I've just switched to OVO and was told that we could have a smart meter installed, but since then I haven't heard anything further. I am concerned because our meter isn't in our flat, it is in a communal cupboard to which I don't have access. I'm worried I won't be able to read the meter regularly if we can't get a smart meter. Has anyone had experience of this?
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Smart meter in block of flats - Is it possible to have one fitted?
Best answer by Anonymous
Updated on 07/10/25 by Ben_OVO
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You can check whether a smart meter appointment is possible by heading to your online account or app. You can find out how to do this in this guide:
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You may be advised that the booking isn’t possible at the moment. If you live in a block of flats check out the advice below which might help explain why we’re not able to offer this (please note that living in a block of flats doesn’t mean you won’t be able to have a smart meter).
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Why are smart meters in blocks of flats sometimes an issue?
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In order for a Smart meter to send us readings it needs to be installed in a place where it’s able to get a signal.
If you live in an area where S2 Smart meters use mobile phone signal to send the readings, the meters would need to be installed in a place where there’s a mobile phone signal. Check out the table below to see which areas this would affect:
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| North - Meter Point Administration Numbers (MPANs) starting 15, 16, 17, 18, 23 | South - MPANs 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22 |
| Uses radio signal - doesn’t depend on mobile signal strength | Uses mobile signal |
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For this reason, we wouldn't normally recommend having smart meters installed in communal cupboards or basements, in areas which use a mobile signal.  If the meter cupboard doesn’t have strong enough signal this can lead to smart meter communication issues.
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The other issue with blocks of flats is that, sometimes, our engineer won’t be able to replace the meter without cutting power to other flats. This is something you can check with the landlord or facilities management company before making the appointment. You can find out more about this here:
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What if the meters aren’t in the same place?
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This can also cause some issues for flat-dwelling smart meters. As the gas meter needs to be within range of the communications hub (which is attached to the electricity meter) it may not be able to communicate with us if the meters are too far apart. We wouldn't currently advise booking a dual smart meter installation if the meters are on different floors within a block of flats.
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If I’m not affected by the issues above can I get an installation booked?
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Of course! Click here to book today - just make sure you’re able to get access to the meter cupboard on the day of the installation.
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Will the In Home Display work if the smart meter isn’t in my flat?
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The In Home Display (IHD) needs to be near the electricity meter, which houses the communications hub, connecting devices to the smart meter via the Home Area Network (HAN). So if your flat isn’t right next to your meter, your IHD may not work. However, we do now have specialist kit that can improve the signal in these instances, so it may also be possible to set up the IHD.
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The smart meter itself will still be able to send us your readings even if the IHD isn’t possible, which gives you access to some great usage graphs on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS):
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OVO customer but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!
Interested but not yet an OVO customer? -Â Check out our plans!
Hi
Check out this discussion here on distances for going smart https://forum.ovoenergy.com/pay-monthly-21/whats-the-maximum-distance-between-meters-to-go-smart-339/index1.html
If you reach out to the OVO customer care team, you can find out what the smart meter engineer availability is for your region.
Updated on 07/10/25 by Ben_OVO
Â
You can check whether a smart meter appointment is possible by heading to your online account or app. You can find out how to do this in this guide:
Â
Â
You may be advised that the booking isn’t possible at the moment. If you live in a block of flats check out the advice below which might help explain why we’re not able to offer this (please note that living in a block of flats doesn’t mean you won’t be able to have a smart meter).
Â
Why are smart meters in blocks of flats sometimes an issue?
Â
In order for a Smart meter to send us readings it needs to be installed in a place where it’s able to get a signal.
If you live in an area where S2 Smart meters use mobile phone signal to send the readings, the meters would need to be installed in a place where there’s a mobile phone signal. Check out the table below to see which areas this would affect:
Â
| North - Meter Point Administration Numbers (MPANs) starting 15, 16, 17, 18, 23 | South - MPANs 10, 11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 21, 22 |
| Uses radio signal - doesn’t depend on mobile signal strength | Uses mobile signal |
Â
For this reason, we wouldn't normally recommend having smart meters installed in communal cupboards or basements, in areas which use a mobile signal.  If the meter cupboard doesn’t have strong enough signal this can lead to smart meter communication issues.
Â
The other issue with blocks of flats is that, sometimes, our engineer won’t be able to replace the meter without cutting power to other flats. This is something you can check with the landlord or facilities management company before making the appointment. You can find out more about this here:
Â
Â
What if the meters aren’t in the same place?
Â
This can also cause some issues for flat-dwelling smart meters. As the gas meter needs to be within range of the communications hub (which is attached to the electricity meter) it may not be able to communicate with us if the meters are too far apart. We wouldn't currently advise booking a dual smart meter installation if the meters are on different floors within a block of flats.
Â
Â
If I’m not affected by the issues above can I get an installation booked?
Â
Of course! Click here to book today - just make sure you’re able to get access to the meter cupboard on the day of the installation.
Â
Â
Will the In Home Display work if the smart meter isn’t in my flat?
