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Updated on 16/07/24 by Emmanuelle_OVO:

 

Your guide to the SMETS2 Smart Meter Health Check (MHC)

 

 

If you think there might be communication issues with your SMETS2 meters, we’d recommend checking out the advice given in the following topics first:  

 



Still having communication difficulties? A Smart Meter Health Check (SMHC) can help diagnose things. Carry out the checks below - and submit the answers directly on this online form. It goes straight to the right team!

 

If your Secure Liberty SMETS1 smart meter is having communication issues, find the SMETS1 Smart Meter Health Check here. 
 

 

The SMETS2 smart meter health check

 

 

Ready for the questions? Let’s do it: 

 

What are your smart meter serial (MSN) numbers?

 

Where to find them? 

 

You can find them directly above the barcode on each meter. 

 

The MSN for an S2 electricity smart meter can be found near the meters barcode above the display. The Aclara version of the S2 will start with either 17M, 18M, 19M, 20M, 21M or 22M (depending on the year the meter was manufactured). The Honeywell meters will start with either 17K, 18k, 19K, 20K, 21K or 22K.

 

 

Gas

The MSN for a gas smart meter can be found below the display. It will start with G4F. For Honeywell, it will start with G4K.

 

You can check these match the meter details shown on the ‘Meter Readings’ page on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

 

 

Next, look for the light labelled WAN on the front of your electricity meter

 

What is WAN? 

 

WAN stands for wide area network, it allows an electricity smart meter to send or receive data (such as meter readings) securely. 

 

These are the lights on the communications (comms) hub for SMETS2 found on the electricity meter:

 

 

Lights on the communications hub



SW - Represents the status of the comms hub's software
WAN - The comms hubs ability to communicate with us
MESH - Communication through another S2 comms hub (will be more applicable when there are more S2 smart meters)
HAN - Communication of elec meter, gas meter, and IHD with the comms hub
GAS - Gas meter HAN connectivity
 

Where can I find it?

 

Is the WAN light flashing, On or Off?

 

On  - every 5 seconds - everything is fine here

Flashing - every 3 seconds - searching for connectivity  

Flashing - every 1 second -  connectivity issue

Off - connectivity issue

 

Please check your electricity meter and confirm what the LED light labelled 'WAN' is doing. The lights are on the communication hub, which is above the electricity meter.

 

If the lights aren’t flashing every five seconds, this indicates there may be an issue for our Support team to investigate further. 



When fitting SMETS2 meters in low WAN areas engineers will fit an aerial to the meter. On these meters there’ll be a box (yellow arrow in pic below) sticking out of the comms hub and a wire connecting to the a small (T1) or large (T2) external aerial. So if there are WAN issues and an aerial has been fitted, make sure you find out which size has been installed. Please bear in mind that if you have a larger aerial already installed, there is nothing more we can do to improve WAN.

 

Exact appearance may vary


 

Aerials

T1 aerial (6") and T2 aerial (12”)


 

T2 aerial (12")

 

Now look for a light labelled HAN

 

What is HAN?
 

HAN is a Home Area Network which connects the devices in your home. Your electricity smart meter creates a short range wireless network. This allows it to communicate with your gas smart meter. 

 

If the HAN light isn’t flashing on the smart meter communications hub (attached to the top of the electricity meter), this suggests that the meter hasn’t been commissioned. Further to this, on the screen itself, a commissioned meter would have a signal bar and "HAN" written on it to indicate connection.

 

Is the HAN light flashing or On? 

 

 

Please provide your current reading

 

How to take a manual smart meter reading?

 

To find out your current reading press the menu button or A on your electricity smart meter and the reading will appear after the words IMP KWH. 

 

Aclara (Flonidan for gas)

  • Electricity: There’s 2 buttons on an electricity meter. Pressing B will cycle through all the menus on the meter screen and pressing A will cycle through all the sub menus. To take an electricity reading, you will need to press A - TOU rate 1 will be the electricity reading. For Economy 7 members, TOU rate 2 will show the rate 2 reading.

  • Gas: Gas meters have A, B and C. Pressing C will give you the menu and A & B will allow you to scroll through the options. The balance section is where you can check the reading (when you wake up the meter it should automatically default to the reading screen). Screen 1 - readings, active tariff price, standing charge, export reads, meter mode.

 

Honeywell

  • Electricity: Press the top button once or twice to access the reading. 

  • Gas: Press the middle button once or twice to access the reading. 

If you have a Landis+Gyr smart meter, see this topic guide here to confirm how to read it:

 


Aclara V1 Elec
 

Aclara V1 Elec


Aclara V2.5 Elec

 

Aclara V2.5 Elec


Flonidan Gas
 

Flonidan Gas


 

Where is your electricity meter?

 

This helps us know of anywhere that could be blocking the signal. 

 

Outside- front of home

Outside- back of home

Basement

Inside- ground floor

Inside- first floor

Inside- second floor or above



 

How is the mobile signal next to the meter?

 

Used for checking if there are issues with your meter communicating. 

 

Good

Average

Poor

 

 

Please let us know roughly how far your gas meter is from your electricity meter? 

 

10 metres or less

More than 10 metres


 

Are there any thick walls that could be blocking the signal between your gas and electricity meters? 



 

Head over to this online form to submit these answers 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!

 

What is your current meter @stevepaget ?

