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My Landis+Gyr E470 smart meter isn't communicating following my switch - What can I do?

  • 20 August 2020
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Smart meter not working at all now, gas hasn't worked since leaving Coop ....only had a problem since changing supplier which wasn't my choice the Coop migrated all their customers to another supplier.

Had an engineer booked for early this year but it was cancelled due to Covid-19 which I understood. Had no feedback from Ovo since. The Co-op had my meter installed and it worked perfectly until I changed supplier.

I understand after hearing a call from an Ovo customer with the same problem who called a radio 5 programme after being told by the ombudsman there was nothing they could do because a third party was involved, namely the National Data Base. So not holding out much hope that my problem will be fixed either. So back to  sending manual energy readings.

 

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Best answer by Transparent 21 August 2020, 15:25

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Transparent
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Hi @Bar58 - sorry to hear this, but thanks for raising the issue here on the Forum.

Since we’re fellow customers we don’t have your background details. But please fill out your Forum Profile page because that’s where we’d look.

The first things I’d like to check is the type of Smart Meter you had installed by Co-op, and the approximate date you joined OVO.

Can you also tell us who manufactured your meter, or the installation date?

Better still, post a photo of it here if you can!

Once I have that information I’ll be in a better position to find a way forward. Don’t assume that all you read online is still true. The Smart Meter technology is moving forward, and we’ve just entered a time-frame when many of the earlier meters are being upgraded. That work started on 28th July, and will achieve universal transferability between all Energy Suppliers.

Save energy... recycle electrons!
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Thank you.

My Electric meter is a Landis+Gyr E470 and was fitted on 4 January 2019.  This worked fine until migrated from Coop to Octopus, I stayed with them for a week or 2 but customer service was shocking (a victim of their own  success I suspect, a lot had been moved moved over) So joined Ovo on 27 December 2019.

Was booked in for health check with Ovo on 4 April 2020 which understandably had to be cancelled, so submitting gas readings monthly... electric has been fine.

My IHD stopped working a few days ago and keeps rebooting with the message ' waiting for current data'.  The WAN light on meter is flashing.  Tried rebooting next to meter doesn't work. 

IHD is IHD3-PPMID/CA30115

GUID OC-A2-F4-00-00-2D-17-10.   2018

Hope this helps will look at my profile.

Kind regards.

 

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Transparent
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Updated on 14/12/22 by Emmanuelle_OVO

Welcome to OVO!

Great question to ask about the function of your Landis and Gyr meter after switching to OVO. The communication of your meters will depend on whether you have S1 or S2 Landis and Gyr meters - as both these meters have the model name E470 it can be hard to tell but luckily we’ve broken it down a bit in the guide below:


What does a SMETS1 (S1) Landis+Gyr E470 look like?

 

Here’s an example of one installed by British Gas/Centrica:
 

Original image credit @Jason Kovesdi 

 

There’s also another type of SMETS1 Landis+Gyr E470 smart meter, that looks like this:

 

Another type of SMETS1 meter. Notice the separate comms hub to the right...

 

The common characteristic of the SMETS1 versions is that they have a separate Communications (Comms) Hub next to the meter, such as the Trilliant SEAP-2001-V. If you’ve got one of these, your gas meter will also be SMETS1 and is probably a Landis+Gyr G370.



What does a SMETS2 (S2) Landis+Gyr E470 look like?

 

Here’s an example of one that was originally installed by EDF:

 

An S2 EDF Landis+Gyr E470 with Toshiba SKU1 Cellular Comms Hub


Pretty much all S2 L+G E470 meters look a bit like this one, but might not have the supplier stickers. They never have a black border around the display, and will always have one green and one grey button - but might not be in the same places.

 

 

Which Landis and Gyr meters can OVO communicate with?

 

If you’ve got an S2 Landis and Gyr meter, we’ll be able to communicate with this one straight away. However at the moment we may not be able to communicate with your S1 Landis and Gyr meters. There’s good news on the horizon though - these meters are due to be remotely upgraded to send us the readings automatically - all L+G meters are due to complete this upgrade by September 2022 - read more about this here.
 

 

What happens if the meters aren’t communicating?


Until your S1 meter is upgraded it’ll still clock your usage, you’ll just have to take the reading manually. You can submit this easily each month on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). Unfortunately we won’t be able to get your In-Home Display (IHD) paired up to show your usage data until we’re able to communicate with the meter. As soon as your meter is updated, we’ll be in touch to let you know - at this point you can contact our Support Team to get the IHD back up and running.

