Also, who is the supplier?

@Blastoise186

The IHD is an identical model to this: https://community.scottishpower.co.uk/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/138i927A42B5B1118E53/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999

This is not my IHD. 

My supplier is British Gas. Sorry to be cheeky, if it needs to be OVO here. 

No worries. Thanks for the info.

Just a note on the forum rules to reassure you. You are more than welcome to ask us for advice even if you’re not supplied by OVO. :)

The forum is open to everyone regardless of supplier and there’s no obligation to switch to OVO at all, nor do you owe anyone a penny for advice given here. It’s completely free of charge and you can just walk away when you’re done. Or stick around and help out if you’d like to!

If you decide to switch to OVO anyway, I won’t get any commission or kickback out of it. Which is great because it keeps me neutral and independent (but yes, I am an OVO customer myself).

I think that IHD is a Chameleon IHD2 by the looks of things, but it might be an early Chameleon IHD3-TS which we actually don’t see very often!

It would suggest to me that you do have Smart Meters, but there’s one way to find out for sure.

Can you run it through this tool please? https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Let me know the results - and don’t worry if it doesn’t work!

Thanks for the CAB link, it has confirmed that this is a smart meter. So is it pointless sending them a reading?? 

It is indeed a Chameleon - not sure which model though, would have to check later. 

You may still need to submit readings for now. That’s a SMETS1 meter which might not be compatible with British Gas until it gets migrated to DCC - the CAB Smart Meter Check tool can tell you whether it’s on DCC or not. If it is, it’ll say the meter is working in Smart Mode.

Otherwise, you may need to switch to either OVO or Octopus to get it working again, or wait a while for British Gas to get access to it.

I have booked to have a smart meter installed on 1st Feb. The fact that I am able to book an appointment tells me that I can have one. First problem solved.

I live in a first floor flat, and the current meter is under the stairs on the ground floor. I would say, as the crow flies, you are looking at around 30 metres away,  obviously through concrete. Question is, will I be able to have a display in my flat? Not necessarily as a link from the meter directly, perhaps using the same signal I would use looking at the meter on my phone, which I understand is possible?

Hey @I_Need_Power !

This might be possible via the Alt HAN solution. :)

There’s also a chance that Dual-Band Comms Hubs might work. The engineer will assess your environment and make a decision for you as to what’s best.

You’ll definitely get the meter either way. If they can get the display to work, they will.

Anyone experience of OVO Fieldforce. Do they offer Dual Band Comms for Smart meters in blocks of flats and Alt-Han equipmemt ?

Howdy @Robert44 !

This response was posted by a Forum Volunteer

As it just so happens, we do indeed know OVO Field Force pretty well. So much so, there’s actually an OVO Engineer who patrols the Forum from time to time.

We can confirm that OVO does supply and install Dual-Band Comms Hubs and Alt-HAN kit for Smart Meter installs that require them. Which one you get is at the discretion of the installing Engineer but they will run checks to see which options are most suitable and deploy the one that best suits your needs.

There is NO extra charge to you if any of these get deployed for your install.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Blastoise186.

Are all installers from OVO or do they outsource and are they any good ?

OVO uses a mix of both their own engineers and a few from a company called SMS - it all depends on availability.

In my own experience, the OVO Engineer I had back in 2021 was amazing - he even asked ME a bunch of curious questions once he realised I was a Forum Volunteer here. :D

I’m really sorry, but I can’t speak from experience about SMS as I’ve never met any of their engineers.

Thanks. I tried to contact OVO and talk to an enginner but they would not allow this. Eventually they advised that OVO field force was given the booking.

I also got on another smartmeter enquiry reply from OVO Customer Service sent by SMS plc so I guess there must be a tie up somewhere.  Anyhow SMS answered a number of technical queries and I even asked OVO to send SMS to do the installation but no assurance was given.

I have requested a conversation with OVO Fieldforce prior to fitting but again no assurances from OVO that this will happen. The issue is I live in a block of flats on the second floor. The meter room is on the ground floor with diagonal distance 13m between the floors. There are two thick sandstone ceilings and one thick santstone wall. Hence my request to speak to an installer to see if the smartmeter will talk to the IHD.

I see.

Howdy @Lukepeniket_OVO , got a sec?

I THINK I’m right in saying DBCH will probably do the trick, but I think Luke will know for sure.

Hello,

Through 2 storeys i doubt the DBCH will work but im sure Alt Han will depending what you electric meter install looks like. Although currently we arent installing AltHan due to manufacturing issues ==

Thanks. Sketch attached. I thought DBCH was developed for these situations

Gotcha. DBCH has a longer range than standard Comms Hubs, but as Luke mentioned it doesn’t have unlimited range - that’s why AltHAN also exists because it can do even longer range than a DBCH.

Luke has managed triple the distance before with a DBCH compared to Standard but it’s not 100% guaranteed to work in all cases. Based on the sketch, I’d agree with Luke that AltHAN is probably the safer bet once it becomes available again.

Thanks for that. So at installatiin I could opt for a DBCH and if rquired fit Alt Han later. Or is it best to wait for Alt Han to become available again

I’d say wait for AltHAN to return. At the moment it’s on pause due to an issue with the plug-through sockets but they’re working on it and will return to the market soon. We just don’t know exactly when yet.

When AltHAN does return however, priority over stocks will initially be to fix existing installs to resolve the faulty sockets. Once they’re done, I suspect new installs will be possible again.

Best to wait for AltHan to return, as I believe DBCH isnt compatible with AltHan bud.

Finally talked to OVO Installing engineer who knows this building and pretty much agreed with comments above. He also advised that the issue here is the WAN (Carlisle area) signal being weakened by the thick mill building walls. Advised that DBCH was used more for gasmeters although there is a flat here with it in the meter room.

So decided to wait and hence cancelled the upcoming smartmeter appointment.

Thanks for your input.

Hello again Blastoise186.  Could you please advise where I can get information on the location o the WAN long wave radio transmitter is in Carlisle *Edited by mod*.  I cannot find this anywhere. Also who should I ask to see if the area is in a good or poor reception area. Thanks

Unfortunately, that information isn’t publicly available, partially for National Security reasons. Even if I did know myself, it’d be under NDA and I wouldn’t be able to say.

What I can say is that checks are done when you attempt to book an install - if the signal isn’t good enough, the appointment is blocked.

I noted a number of the smartmeters (where fitted) in the communal meter room have the DCC Han and Wan (green) lights flashing at various intervals.  Quite a number flash (WAN & HAN) at 5 second intervals.  Others are shorter or longer but may be due to tennant changes and neglect of the meters. So I believe 5 seconds is a good indication of signal strength and DCC connection with the smartmeter. Right ?

All indicators (except for the red usage one) should be flashing at 5 sec intervals. Other rates show faults or updates in progress 

Well there was a campaign to get everyone on smart meters, which is what eventually lead me to get one beginning of 2022, because funnily enough, i thought it would save me the awkward trip to utility cupboard for taking meter readings.

And long story short, the smart meter never worked, until finally in mid september, it magically started to send readings every few days or so on average. And for the very reason of me living in a ground floor flat, away from the utility cupboard which is on the first floor, i was told by the smart meter engineer that like if they receive a signal, they will provide me with an inhome display as well. But I never got the inhome display, which I dont understand why, cause even if the smart meter can’t send readings to ovo, it would still be useful for me to see my usage and meter readings without having to go to the utility cupboard? Obviously i know my flat’s distance to the utlity cupboard might be an issue.

Now my question is, would I able to to request a free inhome display and if so does it mean they’ll be able to have an “alt HAN” setup for me to get the signal to reach my flat?