Â
The In Home Display (IHD) needs to be near the electricity meter, which houses the communications hub, connecting devices to the smart meter via the Home Area Network (HAN). So if your flat isn’t right next to your meter, your IHD may not work. However, we do now have specialist kit that can improve the signal in these instances, so it may also be possible to set up the IHD.
Â
The smart meter itself will still be able to send us your readings even if the IHD isn’t possible, which gives you access to some great usage graphs on your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS):
Â
Â
OVO customer but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!
Interested but not yet an OVO customer? -Â Check out our plans!
We've had invitation from ovo about smart meter installation however when we were with bgas they informed us they didn't have technology to do ours yet. This is because we live in a flat (ground floor) and our gas meter is in the kitchen but our electric meter is outside by our door. There is a distance of about 9-10 meters between them which bgas said was too far at the moment? Any thoughts please..
We also live in a ground floor flat, with the electric meter by the shared front door and the gas meter down the outside of the building, in the driveway. We've had smart meters installed and we're getting readings from both gas and electric, so it looks like there's no problem. Presumably there shouldn't be a problem for you either.🆒
Hi
OVO keeps asking me if I want a smart meter... duh, of course I do. But every time I discuss this I get stopped when OVO learns I have a gas meter in a cupboard on the ground floor and an electricity meter in my flat.
Will this ever be resolved? Surely there's a way that a slave meter can talk to a main smart meter somewhere else? I can't be the only person with this issue?
John
OVO keeps asking me if I want a smart meter... duh, of course I do. But every time I discuss this I get stopped when OVO learns I have a gas meter in a cupboard on the ground floor and an electricity meter in my flat.
Will this ever be resolved? Surely there's a way that a slave meter can talk to a main smart meter somewhere else? I can't be the only person with this issue?
John
So I live in a flat where my Electric meter is in a communal cupboard in the main hallway and my gas meter is outside MY front door. They are about 30ft apart (as the crow flies through Victorian walls) and when the guy came to fit the meters he didn't think they would work as the gas meter has to be able to communicate with the electric meter - but he fitted the electric meter and that was working, then he tested the gas meter next to the electric meter and it was ok- Then the gas meter was fitted in the box and it couldn't talk to the electric meter any more. He said that the display unit would work as a relay for the two - but it didn't. So he took the whole lot out and put the old stuff back. Total waste of my day (which I took as holiday) and the engineer knew that it wouldn't work. Should energy companies have to do a site visit first with some test kit before wasting a customers time (and no offer of compensation). This 'smart' technology is far from smart!
I understand that this is frustrating @tubs , but we won’t be able to know if there will be any communication issues until the smart meters are fitted.
It sounds like there are some things that are blocking the signal as your electricity meter is in a cupboard in your hallway and the gas meter is outside. This means that the signal will have to pass through the cupboard doors and your front door, as well as the meters being about 30ft apart.
I hope the Social Team are able to help you further with this as they’ll be able to diagnose what the problem is and suggest some suitable resolutions.
Lucy
It sounds like there are some things that are blocking the signal as your electricity meter is in a cupboard in your hallway and the gas meter is outside. This means that the signal will have to pass through the cupboard doors and your front door, as well as the meters being about 30ft apart.
I hope the Social Team are able to help you further with this as they’ll be able to diagnose what the problem is and suggest some suitable resolutions.
Lucy
I live in a first floor apartment. I was a British Gas customer before joining OVO and had smart meters installed, the Electricity one in the hallway outside my front door (1st floor) and the Gas which is located externally on the ground floor just outside of the entrance door. They are both Landis Gyr units communicating via a Trilliant WAN and worked perfectly well.
I applied with Ovo for Smart meters to be installed, but just get a message saying that they cannot be installed due to being too far apart, without any survey being carried out.
My question is: Are OVO's Smart meters inferior to the BG ones and if so, why?
I applied with Ovo for Smart meters to be installed, but just get a message saying that they cannot be installed due to being too far apart, without any survey being carried out.
My question is: Are OVO's Smart meters inferior to the BG ones and if so, why?
I'm not an expert but I have a notion that may be relevant.
Our Ovo smart meters use wireless networking to transmit their data. But as I understand it, one of them is the 'master' that has the full networking kit installed, and one is a 'slave' that just relays its data to the master for onwards transmission. So they have to be positioned very close together for this to work.
Not necessarily inferior, but different.
Our Ovo smart meters use wireless networking to transmit their data. But as I understand it, one of them is the 'master' that has the full networking kit installed, and one is a 'slave' that just relays its data to the master for onwards transmission. So they have to be positioned very close together for this to work.
Not necessarily inferior, but different.
Thanks for your answer Stewiris.
I'm pretty sure that is how the BG system works, so the question still remains.
I'm pretty sure that is how the BG system works, so the question still remains.
Lucy
As a further to the Ovo smart meter debacle. My question really hasn't been answered in that why is it that the distance between my electricity meter (1st floor) and my gas meter (Ground floor), is ok for the British Gas smart meter system, but not for the Ovo smart meter system?
