Ovo has contacted me for meter readings as my meters are not communicating with them but I can’t send any readings as my meter screen is blank and does not wake up from any buttons being pressed on the keypad.

My gas meter is working.

Any suggestions.

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Hey @TracySB



It sounds like the meter might be faulty as it should always show something on the screen when pressing buttons on the keypad.



I'd recommend contacting the Care team about this so they can ask a few more questions and book you in for a faulty meter exchange if need be - 0330 303 5063.



Cheers,

Emma



Updated on 12/07/2019

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Oh my goodness, @petersaunders !!

It's a condition of your contract with OVO that you should be able to provide meter readings at intervals not exceeding 3 months. That "condition" cuts both ways! You should never have been left without a working meter for this long.

I don't know how you made the report last July, but I suggest you now raise this through the OVO Complaints Procedure and do so by email so that you retain a copy with the date/time stamp.

Put the work "Complaint" in the subject line and at the start of the body text. For security reasons, make sure that you give your account number and address.

OVO have 5 days to respond under Stage-1 of the Procedure. They very rarely let a complaint go to the second stage.

Let us know if you need any more assistance or clarification.

And please fill out your Forum Profile page. That's where Forum Members like me first look to find details like the start-date of your contract, geographical location etc. Thanks.

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Thanks! That's really helpful. The previous reports and replies were on email so I have the record. And I'll update the Profile page as you suggest.

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I also have a problem with my so-called "smart" meter. The electric meter is working okay but the gas meter has stopped sending readings to OVO.



Following advice posted in another thread, I checked the meters. It turns out that gas smart meters do not communicate directly with OVO - they communicate with the electric smart meter. So only the electric smart meter communicates directly with OVO. Who knew? Not me.



The WAN light on my electric meter is flashing. Apparently, this is a "good thing". However, when I press 0 on the gas meter, it displays a date of 01/04/2014. Apparently, this is a "bad thing". Actually, I wouldn't mind if it really was April 2014 - for one thing, I would be 5 years younger. Also, I would never have heard the word "Brexit".



The thing is - I am not interested in "smart" meters. I don't care one iota about my energy usage. I just want the "smart" meters to do their job so I can get my "self-service reward". Is this too much to ask?



Btw, a person more cynical than me may suspect that some other energy companies might deliberately disable communication with smart meters and rely on customers not noticing. Such an energy company would then have a reason to stop paying promised "rewards" to their valued customers. Of course, I would never suggest that a reputable company such as OVO would ever do anything like this.

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It sure is frustrating. I wish I'd never had a so-called smart meter. Or that companies were as committed to repairing them as they were to fitting them in the first place.

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Hi @ElonBusk

I agree that there hasn't been enough information available about Smart Meter installation and operation. I had my SMETS2 meters installed four weeks ago, so I've decided to post a whole heap of background details about this on the Forum, which can view by clicking here.

Your question has reminded me that I need to add something to that page about the flashing lights and what they stand for.

Lights will always flash on the Communications Hub which is bolted on top of the ESME (Electric Smart Metering Equipment). The crucial factor is how fast they flash.

The default flash rate should be slow: 1 pulse on to 50 off.

There are two other flash rates mentioned in the official specifications. These are:

• Medium: 1 pulse on to 20 off
• Fast/high: 1 pulse on to 5 off

If you want to provide any further details of the speed of flashes on your Comms Hub, then I'll endeavour to post here what it means! Can you please confirm how many lights there are and tell me the manufacturer's name on both the electricity SMETS meter itself and the Coms Hub above it? I expect the Meter will say "Secure".

The Gas SMETS meter shouldn't read 2014. It sounds like it's lost communication with the electricity SMETS meter and resorted to a system default.

(Nor can it be one of the Westcountry ones which we have around these parts, because they're 50 years behind!)

The self-service reward shouldn't have anything to do with whether your smart meters are operating. Even if you send in manual readings monthly by email, you wouldn't lose the SSR for having contacted Customer Services.

You definitely need to report to OVO that the gas Smart Meter appears not to be in communication. I'm surprised that this hasn't been auto-reported as a system-error by the Communications Hub. There is a software command to do this.

I suggest you email them and put the word "Complaint" in the subject line. The OVO Complaints Procedure requires them to address this within 5 working days. I'd be very surprised if they don't resolve the issue speedily. OVO get very high scores for complaints handling, and this is audited by Ofgem.

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Transparent,



Thank-you for your informative reply - also the other thread you linked to. But, as I said - I am simply not interested in "smart" meters. I don't want to know the technical jargon. Life is too short. I work in IT so I have more than enough technical jargon to be going on with.



