Why is there a problem connecting gas Smart meters? The Ovo engineer arrived on 26/10 to fit Smart meters for both gas & electricity. The electricity meter works perfectly, but he said that there was something wrong with the comms for the gas & another appointment would have to made. He put all this on his report, but suggested that I call to re-book as well. When I did, after being kept on hold for over 30 minutes, I was told that it was not possible & that manual readings would have to be made. There are to other flats in my property who both have Smart meters that don’t have problems? What is going on?

Hi @Lady P and thanks for sharing this. 

It’s tricky to say for sure based on what you said. It could be the Home Area Network (HAN) that’s the issue, or something else. 

We have a ‘smart meter health check’ guide for your Aclara meter type which should help you work out the specifics:

Once you know, we can advise a bit more on why the Support team may have suggested it can’t be fixed and you’ll need to submit meter readings manually. I’d be surprised if that was the permanent arrangement available. 

Thank you Tim but I can’t perform a health check as the meter wasn’t installed because it didn’t work!

The engineer installed the electricity smart meter he said this was working, but when he installed the gas smart meter, he said there was a comms issue & although he contacted the Ovo back office help, nothing they suggested worked. I understand that this is a common problem?

When I rang to get another appointment booked, I was told there were no appointments available & that manual readings would have to be done & that he would arrange for someone to call every 3 months to do this…...not ideal really is it?

Thanks @Lady P. 

Quick check, you mention manual meter readings. Is that because your old gas meter is still in place? The thing attached to the wall. 

If that’s the case, you will need to discuss with our Support team to check if the reason why it couldn’t be fitted can be resolved by/ahead of the engineer visit. 

I appreciate that’s a pain to hear as it means manually submitting readings until the gas smart meter is fitted, so if you do speak to the Support team and have any further questions feel free to come back here to see if we can help. 

Posting for the second time.  I have a supposedly 'smart' meter that is anything but.  Hasn't sent a gas reading since the beginning of October.  When I log onto the app I get the message, "we haven't got a reading, would you mind sending us one."  Now this sort of negates the whole point of having this meter.  Fed up filling in forms and phoning Ovo.  I'm very tempted to just unplug it and put it in a cupboard. It has had issues with the gas reading since it was installed in February though the installer was so bad he didn't even check it was working properly before he left.  It wasn't.  Meter was replaced eventually but still no gas readings.  Help!  Before i tear my hair out.

Evening @Scotia121 ,

Could you post photos of both your Smart Meters and the In-Home Display please? I can try to help with diagnostics, but I need to check what you’ve got first.

Thanks for your response.  Will do it tomorrow. 

Hey @Scotia121,

Sorry for the issues you’re having.

If you’ve completed a smart meter health check and sent this to us. The team will try and resolve the issues with your meters remotely over the next 45 working days.

If they’re unable to do so, they’ll be in touch to book in an engineer visit.

I appreciate this is very frustrating. But it’s important you send in readings in the meantime so you’re account isn’t estimated. The good news is we have a live billing system so whenever you submit a reading your account balance will update accordingly.

Hope this helps. 

Sorry the gas meter pic is so poor but hard to get a better one because it is outside.

That’s ok. Please take a photo of the white/grey box above the electric meter as well.

Oh where to start…

I work in tech and I do understand how frustrating tech can be. I laugh and cry when I go onto My Ovo portal and despite having smart meters (recently upgraded to SMETS 2? I think that’s correct) the new gas meter isn’t providing reads to Ovo. This means that I’m having to manually calculate my bill based on my recorded consumption which I give Ovo every few days. This leads me to my major confusion with the portal.

I provide accurate gas reads to the system as above. Mt electicity profile predicts my monthly bill based on the reads it is getting from my meter yaaayyyy!! However despite my giving reads to the gas the data does NOT seem to being ised to predict my gas bill for the month. It’s frustrating to say the least.

Now fortunately I’m not an excessive user and like most I suspect we are trying to reduce our usage and bills. The inability of the portal to be able to turn these meagre consumption values into a predicted bill along with the disappearing DD recommendation that has jumped wildly despite my having provided accurate and timely meter reads is err…

Am I the only one?

