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Updated on 16/07/24 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

 

Your guide to the SMETS1 Pipit In Home Display (IHD)

 

How to tell if you’ve got a Pipit IHD


It’s important to understand what type of IHD you’ve got before trying to troubleshoot any issues.

If you’ve got a Secure Liberty SMETS1 meter installed by OVO you may have been issued the Pipit IHD (for earlier installs) or a Chameleon IHD (for more recent upgrades).
 

You can identify the Pipit IHD as it’s a black and white device with 'SECURE' written underneath the screen.
 


 

Missing usage data for one or both of your supplies

 

First, thing to check is that your device is correctly paired to your smart meters via the Home Area Network (HAN). You can do this by checking the symbol in the top-right hand corner of the screen:
 

If your device is showing the second symbol (crossed-out Wifi symbol) you may just need to move the IHD closer to your electricity meter to allow it to re-coonect.


For devices showing either of the bottom two options, we’d recommend contacting our Support Team who can help re-pair your device. You may also want to check that there’s no missing smart meter usage data on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS) as this would suggest the Wide Area Network (WAN) communication might be the issue, in which case we’d recommend carrying out a Smart Meter Health Check before contacting our Support Team with the results.
 


Navigating your Pipit menu options
 

The Home screen


When the IHD is turned on, it’ll display the Home screen. This default screen will be slightly different depending on whether you’re an electricity-only or dual fuel member. 

The ‘Estimated Bill’ figure on this screen doesn't necessarily match your monthly billing cycle. This figure can't be reset manually but will reset after a tariff change, so when you renew, or with a price change if you're on the Simpler Energy plan. Think of it as a ‘Total usage since last tariff change’ figure. 

If you’re looking to check your current monthly cost the best place to head is the ‘Billing’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). This will update daily if you have your smart meter set to send us a reading either daily or half hourly. If you would like to update the reading schedule of your meter to allow this, contact our Support Team to request this change.

Dual Fuel

 


Single Fuel

 


The main menu

 


Pressing the 'Menu' button from the Home screen will take you to the main menu with the following menu options:

  • Electricity/Dual/Gas - Press to the return to the Home screen data for either fuel
  • Message - This shows any messages we might send informing you of tariff updates.
  • History - Shows historical consumption data per hour, day, week, or month.
  • Tariff - Shows tariff details.
  • Account - This isn’t used for Pay Monthly members.
  • Settings - This allows you to personalise the IHD settings.

 

 

Viewing current cost or kWh usage data - Electricity only members

 

From the Home screen, if you press A/C, the display will cycle through current consumption figures in kWh, £/h, and CO2 output.
 


The circular dials show the current energy demand divided into three levels - low, medium and high.

For electricity-only members, the left-hand side of the screen will show the electricity dial and the right will show yesterday's consumption compared to today's.
 


Viewing current cost or kWh usage data - Dual Fuel Members


From the home screen, pressing the Dual Fuel button will change the display from showing dual fuel to electricity or gas only. In this case, the left side of the screen will show the energy demand dial while the right side will show yesterday's consumption compared to today's.
 

 

 


Viewing historic usage data

 

 

When you press the History button from the main menu, you’ll be shown historic usage data for either fuel (press Fuel Selection button to toggle between gas or electricity), in kWh, £/hour, or CO2 (press Unit Selection button to toggle between these options).

The historic usage data can be shown in four time periods  - Press the View button at the top right to view data by:

  • Hour - hourly data for the current day - includes a scroll button to navigate forwards and backwards through the graph
  • Day - daily data for the past week, including the current day
  • Week - weekly data for the past month, including the current week
  • Month - monthly data for the past year, including current month

Each screen will show the highest usage and the overall usage for that period.

 

Tariff details


Pressing the Tariff button from the main menu will show the currently loaded unit rate (standing charge not shown) for electricity or gas. The rates should be shown including VAT which you can to the prices on the ‘Plan’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). This page should shows the same rates excluding VAT (so 5% lower). If your unit prices and standing charges are different by more than 5% and it’s been over a week since your plan started, reach out to the Support Team - we might need to check that the IHD is paired and the correct tariff has been updated on your meters.
 