 

What if my meters been upgraded to SMETS2 but it’s not communicating?

 

If your meter’s been remotely upgraded to SMETS2 (S2) but we aren’t communicating with the meters, fill out this Online Form which will be sent directly to the right team! 

 


 

OVO member but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!

 

Interested but not yet an OVO member? - Check out our plans!

 

Save energy... recycle electrons!
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Thank you Transparent

I refused a smart meter until Smets2 had been rolled out,  I was with First Utility at the time. I waited a year before going ahead and only then when I had been reassured by the Coop and the installer's that it would be a Smets2. My gas meter definitely is, it's an L&G.

I'm gutted and angry that a Smets1 has been fitted after I had taken precautions ..or thought I had..before going ahead.

So I shouldn't have to wait Ovo could just change the meter if the goodwill was there. Need to get in touch with customer services.  I have osteoporosis two pinned hips the smart meter was important to me if I wanted to avoid estimated bills.

Not what I wanted to hear. But thanks. 

By the way I hope the information on my profile will not be used for marketing and generate junk emails,. Not sure  most of that was relevant to my question.

Regards 

 

 

 

Bar
Transparent
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Well now it’s my turn to have doubts. If your gas meter is SMETS2, then your electricity meter must also be. The electricity meter contains the Communications Hub which links everything together on your site.

The version of the software running inside the meters has nothing to do with the manufacturer. However, it is sometimes the case that a particular meter was only ever supplied with SMETS1 software. So that’s what I was hoping when I first asked you for the manufacturer. In this case it didn’t help because Landis & Gyr have supplied electric and gas meters with both SMETS1 and SMETS2 software, and on all possible networks!

So the reason I concluded that your electricity meter must be SMETS1 was on the balance of probabilities that this was the reason it could be sent commands by OVO.

 

Yes, you need to get in contact with Customer Services. They should be able to check the status of your meters and take it from there.

I don’t think you’ll need meters changed at all. Based on what you’ve said, it sounds like everything can be sorted remotely, either be sending commands or else by scheduling a software upgrade.

 

Two other points:

1: Your medical background may facilitate you being on the Priority Services Register. This has a number of benefits, including the fact that you would get priority if it transpires that a site visit is required after all. The PSR is a nationwide service, and also used by your local Distribution Network Operator (Western Power) if there is an interruption to the electricity supply, whether planned or unplanned.

2: There isn’t sufficient information on the Forum Profile page to identify you for marketing purposes, so you don’t have to worry about that. But I did use it to find out that you were in a region served by Western Power, and also to confirm that your Smart Meters will be connected to the Wide Area Network operated by Telefonica. That simply helps me to tailor my answers for you.

Save energy... recycle electrons!
Ed_OVO
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Hi @Bar58, I’ve added some tags to this post to make a it more visible for other’s with similar issues.

 

I definitely think getting in touch with us directly would be the best option here, I can appreciate how important it is to have functioning smart meters.

 

You can call on 0330 303 5063 between 8am - 6pm Monday - Friday, message us on  Facebook, Twitter or webchat via the Help centre.

 

As for the personal information, don’t worry, the only people who can see this are the forum moderators, so it won’t be used for marketing purposes or anything else, just for us to be able to better help you.

I'm shocking at energy puns...
B
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Thanks folks

Been in touch with customer services, excellent it was too. Getting a new IHD and they are forwarding information for my owncown health check.   My meter is a SMETS2.

Let you know how it goes.

Kind regards

Bar
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Hi

Still no contact from the smart team. Sent information asked for, video, photographs, scale drrawing for meter locations etc. Wait 10 days told no contact, sent info again wait 10 more workings days, nothing. Wait 3 to 5 working days . Nothing. IHD didn't join/pair told to wait an hour, might take 4 hours, call in 3 days, nothing.

I'm off ...it will cost me £60 which is a bitter pill to swallow as I do not believe Ovo have honoured their contract to me. Meter worked fine until migrating to them and nothing has changed. Just an email from the Smart team with an approximate date for fixing this or tell me you can't would be something.

Will write to MD, MP and Ofgem except they won't do anything because a third party is involved. Shame this has soured my time with Ovo. Just give customers an honest answer even if it something out of your control and not necessarily what they wish hear...but please do not fob them off.

Bar58

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My Landis + Gyr E470 672 smart meter isn't communicating, and the IHD has stopped working - what can I do?

Blastoise186
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Welcome @NavSoo !