Please note this is just a small niggle I know how hard Devs work and that they are constantly plagued by change requests, system upgrades and of course maintaining security as well as answering all too often to incompetent managers who can’t code but can schmooze and read spreadsheets…

Hiya,

It’s probably worth mentioning that it takes up to six to eight weeks to fully commission newly installed Smart Meters. You may not get data coming through during that time.

The system does calculate in real-time based on the data it gets in. This issue seems more like a non-issue to me and it should get resolved once the gas meter starts sending in readings.

Mind showing us photos of the meters? I’d like to check something real quick.

The IHD unit, installed by SSE, does not register any gas usage and still shows the reading last taken in May 1922 which was 00402 units. I don't use the gas for hot water and only use the gas for heating. I turned on the heating in early November so I have used the gas daily since then. I managed to read the meter outside on 4th Nov when it showed 404 units. However since then I have not been able to get a reading as the gas smart meter does not wake up when I press the A (red) button.  The screen just remains blank. I tried pressing the B (black) button as well but nothing happens. Could the battery be flat?

I have no idea how much gas I am using which makes me anxious and is basically unacceptable. Why is the IHD unit not showing any gas usage even though it says it is connected to the meter? Why is the outside gas smart meter not giving me a reading? How can I wake it up ? I don't think it is transmitting readings to SSE either as when I phoned to get a reading I was told it was 402 when it should obviously been more. The last bill I got in August gave an estimated reading of 436 units when in fact I had used no gas at all. 

Hey @Walker46 ,

One thing to try that may or may not work. What happens when you hold down either button on the gas meter for 10-15 seconds? Don’t hold down both at once though!

If it still doesn’t respond, you’ll need to get your meters replaced. Please request a faulty meter exchange via customer service. They’ll sort you out.

Thanks for your reply but unfortunately pressing down the buttons separately for 15 seconds did not work. The gas smart meter is still dead. I shall contact customer service as you suggested. Thanks.

No worries. Chances are both meters will be replaced with SMETS2 as part of the process.

No you’re not the only one. I’ve recently joined so I’m waiting a few weeks before getting on to customer service. 
 

Sounds like I’m having the same issue - electric is coming through automatically and I can read my 30 minute usage in the app, no issue. Gas however is failing to show at all - no data. I did read something that suggested that the data is picked up after midnight every day as part of a batch file - if the data is corrupted or some of the 30 minute slots missing it won’t record on the system. I don’t have my gas on very often, it’s scheduled for morning and evening for total of 1:15 for hot water and I’ll boost heating as and when. So if the app thinks data is missing due to no usage I won’t be seeing any gas usage info.. which is pretty poor. 
 

Does anyone with really low gas usage see their 30 minute usage intervals in app or online?

Yes I hardly use gas at all, just the hob so some days zero gas. I have half hour readings on the account. I suggest you just wait, the system will catch up in due course, and you’ll see it all on your usage charts.

I have been with OVO almost since they started up and have never had cause to complain, but of late I have noticed on my gas usage graph showing usage when I know it is not being used. I informed OVO of this and I replied with a ten point questionnaire that was about 3 weeks ago, I thought I would prove the point by turning my gas off at the meter while I went to visit family. At the end of ten days my gas usage showed ever day having used gas which was impossible, I phoned OVO the teleoperator agreed it was bizarre and said she would pass it on but I've heard nothing it is still the same showing consumption when not being used, which in turn means I am being charged and I believe this has been going on a long time,  in the past I have put it down to the smart meter which is one of the first ever used, OVO have refused to give me the new generation meter? So what to do next? I’m nearly 80 and finding this all a faff as I have my health to consider so I don't need this.

That sounds like estimated readings to me there @Pegasus . You might want to chat with Support and explain the situation.

Failing that… https://ovoenergy.com/feedback 

Blastoise 186. I have had a chat with them over a week ago and I'm still waiting for them to explain/reply. It looks like their communications skills are not up too much, thing is do they care they are getting my money and I am getting no response but that seems normal with big Companies.

Please post photos of the meters. I can’t access your account but I might be able to figure something out.

I’m away at the moment so can't take photos, I've noticed on my account they have completely removed the gas usage chart and other gas related info, so it looks like they are doing something. `They have always said on one page that they cannot communicate with the smart meter, but against all the usage and readings it says smart meter!