There was an upgrade path for the V1 smart meter which should be done by now

You can check the status of your meter here

https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Oh according to that website I have a (SMETS2) meter which should be working. But it has never sent a signal since joining OVO

You could take a look at this to see if there’s anything there 

Although there are sometimes individual account issues which affect connection - in which case, try customer support

Ok, I will. Thanks 

Try downloading any of the ofgem regulated 3rd party apps to see if they can see your data @stevepaget 

https://hugoenergyapp.co.uk/

https://loop.homes/

https://glowmarkt.com/bright

Then if any of them can the issue is likely to be OVO.

Hey @stevepaget 

 

Sorry to hear about the issue you’re having.

 

Jeffus and BPLightlog have offered some really good advice here already. It might also be worth checking out this topic and sending of the smart meter health check above?

 

 

Let us know how you get on.

I've tried two or those apps and they have both failed to get data.

Hugo said "uh oh, no data found. Choose another date or report your data"

 

I have filled in the health check survey 

Account Usage not updating!

Started a chat with OVO 

Basically it would appear the meter is not communicating. It will need to be out of communication for 32 days before they investigate/resolve.

Therefore no point in me carrying on with powermove, as I will not receive any discount. Even if I follow the protocol. I have consistently met the bellow 6% 

Guess the support green energy isn’t priority

 

Meter WAN and HAN green light flashes approx every 5 seconds!

Below they theses their is a red light which flashes every 12 seconds. Anyone know what that signifies

Hi @john23 ,

The red light is not relevant - that just indicates that the meter is detecting usage and showing the recording/tracking of it locally - the same as basically any other electric meter from the last 10-20 years or so.

Try this tool: https://homebrew.n3rgy.com and let us know what it says - this will help us figure things out. Please make sure not to tell us your MPAN, MPRN or address - we don’t need to know that here.

Here is the data,

Also as the local IHD has update info it would appear meter is communicating. As WAN is green there is comms with OVO. 

 

I also note from the data there are number of Firmware updates available for IHD! How is this accomplished?

It would appear there are firmware updates for the meter

 

BETA - Report on the health of your Smart Meter installation - BETA
Note:
If you see multiple devices of the same type, it's likely that you're Energy Supplier has got into a bit of a pickle when trying to installed and configure your smart meter.
Warnings indicate likely problems, Errors indicate real issues

Communications Device (Smart DCC responsibility)
Device Type: CHF
Manufacturer: EDMI M106C]
Model: unknown w433100AE]
GUID: E4-FE-D9-00-01-E1-39-21
Installed: 2022-09-30
Firmware Certified: 30/08/2023
Firmware Age: 1 3010F11E] (number of newer versions available)
Security Expiry Date: 2029-10-31 00:00:00


Electricity Meter (Energy Supplier responsibility)
Device Type: ESME
Manufacturer: L+G +1063]
Model: E470-5533 300050204]
GUID: 30-EB-5A-FF-FF-DF-37-1C
Installed: 2022-09-30
Firmware Certified: 29/03/2022
Firmware Age: 1 38040404] (number of newer versions available)
 - No Export MPAN configured
 - Import MPAN configured uxxxxxxxxx]
Security Expiry Date: 2024-05-29 00:00:00
 - Warning: Security Certification will expire in less than 3 months or has already expired


Gas Proxy Function (Part of the Communications Device)
Device Type: GPF
Manufacturer: EDMI 106C]
Model: unknown k433100AE]
GUID: E4-FE-D9-00-01-15-49-40
Installed: 2022-09-30
Firmware Certified: 30/08/2023
Firmware Age: 1 g3010F11E] (number of newer versions available)


Gas Meter (Energy Supplier responsibility)
Device Type: GSME
Manufacturer: L+G :1063]
Model: G470-672 047720101]
GUID: 30-EB-5A-FF-FF-AE-CF-D9
Installed: 2022-09-30
Firmware Certified: 02/02/2022
Firmware Age: 2 g03033254] (number of newer versions available)
Security Expiry Date: 2024-06-24 00:00:00
 - Warning: Security Certification will expire in less than 3 months or has already expired


In-Home-Display (Energy Supplier responsibility)
Device Type: PPMID
Manufacturer: GEO r1090]
Model: unknown n00070100]
Installed: 2022-09-30
Firmware Certified: 07/09/2020
Firmware Age: 8 A04070700] (number of newer versions available)
 - Warning: Display firmware is older than expected (greater than 5)
Security Expiry Date: None


HOME

Cache: 2024-06-24 11:03:55.299100 .no cache]

Hmmm… No signs of faults there…

Firmware updates for devices are sent Over-The-Air automatically when they’re specifically released to your site - there’s no method for a customer to trigger them manually.

Try the tool at https://smart-meter-help.ovoenergy.com to raise a case directly to the right team - this will bypass the agents you previously spoke to.

Also it would appear security certificate expired! 

2024-05-29 00:00:00

 

Though the meter has been communicating up until 2024-06-20

That particular warning wouldn’t have any effect on this - it’s not necessarily an issue that would nuke comms.

I defer to your subject knowledge. Though a security certificate expiration would compromise a device establishing a secure connection

 

Can you see anything in the data I provide that could be a possibility data not being updated. Or is the more likely scenario a problem on the OVO processing 

The security certificate expiring server-side would be a bigger issue, in the case of a meter-side (or client-side in tech speak), it’s not that big a deal. The connection remains secure as long as server-side isn’t compromised.

There are ways to regenerate and replace the certificate with a fresh one, but again it’s not something you can (or should!) do as the customer.

Based on what you’ve shown me, I can’t see any faults that would nuke your site. It’s possible the issue lies upstream or elsewhere...

Thanks for the assistance. I used your link and emailed OVO. Now all I have to do is wait for the wheels of bureaucracy crawl into action. 

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