Hi @Jazz , each of the tariff offers will usually quote their own terms which might well include having a smart meter but you’ll need to check based on those offered to you

Hey @Jazz 

Welcome to the OVO Online Community 

You can find out more about our available plans & their details on the Online Account. 

Find out more about smart meters in these helpful forum topics:

Hope this helps

I want a fixed tariff too, but OVO need me to have a smart meter installed. I don’t want one so I am switching to Octopus who let me keep my old meter.

It’s worth noting @lynsgarden that you’re only delaying the inevitable by doing that.

Why is it you don’t want one? Ultimately, Smart Meters are just… Meters like any other… You don’t have to look at them, you don’t have to mess with them, you can chuck the IHD into a cupboard and ignore it, you can set the meter to just submit monthly readings if you REALLY don’t want your supplier knowing much more than just meter readings (but you sacrifice a lot of cool stuff by doing so)… And just pretend it doesn’t exist.

Besides, I’m able to generate quotes with OVO’s tools that don’t mandate a Smart Meter. I have one anyway and love it.

At the end of the day. the meter belongs to the supplier and NOT the customer, meaning the supplier is entitled to fit whatever meter they want as long as it meets the required spec. You don’t get to pick and choose what goes on the wall. Given the service life is also maximum 20 years for most meters, whatever you’ve got now will have to be replaced eventually anyway.

I phoned OVO and they said I don't have to have a smart meter. I know so many people who have them where they do not work so until it's made compulsory I am happy to read my meters myself 

As we’ve said here on the Forum many times though… “Don’t work” is only true if the meter fails to perform its primary function of tracking energy consumption locally and providing a way to let a reading be taken directly from the front of the meter. Everything else is secondary.

With that being said, you can still submit manual readings even with a Smart Meter. Having one means that you’re just not gonna get estimated bills if you forget to do it for some reason.

And you can absolutely 100% read them yourself to keep your own records. The absolute worst case scenario is it fails to submit a reading automatically so you send a reading yourself - which is no worse than what you do now.

The other advantage? A Smart Meter stores 13 months worth of meter readings locally - giving YOU the upper hand if the supplier screws up your bills as the data can just be retrieved again to regenerate the bills with. You can’t do that with Traditional Meters as they can’t store anything more than what the current reading is.

I take a screenshot on my phone of all readings so have prove if they mess up readings.  As I said I'm happy as is until they become compulsory!

As far as I can see, the fixed tariff needs a smart meter, the variable tariff doesn’t.

Then you should probably take the fix offer and the meter. But why is it you don't want one? It's ultimately in your best interest to accept it, otherwise you will be locked out of the best deals. 

IIABDFI. Why do business with someone who locks you out of the best deals?

It’s not just OVO who does that - just about the entire market does. I’m afraid your reason doesn’t really make much sense in the full context either. The idea is that it’s an incentive to make upgrading more worthwhile.

The grid IS currently heading towards breaking point, so changes must happen to prevent collapse. Smart Meters are just one small part of that. What worked back in the 1980’s no longer works now...

I think you’re locking yourself out of the best deals @lynsgarden 

I got a smart meter in 2016. It’s never gone wrong, I haven’t had to submit a manual reading for 8 years. I’m able to see exactly what energy I’ve used every half hour of the day and night (the novelty does wear off after a while) and I’ve been on the best deals all that time. 
My bills are never estimated and I was able to change from economy 7, which didn’t suit our pattern of usage, with one phone call. I also changed supplier without any problem.

I’m interested to know why @Jazz was told he didn’t need a smart meter, the terms and conditions say if you sign up to the fixed tariff you agree to have one put in. Did CS fully appreciate @Jazz wanted a fixed tariff, not variable?

I stand by my word - I’ve seen recent Fixed Rate Tariffs from OVO just this morning which do NOT require a Smart Meter. I’m very much in favour of having one mind you - it’s very useful given that I can’t get the key to the meter cupboard very easily.

However… Take these wise words of wisdom that came from someone high up in OVO.

It’s the customers choice not to have a Smart Meter (assuming one isn’t already installed). However, if they refuse, then they’ll have to accept they cannot have certain products

There will eventually be a point when ALL Fixed Rate Tariffs on the market require one, regardless of supplier.

Please give us the link to these fixed rate tariffs that don’t need a smart meter. When I look at renewing in my account every one of them needs a smart meter installed.