As far as I am concerned, the meters are "owned" by the energy providers. They are responsible for ensuring the "smart" meters work. OVO's systems know I have "smart" meters because it was OVO (or their contractors) who installed them. OVO also know that the gas meter has provided no readings since it was installed in September 2018. But, somehow, it is my responsibility to report this to them - something they already know?



Yes, I had already emailed OVO at that address. I am awaiting a reply.



I've decided I no longer care about the S-S "reward" - it's only a few quid. I can now see what OVO's intentions were when they moved customers to the "reward" system in 2018. It's quite obvious. Fortunately, my contract with OVO expires soon so I can move to another provider. I expect they'll be no better.

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Ah... I should've guessed that you work in IT by the pun you've used in your Forum name!



The more I've learned about Smart Meters over the past year, the more I've understood who is responsible for what and why our Energy Suppliers not only seem to have little data, but also how removed they actually are from the process.



Even if OVO send their own Engineer to install them, he is receiving responses from DCC during the commissioning process, and files his reports with ECOES and Xoserve for electricity and gas respectively. It is they who then initiate a Notification system with OVO to agree the new Meter Point Reference Numbers and the "final" readings on the old meters.



I have no idea what DCC do with most of the data available from our Smart Meters. It may not necessarily all get passed to your Energy Supplier. In my case, I know that a proportion of the fault codes get notified to Telefonica, for example. But you're on a different network to me.



Because OVO are still creating their own in-house billing/estimating system (it used to be handled by a 3rd party), it's quite possible that it isn't (yet) providing them with a comprehensive set of error codes for accounts where meter readings are absent or erratic.



I don't know, for example, how they could tell the difference between a Smart Meter not communicating due to an internal fault as opposed to a 3G mast having been decommissioned in the same area. I know that there's no national database which allows companies in the energy sector to look up which meters are in which geographical area or attached to which sub-station.



Yes, the system is evolving, but I'd really like to see Ofgem bringing forward the date by which these disparate bodies all operate together to give us flexible half-hour tariffs. Then we'll no longer be seeking annual fixed-price contracts anyway!

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I don't know, for example, how they could tell the difference between a Smart Meter not communicating due to an internal fault as opposed to a 3G mast having been decommissioned in the same area. I know that there's no national database which allows companies in the energy sector to look up which meters are in which geographical area or attached to which sub-station.

I see what you are saying but, in my example, I contend that OVO could tell the difference: They have been receiving readings from my electric meter since installation in September 2018, yet they have not received a single reading from the gas meter. The logical conclusion here is: Either a fault with the gas meter, or; no communication between the gas meter and the electric meter. It would be trivial for OVO to update their systems to automatically check for this scenario and flag it up for the attention of an operator:

IF ELECTRIC = 1 AND GAS = 0 THEN GOTO HUMAN



Rather than do this, it seems to me that OVO are using the term "self service" to put the onus on the customer. Fine, I accept that - it's similar to using the self-service checkouts at a supermarket. But if there is a glitch with a self-service checkout, it usually tells you on the screen e.g. "No cards - cash only". What it doesn't do is; let you scan all your items and only then do you discover it won't accept your card and have to report it to a member of staff. As for any middle-men between the meters and OVO - I don't need to know. My contract is with OVO.



You might think I'm choosing to be wilfully ignorant about "smart" meters and yes, I am. I just don't want to know and, imho, I shouldn't have to know. Not when there are recently painted walls I need to keep under observation.

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Hi @petersaunders - it sounds like your electricity meter has no signal with us and needs recommissioning. That said, the screen should still turn on if you press a button on the keypad. If not, it may be faulty and we can replace it sooner. Please let us know if you can get a meter reading up by pressing button 9.



Cheers

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Hi @Nancy_OVO Nancy_OVO - that's what I keep telling people at OVO. The meter is DEAD and it doesn't matter what button I press. Believe me, it's faulty. At least since posting my message at the top, and making a formal complaint as suggested by @Transparent , I've had the promise of a visit to rectify. I'll keep you posted on that.

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I'm pleased to hear that you've succeeded in being offered an on-site visit @petersaunders



I'm not (yet) convinced by @Nancy_OVO 's conclusion that the fault lies within the electricity Smart Meter. Its Comms Hub must be connecting to DCC in order for your electricity usage to be supplied to OVO.



If the Engineer is prepared to tell you what he discovers the fault to be, then we'd love to hear more on this Forum. Every bit of info like this is useful. It increases the knowledge-base, which helps others whose meters incur similar problems in future.



And if either the gas or electric Smart Meters require replacement, we'd also like to know if it gets swapped out for one of the same manufacturer (Secure), and if you get upgraded to the SMETS2 standard at the same time. Thanks.