 

The Account button

 

The Account button is solely used by engineers or prepayment customers. If you press it, it’ll ask you for a vend code which is only relevant for those making manual top-ups.
 

 

Pipit LEDs

 

The IHD has two LEDs (one for each fuel) which can light up in either green, orange or red.  The colour of the LEDs indicates your current usage in relation to your personally set target amount.

  • Green - under target (low usage)
  • Orange - approaching target (average usage)
  • Red - over target (high usage)

You can change your energy usage target amount by heading over to the setting menu option.

 

 

Settings menu

 

 

By pressing Settings from the main menu you’ll reach the Settings menu with the following functions:

  • Info - displays connection details of the device, including serial numbers, firmware version, and helpline numbers
  • Target - allows you to set a target for your daily energy usage
  • Sound - turns device sound on/off
  • LEDs - turns LED indicators on/off
  • Credit Alert - Set a meter balance alert (Only used by prepayment customers)
  • DST - turns daylight saving one-hour offset on/off - This should be set to ‘on’ during summer
  • Backlight - set the display backlight to turn off after one minute or stay on constantly
  • Network - manually disconnect or reconnect the IHD with the Home Area Network (when pairing/unpairing)
  • Contrast - adjust the screen's contrast level
  • Erase - erase all historical consumption data from the IHD's memory

 


Setting an energy usage target


The current target can be viewed by going to Menu > Settings > Target.  You can view the target in kWh, £/h, or CO2 by pressing the Unit button at the top right of the screen.

To change the target amount, press the number button for either electricity or gas and you’ll see the screen below.

 


You can use the displayed keypad to set a new target amount. When you press OK you’re newly updated targets will be confirmed on-screen. The new targets will affect the parameters for each colour of the LED lights (see above). The energy target amount will be shown on your current usage and historic usage screens too.
 

 

How do I connect the power cable to my Pipit IHD?

 

There’s socket on the back of the unit.  You should insert the power cable into the socket with symbol ‘B’ facing outwards.

 

 

 


How do I turn on the Pipit IHD?

 

When the device is connected to mains power it’s always on. After one minute of inactivity, the display will go to sleep but will immediately light up again if you press the touchscreen. If the unit is being powered by two AAA batteries then it’ll turn off after one minute of inactivity. It can be turned on again by using the battery switch on the left side of the device.

 

 

 


How can I activate the 'boost' function on Pipit IHDs paired to Liberty 110 smart meters?

 

The boost function is available to those who have a Liberty 110 meter. You can activate this either on the IHD or the meter up to 10 times a day and it’ll turn on anything attached to the 5th terminal for an hour. The energy used will be charged at your peak unit rate. 

You can activate the 'boost' function on your IHD by pressing Dual Fuel and then clicking on the Status button at the bottom of the screen on the electric side of the display. 

 

More In-Depth Pipit user Guide


A PDF of the Pipit IHD user guide can be found here.

 

 

OVO Chameleon/SMETS 2 IHD Guides

 

 

 

Still need some help getting to grips with your device? Add your question  below, our community will be happy to help! :blush:

 

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

 

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

 

i have done a smart meter health check on both meters electric is flashing wan light 5 times en pauses also han showing on meter and date time and month correct. on gas meter han solid on gas meter and date and time correct. why does it take 45 days to rectify this problem  i wish now i had never had smart meters installed as i have still got to read gas.

 

Hi.

45 days is roughly six weeks, which is needed to allow enough time to investigate deeper issues that can’t be resolved quickly - usually because of things like the issue being a technical one, or where a third party is involved for example. The exact list can vary, but it’s quite common for anything that gets escalated to take longer to resolve than things which can be resolved immediately over the phone or live chat. This is true with just about anywhere to be honest.

It sounds like someone is looking into your issue at the moment, but you didn’t mention whether the GAS light on your meter is flashing or not. Please could you show us some photos of your meters - especially with the display on the gas meter lit up and clearly visible. I can’t speed up the fixes, but it can help me to gather some clues.

my gas meter is a smet one type it does not have a flashing light just  HAN in solid letters which means it is connected to the network

Thanks @richard1966 - it’s really handy to have this info so we know what’s been ruled out!