The only conclusion that I can reach is that the Ovo system is inferior to the British Gas system.
The only conclusion that I can reach is that the Ovo system is inferior to the British Gas system.
I'm not sure there is much I can add here - there is a trade-off between range and battery life but I don't know how much OVO and their installers can adjust them. It's also possible to build quite large Zigbee networks using repeaters - my heating network has 25 nodes spread around the house and uses two repeaters. That said, I can see why the installers might not want to support non-standard networks.
Thank you geoffenator.
At last a post that makes some sense of the range problem being restricted by battery life. Of course the gas meter has no electrical supply so has to depend on a battery. The BG gas meter didn't seem to have a problem in sending the data to the main unit on the 1st floor, all of the time it was working. Is it that the Ovo gas meter doesn't have the battery power or longevity to send data very far?
At last a post that makes some sense of the range problem being restricted by battery life. Of course the gas meter has no electrical supply so has to depend on a battery. The BG gas meter didn't seem to have a problem in sending the data to the main unit on the 1st floor, all of the time it was working. Is it that the Ovo gas meter doesn't have the battery power or longevity to send data very far?
I'm not in this industry so I can't speak with any great authority about specific meters. OVO expect their batteries to last 10 years but perhaps BG have built a more frequent battery exchange into their maintenance schedules. Some of the nodes in my own Zigbee network need their batteries changing annually.
There are a number of things that can affect the range other than just the power level. Some meters work on 2.4GHz (the same frequency as wifi) while others use 868MHz; each has pros and cons with respect to battery life, propagating through walls and other obstructions, and interference from other equipment such as microwave ovens, baby monitors and wifi. The signal can also be affected by antenna orientation and direction but I'd expect that to common installation thing.
Geoff
There are a number of things that can affect the range other than just the power level. Some meters work on 2.4GHz (the same frequency as wifi) while others use 868MHz; each has pros and cons with respect to battery life, propagating through walls and other obstructions, and interference from other equipment such as microwave ovens, baby monitors and wifi. The signal can also be affected by antenna orientation and direction but I'd expect that to common installation thing.
Geoff
ive read all the comments and it seems I can’t get a smart meter fitted. Was told this by Npower when they came to install. There are five gas meters in the bin store in the basement of our block, we all have access to the meters. I live on the second floor. Does anyone have any idea when energy suppliers will be able to install meters that’ll work with shared meter space? Given that I live in London where thousands live in blocks of flats with meters stored downstairs? It. Makes the smart meter discounts on new tariffs useless for me. Thanks
Hey @Speeding. Slug ,
The problem with these setups is that the gas meter needs to connect to the electricity meter, which then communicates with the supplier and sends both readings over. It does this through a signal similar to Bluetooth, which is relatively short range.
I'm not sure about plans to incorporate gas meters in shared spaces into the smart network. Perhaps@Transparent might know a bit more about this?
Cheers
The problem with these setups is that the gas meter needs to connect to the electricity meter, which then communicates with the supplier and sends both readings over. It does this through a signal similar to Bluetooth, which is relatively short range.
I'm not sure about plans to incorporate gas meters in shared spaces into the smart network. Perhaps
Cheers
I rent a first floor flat where the meter is located downstairs in the separate ground floor flat. It is counted as a communal cupboard but the address is different.
The meter offers LOW and NORMAL readings. There are also two other devices in the cupboard.
My estate agent and landlord are not the most helpful bunch.Â
Which device do I use and how do I ensure the reading does not include the energy used from downstairs?Â
I've attached some pictures for reference.
Thank you for any help!!
https://ibb.co/L8zxwBD
https://ibb.co/hXDPYJB
https://ibb.co/51ytpt1
+8- Super User
Welcome
I’m really sorry but your images didn’t upload. Please can you try again?
+8- Super User
Thanks!
Ok, so this gets a bit fun.
If you KNOW you have a Smart Meter, it’ll be that big giant Secure one with the numeric keypad.
Otherwise, it’ll be the black one that at the time of your photo had the following data:
Meter Serial Number: S85G 03064
Low Reading: 60344
Normal Reading: 71572
Please bear in mind that this answer was adapted and customised specifically for
I would recommend checking your online account though to make sure you can tell which meter to check. You’ll find the Meter Serial Number at https://account.ovoenergy.com/plan
Simply match that up with whatever is on the front of the meters.
Also, if that ancient Normal/Low one is yours, please consider upgrading to Smart Meters as that meter is running out of service life.
Thanks!
Ok, so this gets a bit fun.
If you KNOW you have a Smart Meter, it’ll be that big giant Secure one with the numeric keypad.
Â
I'm not sure if there's a smart meter. There's nothing in my upstairs flat apart from an IHD.Â
I have tried talking to the supplier. Sometimes they say they're taking the reading automatically but other times they've wrote asking for a meter reading.
Neither property is mine, so I can't upgrade.Â
Trying to avoid calling as it's a 30 minute wait some mornings!!
Thanks very much for your helpÂ
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