic around my flat. Some people disparage this as “legacy” technology but my experience with it over many years has been excellent. It is extremely reliable and the actual achieved transfer rates are good – 350Mbits/second between two PCs some way apart in different rooms (measured using iperf3).I’ve seen several reports that Smart Electricity Meters introduce noise onto the mains which can disrupt AV2 Homeplug working. There’s a post on this forum :-

By the end of 2033, 2G and 3G mobile networks are due to be switched off by telecommunications providers. As a result, smart meters that communicate via 2G and 3G mobile technology will require the installation of a new 4G compatible communications hub to allow them to continue to operate in smart mode. In most cases, smart meter consumers with these communications hubs will need to agree to a visit from an installer and be present at home at the time of installation. Therefore, consumer engagement will be an important part of ensuring the success of the exchange programme. 

Have just noticed that my online account is not updating with readings from my smart meter (since 08/12). This is despite my meter showing the usual flashing green lights and the display on my desk continuing to show the usual usage readingsI completed the online form to report the issue,which came up with the correct serial number but said “Your smart meters are talking to us” and didnt give any other options aside from Contact Us. I tried calling, but in the runup to Christmas I dont have time to sit on hold for 30+ mins at a timeI know you can submit manual meter readings, but I really dont see that as a solution, more of a sticking plaster. Its a bad time for this time to happen as Ive just had to start using my awful night storage heatersAny ideas? Ive had a search on the forums but cannot really see a definitive answer 

Has anyone else had issues where their new smart meters have been installed but not communicating at all, nothing being shown on display? In contact with OVO (4days ago) they confirmed it was a meter issue and would be in contact, still waiting for the call, and means another day staying in for the engineer, get a grip OVO.

Booked a smart meter installation several months ago and an engineer turned up for the appointment. After an initial survey he advised that smart meters could not be fitted in my house because the existing meters were not separated. He then advised that a kit was available to sort this problem but to date I’ve had no follow up. can anyone advise?. Clive

I have a Scottish Power IDH with is now 11 years old. Yesterday it stopped working and when it is switched back on it shows the electrical reading and gas reading and then switches itself off.I have an account with OVO for my energy how do I get a replacement IHD and have it programmed to my existing smart meters?Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone, not an OVO customer but seems a good forum for advice…Yesterday had my old multi rate electricity meter swapped out for a Landis e470 smart meter. Last night my economy 7 didn't activate to heat up my storage heaters or hot water. I live in a flat and the meter is in the meter room so don't have the smart meter display. With my old meter economy 7 activated at 00:30 until 07:30. Also turned on and off with a clunk from the consumer unit. I did verify with the engineer who installed the meter if economy 7 would work the same as before and he said yes. Is this likely going to be because the meter is new and still needs commissioning? EDF customer support isn't open weekends so just after some advice until I can contact them. Thanks in advance.Old and new meter photos attached 

10 weeks ago we had a smart meter installed to replace our anytime and economy7 meters.The engineer who did the install said we’d still have economy7. When we booked the smart meter install we said we wanted economy7 as that’s how we get our heating.I contacted support to see when the economy7 readings would start to show and was informed we’d been put on a single rate. Only we’re still on anytime and economy7 according to the website.The OVO support said they couldn’t make the meter dual rate which was rather disappointing to say the least.The meter is an Aclara.I’m waiting for the back-end processing to finish and then I’ll make a choice.What are our options?Is the Aclara capable of dual rate?Could we approach aother supplier to get our reduced-rate heating again?Can OVO remotely get us to dual-rate once they get their act together?Would we need another, different meter? So many questions, so few answer

pros and cons of having a smart meter please?

I use the online Portal to monitor my usage and costs each day for both electricity and gas. While there is, often a slight difference between the Day Tab Total and the Month Tab Total, it is not, usually as large as it was for my usage yesterday (23rd November 2025). I wonder if anyone can suggest a possible reason for this disparity? 

  Hi all, we had a smart meter fitted 2 weeks ago, and this is the time of month we previously had to submit readings. Do we need to this month, as we've only had it 2 weeks? (We've had a reminder to submit them). Thanks  

I’ve heard that energy suppliers can remotely control smart meters in order to even cut off the energy supply to a certain property. It made me wonder if they can remotely override the meter reading by adding extra units on top of the actual usage regularly. If they have remote control access to it, when/if a customer complains regarding an abnormal increase, they can even remotely adjust it so that the meter would not be seen as faulty during any inspection. Is there a guarantee or a way to validate that this would never happen to smart meter users? 

I'm moving into a new home. Got the keys but not physically moving for a week. On the tenancy pack, the letting agents have provided readings.I've created an OVO account. A smart meter display was already plugged in so readings are already being sent. Checked my new account. No gas reading yet but the electricity is way off from what was in the tenancy pack. I've never had smart meter before, so I'm wandering when this was installed does it start at '0' so will differ from the main meter? I was trying to lower the stress and get things sorted before the physical move but this has just added to it. I can't remember the exact figure but tenancy pack was roughly 33000 and my OVO accounts showing a reading of 20600.

I had SMETS2 gas and electricity meter a installed a couple of weeks ago. So far so good, however I’m wondering if / how I can switch them to 30 minute reads? I’d like more granularity on the usage data ideally. Also, I’m finding the gas readings are very binary; maybe because it’s summer and we are not using a lot, but it seems to be counting in chunks - e.g one day we will use nothing, then we’ll use a set amount, the next day it’s exactly the same amount. This seems a bit odd.