 

Are you aware of your SMETS1 smart meter being upgraded to become ‘SMETS1+’, as blastoise mentioned earlier in this thread?

 

We are aware of some display devices (such as your Pipit) having some issues following this upgrade, in recent weeks. This might be related… My advice isn’t of much help for you in this case, but as you’ve mentioned a time frame for Support, it sounds like you’ve already raised this. So that’s a great step and means you don’t need to do any more leg work. It’s been enough already! 

I have a Pipit IHD. Since my fixed price tariff ended in August, the tariff shown on the IHD has not been updated to the correct tariff (as shown on my account) despite raising this on two if not three occasions on on-line chat. On each occasion, I was told that it would be referred to their technical team. Has anyone else had the same problem or manged to get their’s changed? 

Hey @REM,

 

Sorry to hear of the issues you’re having. 

 

If it’s already been raised to the technical team, it sounds like it’s with the right people and should hopefully be resolved soon. They should be able to run a ‘tariff configuration’ to update your IHD. 

 

I can understand this must be frustrating, in the meantime you can see all your usage information on the Online Account. 

 

Hope this helps. 

Has anyone else had the same problem or manged to get their’s changed? 

 

Yes. My Pipit 500 IHD started showing the wrong rates a few months ago, I think after British Summer Time started. I emailed OVO to try and get it corrected; a few weeks later, the rates were changed remotely by the OVO SMART team again, but they’re still wrong. Since the E7 timings are OK and it’s only the £ amounts that are wrong, I’m not particularly concerned and I haven’t done any more about it. The online account and my monthly bills show the right figures.

Who knows - perhaps it will be corrected automatically next week when we’re back on GMT. 

I have just relised that in home monitor display is not showing the correct information.

Electricity costs include daily charge and VAT whilst Gas costs do not.  Anyone have a similar issue?

Sorry - PIPIT!

 

Easy fix. :)

The SMETS Command Update Tariff Configuration should re-sync the meters with the correct tariff rates. Let the Support Team know via Live Chat and they’ll fix it for you.

Thank you - will contact them tomorrow.

 

Might want to wait until Tuesday unless it’s urgent. :)

The phones and Live Chat of all suppliers get smashed to pieces on Mondays!

Thanks :)

So it’s now over three weeks since I posted on here and about five or six weeks since I was told in a the Live Chat team that it had been referred to the technical department. And still the displayed tariff hasn’t been corrected. At least the name of the tariff plan is correct!

If it’s so difficult to do with my IHD perhaps it should be updated?

Hey @REM,

 

I’m sorry to hear this,

 

You can find out more about IHD replacement’s in this helpful guide:

 

 

We have a live billing system so in the meantime you can monitor your usage via your Online Account. 

 

 

Hope this helps. 

Well, a month after contacting OVO via online chat and explaining my situation regarding incorrect tariffs showing on my PIPIT home monitor I still have heard nothing regarding the gas KW cost.  The electricity figure now looks correct, including VAT, however the gas figure is way too low.  How am I supposed to monitor my usage if the KW costs are incorrect?  Yes, I can check online the following day but that defeats the purpose of the home display.  May as well not have one.

Hi,

I think I’ve got a solution you can try. Wait until new year and put a request in to run the SMETS Command Update Tariff Configuration. That usually fixes these issues!

My pipit 500 supplied with smart meter seems to be working in every respect except for the screen illumination which isn’t, making it very difficult to read for my ( very) old eyes without magnifying glass and torch

Hi @mikegdavis ,

Unfortunately, that IHD is almost certainly out of warranty and OVO isn’t liable to replace it for free. They only come with a 12 month warranty and the last Secure Pipit 500 was probably given out by OVO in around 2018-ish so they’d all be out of warranty by now.

Arguably, this fault would also be wear and tear which wouldn’t be covered anyway.

However, I do have options for you.

 

I am VERY impressed with OVO forum, having not worked for months, ten minutes after posting my question it has come on - albeit intermittently 

I guess I just have a magic touch! :D

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