Lost Connection - Smart Meters not sending meter readings and no data on In-Home Display (IHD) - Why?

It’s worth checking perhaps that your account hasn’t mysteriously been changed to request monthly readings only, instead of the half-hourly you may prefer. There’s some strange relationship between this single setting and the two data sets it refers to: usage data and meter readings. Any major change to the meter (which might include disconnecting and reconnecting it as your engineer did) seems able to reset this option. 

You may be able to check and change the setting online if you see the Path to zero menu item. Some monthly-reading customers found a button on one of the underlying pages allowing them to change to half-hourly readings. Otherwise, it’s a call to Support.

It is separate data.

The 30min consumption data that is transmitted to ovo on here isn't added up to make the data on any other page.

https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=daily&unit=kwh

So these pages use different data from the meter

https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=monthly&unit=kwh

https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=yearly&unit=kwh

https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings

You are only ever billed what you see on here and it will always be clear what is from the meter as it will say Smart.

https://account.ovoenergy.com/meter-readings

It is possible that customers can't see both 30min consumption data and the register data you see on the meter reading page for example if there is a problem.

If you can see 30 min data on the Day tab this will be from the meter, it is never estimated 

The  other usage tabs could contain real or estimated data.

Thank you for the info. Very interesting. Just need another booking for the replacement meter now.

After working fine since its installation in February, our smart meter display in our kitchen is now showing blank numerical information with the wording “waiting for current data” underneath.   It seems like a communication issue between the display and the meters but is this a fixable fault and what can be done?

Ive not touched the meters or changed any settings on the display but it strangely happened a day or so after Northern Powergrid visited to survey for an increased cut out fuse for a future EV charger.  He didn’t actually do the job so I struggle to see how it could be related.

I’ve checked on the Ovo app on my phone and it’s still showing consumption data up to yesterday so it must just be the link to the in home display

Depending on where your IHD is positioned, it might have temporarily lost connection. 
You could try removing power (for at least 30 secs) and then powering back up. It should go through the connection sequence again.

As you mention, it isn’t actually needed to get readings back to the supplier. The meter itself does that. 
There are also authorised third party apps which can be useful in tracking your usage via a phone 

The only marketing practice in selling a smart meter to the reluctant public is to enable them to have usage data via the display so that they can decide on whether to try to save money.  The display is absolutely critical to that so to not have it working after only three months is completely unacceptable.  I believe that there’s millions not working which is scandalous but such a short life is especially so.  I’m hoping it’s just something minor in my case.

I have the IHD3-PPMID-AAA 2022 display, located about 3 metres from the electricity meter, itself adjacent to the gas meter, in a cupboard in my kitchen.   I’ve tried turning the display off for 30 seconds and back on again but it still shows that it’s waiting for current data.  Any further ideas please.

it’s currently Tuesday morning and the Ovo app has consumption data up to about 1am Monday.  I’m not sure if that’s normal.

Walls, other objects and distance have an effect on connection as well. You could try reducing one of those (ie move it closer) to check. 
 

I assume you’ve been through the troubleshooting steps in the guides you’ve seen, so you know that the HAN light on the meter itself is flashing at 5-second intervals to show that it’s transmitting to the IHD. You’ve also checked whether the correct time is shown on the IHD.

One thing not mentioned in the guides referred to is the question of interference. The IHD3 uses Zigbee in the 2.4 GHz band, a band where a lot of other stuff will be jostling for space - Bluetooth devices, Wi-fi routers, baby monitors and garage door openers to give a few examples. Apart from that, many electronic devices - particularly cheap ones - will be emitting radiation indiscriminately, also in this band - microwave ovens and phone chargers come to mind. Zigbee has a number of channels within the band that it can choose between, so it will do its best by channel-hopping to avoid interference, but it may not always be successful.

Try unplugging anything that might be causing interference, then restart the IHD to see whether communication is restored. If it isn’t, this may not be the cause of the problem. If it is, plug devices in again one at a time, checking communication to the IHD after each one until the problem resurfaces. This is unfortunately a tedious and time-consuming process, because it can take some time for the IHD to react. It’s worthwhile, though, if it either finds a culprit or rules out this cause.

My IHD shows maximum connectivity in the gauge on the top level of the screen.  I’ve temporarily moved it from the back to the front of the kitchen worktop where it has direct unobstructed line of sight to the meters only three or four metres away.  The signal was still quite good at the back.  The time on it is correct.

My electricity meter is a Kaifa MA120 and the communications hub on top is a EDMI CS010A-08-B2.  It only has two LEDs on it, the WAN and the Han.  Both are flashing together about every five seconds.  The electricity meter has an up and down buttons and is showing a menu.  I don’t know how to select an option in that menu if wanted as I’d expect a third ok button to select one.