Could you fill in your forum profile for us please? That might help us to get the right details. If you’re able to snap a few photos of your smart meters and IHD as well, that would be lovely.

We can certainly try to offer some tips and advice here on the forums, but it sounds like a smart meter health check is in order. I’m not sure if we’ve got one for Landis+Gyr meters, but hopefully this thread might help:

 

If you pop those details in your next reply along with some snaps, we’ll see what we can do.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
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Dear Sir / Madam

 

Can you please advise me how can I solve communication issue with smart metres and inhouse display unite because our current supplier Utility Point are unable to support smart meters?

A – Provided by our last energy supplier igloo energy

B - Installed by Magnum Utility?

C – Made by Landis + Gyr

Gas smets2- Landis + Gyr G470 672

Electric smets2 - Landis + Gyr G470 Type 5424

D – Inhouse Glow Display GD-1/1.5.0/1.2.4 by Hildebrand

E – To communicate with Bright App

*edited by mod*

Kind regards

*edited by mod*

 

Blastoise186
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Thanks @NavSoo , sorry for the wait. This took me a while to research.

Please try to avoid posting personal info here though, as this is a public forum and it risks leaking something you might not want to share. A moderator has edited your comment for now.

I have to admit that I’m absolutely stunned that an energy supplier has absolutely no support for smart meters whatsoever. However, I can confirm that you’ve got SMETS2 smart meters, so they should work just fine with any supplier that can support smart meters, including OVO.

As I’m a forum volunteer here, I don’t like to sound like a sales rep and the advice we offer is always free of charge, even if you’re with another supplier. However, this does leave you with a decision that you might want to make.

If you’d like to get the smart meters working again, my best advice would be to switch supplier. If OVO takes your fancy, you can start the process right over here. But if you’d rather explore the market and find a different supplier, that’s also cool with us too. We’re always happy to help whichever way you go. :blush:

On the other hand, if you’d rather stay with your current supplier and value what you’re getting now over having working smart meters, that’s another option as well. But it doesn’t look like you’ll get them working with Utility Point until if/when they finally add support for it.

I hope this helps. If you’re unsure about anything, feel free to let us know.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Tim_OVO
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Great advice from @Blastoise186 and great info to help us to help you, @NavSoo.

 

I think I may need to do a bit of a content update task here. As it seems the confusing way these Landis+Gyr G470 meters are labeled is causing some potential miss advice. 

 

I’ve moved your comments over to this thread, originally posted by @Bar58 - as it seemed to be an identical question. But now it seems there are different types of Landis+Gyr G470 meters, some are S1, some are S2?

 

I need to look at this and update the best answers of these relevant topics. Any help here would be appreciated! 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Blastoise186
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Welcome to the weird world of Landis+Gyr @Tim_OVO !

While other brands such as Aclara make telling S1 (such as the Aclara SGM1300 Series) and S2 (such as the Aclara SGM1400 Series) meters apart really easy… L+G have this really weird, strange and somewhat annoying habit of re-using the same model names/numbers for everything! Pretty much the only distinguishing elements of their model numbers is that the newer versions might have something like “Series 5” on it. But even that is badly documented by L+G and it’s unrealistic that most people would be able to find that.

The only reliable way to tell an S1 Landis+Gyr E470 electric meter and G470 gas meter apart from the S2 Landis+Gyr E470 electric meter and G470 gas meter is to basically look at the comms hub that is attached to the electricity meter. While the S2 variants will always have an S2 comms hub that’s similar to others, the older S1 versions will have something else such as Trilliant hubs instead.

In actual fact, while the S1 Aclara meters tend to have Aclara branded comms hub - the Aclara SGM1311 Smart Energy Meter comes with an Aclara SGC1311 Smart Communications Hub for example - which makes identification even easier, I don’t think L+G tend to bundle their own comms hubs into the package, even for the S1 variants.

If you’ve got a Landis+Gyr E470/G470 and are ever unsure if it’s a SMETS1 or SMETS2 though, please do feel free to ask us here on the forums and we’ll give it a shot. If you include some snaps of your meters, comms hub and IHD as well, this makes it even easier for us to give you the right details.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Blastoise186
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In fact… I’m afraid it gets even more complicated still, because Landis+Gyr also likes to throw yet another curveball into the mix.

It seems that just like their electric meters, multiple L+G gas meters also look very similar to each other. If you take a look at their product offering and filter it to Gas meters under View by type, you’ll probably spot the snag.