The links I’ve got cannot be shared publicly, or they’ll leak personal info.

At the end of the day, you’ve got three choices:

1. Select OVO’s Fixed Rate Tariff offers and accept the attached Smart Meter if the offer requires it
2. Stay on OVO’s Simpler Energy Standard Variable Tariff (which is the worst value!)
3. Leave and find suppliers that don’t force Smart Meters - these are drying up however

By refusing the upgrade, you will find that you’ll eventually be much worse off as new tariff types become available that require Smart despite not being Fixed Rate. Octopus is already known for having several of them for example.

It’s up to you. But you still haven’t explained why you’re resisting Smart Meters. IIABDFI isn’t much of a reason...

The will be a point when all the non-smart meters need to be replaced because they are simply too old to function properly, most if not all must already be out of certification.

Yup, I’ve also been digging into that as well. The longest certification ever was 45 years for basically ONE specific model that was launched in the 1980’s. However, even those are now reaching EoL because it was the early 1980’s that it launched. It shouldn’t surprise you that there are barely any of that model still in service anymore.

It is very rare to see any that had more than a 25 year lifespan at launch.

Which I suppose begs the question of if a meter is out of certification then should it be mandatory to replace or disable it for safety reasons?

OK the meter certification is mainly about accuracy not safety, but still the safety of old, outdated, equipment has to be considered.

Maybe more important for gas meters, not so much for electricity, but outdated electrics can be dangerous (fatal) too.

Legislation doesn't allow a vehicle to be used out of certification because it may be unsafe to operate - so why allow an energy supply device to be used uncertified?

Of course any legislation mandating meter upgrades may be unpopular - with both customers and suppliers - but new legislation is often unpopular.

For legal reasons, it’s the same story for energy meters in the UK. The Supplier cannot legally bill the Customer with a meter that’s out of Certification (nor one has never been Certified), thus is legally obliged to replace it. The Gas Act 1986 and Electricity Act 1989 spell it out clearly.

Now that's one that I wasn't aware of.

Is that in primary/secondary legislation or in the Standard Conditions of Supply?

Oops .. you have said where to look.

It’s in the Acts somewhere, can’t remember where else I’ve seen it.

But I’m not a Lawyer, so unless you want to pay me several thousand pounds to try and dig up the exact clause, I’d rather not spend hundreds of hours trying to find it.

@Blastoise186 your point about the meter being the property of the supplier and therefore it’s up to the supplier to choose what equipment is installed kind of stops customers saying they don’t want smart meters…

I would also be interested to know what reasons people have for not wanting one. 

Indeed. Long story short, OVO has no choice but to replace expired meters if they haven’t been Recertified - and even then, Recertification cannot extend the service life forever.

As the Customer, you’re not the one buying the meters, so it makes sense you have no say over what’s on the wall. Since the Supplier (or in some cases a Meter Asset Provider acting on behalf of the Supplier) is the one doing the purchasing, they’re the ones who get to pick.

While the Electricity Act and Gas Act do permit you to supply your own meter, let me say this.

Don’t do that.

If you want to avoid 500 Years of Red Tape, your best bet is to just accept the meter provided by your Supplier regardless of whether it’s Smart or not. Especially if your only goal is just to dodge Smart Meters - in which case it really isn’t worth the red tape.

@juliamc We have yet to see any genuinely valid reasons tbh. It’s usually down to either:

• The “health scares” as in they fry your brain and zombify you - if that was true, we’d all be zombies by now from a bazillion other sources
• Your supplier can cut you off anytime - they actually can’t because it’s not that simple
• They overcharge you - when it’s actually your fault for not doing readings ever before
• They “don’t work” - when it’s actually not the case
• Some other silly reason that we’ve shot down many times

The only genuinely valid reasons like no Polyphase or THTC Support are rapidly vanishing as coverage has been added to remove tons of blockers...

@Blastoise186 I think there’s just very little conversation about smart meters these days (not here on the forum obvs). The old myths are still around and nobody in everyday life is correcting them. I have asked someone who doesn’t have a SM what their reasons are:  ‘Which’ doesn’t think much of them (actually Which says many positive things about them); too many bad reviews; too many things go wrong; billing errors; not compatible across suppliers; can’t see what the benefit would be.

I know this is all nonsense, but this is an example of the impression people have !!!!