My broadband router is in the same cupboard as the meters, as that’s where the master phone outlet is located but Everything has worked fine up to a few days ago.  I have also tried with the router turned off at the plug with no change.  We have no Bluetooth devices on in the house, no chile monitor and no electric garage door.  I do have some interior security cameras.  All I can think of is that perhaps when moving something else in the cupboard, which is used for storing a few things, I pressed a button on the meter by mistake but I can’t see how that would have caused this.

Its about 7:30 am on Wednesday and I’ve just checked on the Ovo app on my iPad which shows half hour data up to Monday but for yesterday only has two data columns covering to just after midnight.  It doesn’t allow you to select today.

Hey @Paul4AA 

It might be worth just submitting the smart meter health check for a full view of the connectivity in general. If this comes back okay, which it might do if you’re still seeing data on the app, I’d then reach out to the Support Team for a few further checks then they may need to look at getting a new display unit for you if nothing else works on their end.

The sequence of button presses varies from meter to meter. Normally, it will in time revert to showing basic data like the readings, the tariff and the date and time, cycling through the various items by itself at a few seconds’ intervals. If this isn’t happening, press the top button once to see if that brings you back to the normal display.

It’s not only the router that emits radiation in the 2.4GHz band - anything connected to it by wi-fi will do so, too, whether the router is on or off. Computers, smart phones, smart thermometers, Kindle e-readers and of course your security cameras, to name just a few. 

Another point: resetting the IHD isn’t just a question of switching it off and then on again. Depending on the particular model you’ve got, it will either have a rechargeable battery or a single AAA battery. This being the case, it will continue to function even though it’s not connected to a power source.

• If it has an on/off button on the back, press it for five seconds after unplugging the device, then wait a minute or two before plugging it back in and switching it on again.  
• If it has an AAA battery, unplug the device, remove the battery, wait a minute or two and then replace the battery and plug in again.

In either case, you may see a message on the display to the effect that its memory has been purged and it is trying to reconnect to the meter. With a good signal, this shouldn’t take too long.

I did say it was tedious 😐
  

PS I forgot to mention: even if you did accidentally touch one of the buttons on the meter, it won’t have done any harm. There are hoops an engineer has to jump through to change anything in the meter itself.

I filled in the smart meter health check online form and it said there was no problem as they were getting readings.

Upon opening ( a bit tricky as a sharp edge for a finger nail but feels fragile plastic to use a tool), I found that my IHD doesn’t have a AAA battery in the space inside.  It is getting the correct time after a power shut off from somewhere however so it’s maybe getting some sort of signal.

Oh, and I’ve sent an email to Ovo, referencing this forum thread asking for help.

Hey @JenM 

I’m really sorry to hear this you’ve not had a response to your email. Did you sent the photos over webchat with an agent, or did you email them in? 

Would you be able to pop those same photos on here so we can take a look?

Abby_OVO,

The photos were emailed to the email address that was with the person whose name was on it. Having checked some of the other emails have come from different email address’s. 

The photos are attached.

JenM

Thanks @JenM 

It sounds like it’s being handled by what we call your squad. This is your dedicated team of people, so if you were to contact again in future, you’d get the same team again dealing with the query.

Have you heard anything back from the team on this yet? 

Abby_OVO,

No I have not heard anything if you have any influence would be grateful.

Hey @JenM 

We don’t have access to accounts here at the Forum so I wouldn’t be able to know what squad you fall under.

They’ll be able to look at the photos in the email immediately if you were to open a live chat with the Support Team and they’ve be able to review them, and do some things on the spot with you there - they often have questions so live chat can be the best option when dealing with IHDs as they sometimes need you to do things like turn it off for them.

Let us know how you get on with speaking to the team.

Abby_OVO,

I will have to wait until Monday as a bit busy at the moment.

Hey @JenM,

Have you had any updates on this issue?

If not, please pop back & we can get forum_support to reach out.

Emmanuelle_OVO,

I have not heard anything whatsoever I was going to ring but have been really busy so haveen’t spoken to them yet and I think it my be the end of the week before I get a chance so if you can get help would be grateful.

I’ll get this raised to forum_support @JenM, please keep an eye on your private messages.

PM received and reply sent

Was horrified today to see on the app that no readings have been sent since May 22nd. There has been no indication of this on the app and daily usage has been showing. I don't understand it, but would have no idea how to fix it and really am not comfortable interfering with anything like this. Any suggestions? This is the type of smart meter I have. Thanks.