I had a smart meter installed about a month ago. In the last couple of weeks the lights in the apartment have started flickering, particularly when power-hungry devices (e.g. kettle, microwave) are used. Over the last week or so this has got worse, and now occurs even when no appliances are in use.
An electrician came today and couldn’t find any potential causes, but isn’t allowed to look inside the smart meter because it’s property of OVO. I contacted OVO this afternoon and they’re not able to send anyone out to resolve this worsening issue for the next 3.5 weeks.
Is this issue common with smart meters? Are there any potential solutions to this in the short term?
Many thanks!
Best answer by BPLightlog
Updated on 11/03/25 by Ben_OVO
Issues with household appliances, such as flickering lights, will need to be reported to an electrician. You can find electricians in your area here.
Hi @jacobdavies if it is just light flickering (rather than power sockets and appliances) it will not be caused by the smart meter.
Lights will be on a different circuit and it is that circuit which is more likely to be the cause. You mention an electrician taking a look - unfortunately an intermittent fault like you describe is very difficult to detect but if there is poor wiring in and around the main distribution board, that is where to start. It could be that something was disturbed when the swap was made
This is unlikely to be the smart meter itself, but OVO can definitely take a look for you. It’s more likely to be a badly installed meter - smart or not - than an actually faulty meter. And even then, a fault like this could happen to anything. Either way, it’s very rare that this comes up.
My guess is bad wiring somewhere, but @PeterR1947 probably has a better chance at figuring this out than I do.
I understand from here (under ‘Noisy Electricity Meters) that OVO would be able to come out sooner if my meter was making an arcing, vibrating or zapping noise - then I could book in an emergency meter exchange. However, although I have evidence of bad wiring at or around the meter, I don’t qualify for an emergency visit - is that correct? Is it worth me calling the number on that page anyway?
I wouldn’t usually automatically jump straight to an EMEX, because that might not solve the real problem. It’d probably be better to have OVO send an engineer out to check the existing equipment is installed properly first.
What you describe doesn’t sound like it qualifies for an EMEX either...
Issues with household appliances, such as flickering lights, will need to be reported to an electrician. You can find electricians in your area here.
Hi @jacobdavies if it is just light flickering (rather than power sockets and appliances) it will not be caused by the smart meter.
Lights will be on a different circuit and it is that circuit which is more likely to be the cause. You mention an electrician taking a look - unfortunately an intermittent fault like you describe is very difficult to detect but if there is poor wiring in and around the main distribution board, that is where to start. It could be that something was disturbed when the swap was made
It is both lights and appliances flickering (the microwave light now flickers quite a lot, and didn’t before). The electrician wasn’t able to find any potential causes outside of the smart meter - that was the only stone he had to leave unturned.
It sounds, then, like I won’t be able to get this resolved until the OVO engineer visits in late January. Is there anything I can do at my end to dig deeper into the issue, or to get an engineer to visit sooner?
The problem if it is caused by source at or near the meter is that there is so much energy and so it is not the place to ‘take a look’. If you can show the engineer what’s happening easily, they should be able to sort things. It does sound like a loose connection unless it is an unusual faulty meter
Thanks for this! Just to clarify - do you mean that I should call out the electrician to check again for an external loose connection of the smart meter, or should I sit tight until the OVO engineer comes in late Jan?
If lights and other appliances are affected it certainly sounds like a loose wire somewhere and as the only change has been the smart meter fitting the finger points to that. Are there any signs of discoloured insulation around the meter tails going into or out of the meter? If there is any discolouration, this is an emergency.
@jacobdavies as Peter says, look for any discolouration on the wires connected to the meter. Another clue might be if you can see any flashes by the meter connections. Can you look at the area easily in the dark? (Don’t put yourself too close, just in case)
Thanks so much for your responses, especially on New Year’s Eve!
I just put the kettle on and had a look at the meter in the dark and couldn’t see any flashes. However, I could hear occasional tinny ‘dzzt dzzzzt...dzzt’ sounds from it, almost like a sparking sound. Might this be arcing?
Below are photos of the meter. The only potential discolouration I could see is on the right-hand one of the white cables going into the base of the box marked Scottish Power only. This is clearly an older cable though, so might have been like that for a long time.
@jacobdavies that sound could indeed be arcing. I also don’t like the bare earth cable tracking across that old connection. It might have been there for some time but any disturbance could have moved things, even a little
I think I’m not actually able to do anything about this arcing as I currently can’t arrange for OVO to do an emergency meter exchange until their phone lines reopen in 3 days time. I’ve just called 105 and Scottish Power wouldn’t be able to do any sort of repair except for pulling the main fuse to the property. The electrician that came yesterday wasn’t able to touch the meter or the box marked property of Scottish Power.
Am I best off turning off the power to the apartment and moving out for a couple of days?
I’m for safety first @jacobdavies so if that’s an option, it might be best. Given the issues you’re having, I would be cautious .. there may be internal arcing or what’s called partial discharge - the problem with both these things is they are destructive forces, even if very slowly. Sorry I can’t be more helpful
It is an official ovo channel and the ovo staff there have access to your account.
Perhaps include the word Emergency in the post. It may get picked up earlier than after the bank holiday . I see ovo did reply to some posts overnight.
As well as a public twitter post, try a private message ovo twitter. In the private message include your name, address, account number and date of birth for security purposes.
Re the DNO: I called 105 last night and the DNO said that they weren’t able to do inspections or repairs - all they could do is pull the main fuse for the apartment.
Having problems with flickering lights since smart meter installed this past summer. the problem is through out the house, My generator was servcied yestrday and he checked all the boxes and wiring and said all ok. My neighbors having same problems.
power company called out two days in a row. the doe no say what they found or what they did per customer servce they dont give out that info. She denied it is the smart meter.
I am afraid of a fire or damage to my appliances and electronics.
The chances of the Smart Meter causing this are a million to one and so remote that it’s VERY unlikely. I strongly recommend you ask a qualified electrician to check everything else over - it could be a dodgy consumer unit for example, or you’re overloading circuits.
If you are concerned, please call 105 and your DNO can try to take a look.
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