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Hi @Transparent - @petersaunders didn't mention that the readings are getting to us. In fact, he mentioned he's still getting meter reading reminder emails requesting them, which makes me think they're not, especially if the screen is blank and the meter won't wake up when prompted.

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Hi @Nancy_OVO @Transparent



That's correct Nancy.

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Ah, mea culpa, @Nancy_OVO !



I had incorrectly jumped to the conclusion that 'twas the gas meter screen which was blank.

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I used to get smart meter readings showing up on my account meter reading history up until 12 april and now they are not showing, how can i check that ovo are still getting sent meter readings - or can i assume if they're not showing on my ovo, then ovo aren't recieving them?

Thanks

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@clare0123 I'm no expert but that seems a fair assumption.

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@Nancy_OVO how can you guys sort/check you are getting my readings without me calling up and losing my discount?

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@clare0123 How can you lose your self service reward (SSR) for something you can't "self serve"?



You only lose the Reward if you contact Customer Services for things you can already undertake via the website.



And... whilst I think of it, I've been told by an OVO staff member last week that you don't have to preface your email/conversation with the word "Complaint". The guidance they are working to is that anything you raise which would appear to be a fault/mistake on the part of OVO is assumed to be the initial step on the Complaints Procedure.



ie common sense prevails!

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Updated on 26/06/24 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

 

‘Waking up’ the smart meter screen

 

The LCD screen on the most smart meters will be blank or 'asleep' until you press a button on the meter (Note - this is different to the screen on the smart meter In Home Display, IHD). Usually pressing any button on the meter will cause the screen to ‘wake up’. 

 

Taking a reading

 

A smart meter should communicate your readings automatically meaning you shouldn’t need to regularly take a manual meter reading. Worried that your smart meters may have lost communication? We’ recommend carrying out the smart meter health check for your meter type below and contacting our Support Team with the results.
 

 

 

For SMETS1 ‘Secure’ smart meters:

 

Press the ‘A’ button on the electricity meter, to wake the screen up and the ‘9’ button (for single rate meters) or ‘6’ (for dual rate meters) -it will show IMP KWH on the screen followed by the reading.  On the gas meter pressing ‘9’ will show the reading  in both kWh or M^3 (we use the M^3 number). More info on how to read your Secure S1 smart meter here. 
 

For SMETS2 Aclara, Flonidan, Honeywell or Elster smart meters:

 

	Aclara (Elec) / Flonidan (Gas)	Elster (Elec) / Honeywell (Gas)
Reading the meter	Elec: Press A three times until TOU Rate 1 appears. Gas: Press C to wake up, then C to access the menu. Use B to scroll and C to select the reading option.	Elec: Press the top button once or twice Gas: Press the circle button once or twice

 

Meter Screen not ‘waking up’?

 

If you’re pressing buttons on the meter and the screen is still not showing anything, this suggests your meter might be faulty. In this case reach out to our Support Team, who can help get a meter replacement exchanged.

As long your smart meter is still communicating the readings remotely this shouldn’t affect the accurate billing of your account. In the unlikely event that the meter screen fault occurs on a non-communicating meter we may need to estimate your usage or recalculate your charges once the meter is replaced.

 

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

 

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

 

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SO IT Turns out to be another Smart Gas Meter IS Not working.

Ok I rarely check as I was under the impression I did Not Have to, as I know have smart meters.

It turns out that My last 11 Gas meter reading's have all been ESTIMATED .

SO WHY HAVE OVO NOT CONTACTED ME TO TELL ME MY SMART GAS METER IS NOT AS SMART AS WE THOUGHT IT WAS.

11 ESTIMATED READING's YOUR having a Laugh at my expense.

So I check to see how to get reading's up on the meter & it's press 9 , take a reading & it's over 600 more than the last estimated 1, I'm dreading the actual figure.

OVO had better get someone to my house & check this GAS meter. I am NOT taking any readings until an Employee from OVO turns up at my house & sorts out this meter.

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I'm not saying this is the reason... But I'm just putting a for instance to you, how far away from the hub and electric meter is the gas meter, if its too far away, the electric meter and more importantly the hub on top of it, won't be able to communicate with the gas meter, and you will only get an electric read being picked up by ovo

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OVO had it installed by there company . They should of checked it was working. It was working for about 6 month's .

My complaint is that OVO have NOT made contact with me telling me that they had a problem with the GAS SMART meter & they needed to check it, 11 months come on .

I will be phoning today telling them they had better get someone out to rectify the problem.

They have my Home phone & Mobile number, also my email, they could of even used the Royal Mail, but No they have let it go on for 11 Months.

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Yea I agree these problems should be picked up remotely, get an engineer out and if need be replace the gas meter.

If it was working for 6 months before, then it's probably not the HAN.

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