Based on the current listings, you’ve got the L+G G350 which is a smart meter, but I’m not sure if it’s S1 or S2. However, you’ve also got the very similar looking L+G Libra 310 which is a different model that you can’t really distinguish from the G350… And on top of that, you’ve got the L+G Libra 110 which is a prepayment meter that looks almost identical to the Libra 310 and G350. The only obvious difference is the fact the Libra 110 has a card reader slot, which the other two don’t seem to have.

And if you were to put a G350 side by side with a G470… It’s also nearly impossible to tell those apart either...

Landis+Gyr almost seem to have done an Apple - where pretty much every new new iPhone, iPad and MacBook model looks almost exactly like the last one and you need to be Sherlock Holmes to tell them apart!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Tim_OVO
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Oh wow, that is just brilliant, thanks L+G :smirk:

 

@Blastoise186 how many wild Pokémon do I need to send your way to get a tutorial made to help UK energy users tell the difference? I’ll be able to use this to update all our other L+G topics including this one…...

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Blastoise186
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Erm… Maybe a whole squad of Mew perhaps?

This one’s in the queue!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
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I am a relatively new Ovo customer, two months. I transferred from BG. We have a Landis and Gyr E470 with a Trilliant comms  unit. It worked with BG and was read every thirty mins. We did not get an in home display when we bought this home, it was gone when we took possession. 
since moving to Ovo I am sending manual reading because Ovo cannot connect. The checker provided by DCC says it does not recognise the MPAN. DCC were supposed to be completed with the integration of SMETS 1 by know.

the WAN led is flashing. 
 

it looks as if DCC can’t fix my meter. Will Ovo replace it with a working smart meter? Or are we stuck with taking manual readings.

 

 

Blastoise186
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Hi @Middlestreet ,

As I understand things, OVO’s policy is that they will try to fix the existing equipment first but there is a one year maximum timeout. If all efforts to get things working fail, the last resort is a Meter Exchange to upgrade you to SMETS2 meters which OVO would arrange with you.

Make sure to report this to the Support Team so that they’re aware of it!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
nealmurphy
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L&G migration should.be complete this month, so you never know it could suddenly come back to life.

If you have a meter that cannot be transferred to DCC then suppliers have to take all reasonable steps to replace your meter with a SMETS 2 meter by 31st December 2022.

 

M
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Thanks, folks. Will wait a little longer to see if it comes to life. The support team seem a bit stressed right now so will give a bit more time.

 

Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @Middlestreet,

 

Sorry for the issues you’ve had.

 

Great to see our community members giving some tip-top advice here. 

 

OVO is unable to communicate with SMETS1 British Gas smart meters, so if they are unable to enroll it on the DCC then we won’t be able to communicate with the meter remotely. 

 

I’d advise filling out a smart meter health check if you haven’t done so already, you can then forward this to Support via web messenger:

 

 

Once they have this our team can start trying to sort out the communication issues with the meter. If they are unable to do they will be in touch to book a faulty meter exchange. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
M
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Emmanuelle, 

Thanks for the input. It may have helped but the support team does not respond once the customer gets past the AI bit. I was position 1 in the  queue  at the outset but abandoned the link after 50 minutes of waiting for a response from an advisor. The chat function evidently does not work. Or, there just are no staff on shift.
I will just lodge a manual reading once per month or thereabouts. 
So much for mart meters. Ditto Ovo service levels. 

Tim_OVO
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Thanks for flagging this, @Middlestreet - I’ve logged this as a potential issue and I’ll be keeping an eye for anyone else describing the same thing. So far you’re the first…

 

Following this I’ll be passing your feedback on to the team that look after web messenger to make sure they’re aware. 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
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i recently moved into a property with a Landis Gyr E470 Type 5424 for electricity. the gas smart meter has shown up on the network but this (electricity) one has not. i don’t have a problem getting readings--they’re always displayed on the screen--but it isn’t being recognised by my IHD or the supplier. 

i’m pretty sure it’s SMETS 2 (it doesn’t seem to have a separate comms box--see attached pic) so i’m not sure why it’s not being found.

further, using the Citizens Advice link you posted above, despite entering my MPAN number and postcode correctly, it says “We can’t find your meter” … 

when entering my MPRN number for electricity it says “Your gas meter's working in smart mode” and that “It’s working in smart mode because you have a second generation meter (SMETS2) that’s on the smart meter data network”

this suggests i’m right in thinking the gas meter is SMETS 2 (can’t think why they’d install a SMETS 2 elec but not gas meter?) but for some reason it’s not being picked up…

any help you can provide is much appreciated! 

 

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