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Rank 2
Jun 19, 2023 2:32 PM UTC
Solved

Smart meter manual reading different to smart reading

I’m hoping anyone on here can shed some light on this.

Before I go into the issue in more detail, my questions is as follows:

What can cause a manual reading on an ovo smart meter (when you press number 9) to be different to the smart readings ovo are receiving? 

*edited by moderator*

Hopefully I will get  a response from someone who knows about the meters.

In the mean time, if you have any idea why the meter is different please let me know below. I’ve researched online for hours but not been able to find anything.

Firedog
FiredogBest Answer
Super User
Jun 21, 2023 7:46 AM UTC

Updated on 14/10/26 by Abby_OVO

 

[I have a Liberty 110]

At some stage, some consumption (2750.4 kWh) was recorded on Register 02. You’d have to go back through all the available meter readings (400 days worth) to see whether you can spot when that stopped happening. The other figures you see are

Standing Charge 50.300 p/day
R01 rate 32.390 p/kWh
R02 rate 0.000  p/kWh

 

So, this meter appears to have been set up for E7 but later reconfigured for single rate by simply diverting all usage to the one register. R01 is usually ‘Peak’ rate, but not necessarily. Incidentally, your rates are identical to mine.

 

The R02 register is showing an historical figure dating back to when the meter was configured for E7, and current usage is only recorded on R01. It’s odd, but that’s why the readings you see online are different from your Button 9 reading, which includes the obsolete figure from R02. Your current billing will be accurate. 

 

You will most probably have been charged for the 2750.4kWh a long time ago, so you’d have to check your old bills to see that. If you can’t see any appropriate charge, that usage is most likely to have taken place more than a year ago, in which case its cost will be written off. So I think you’re safe from any unexpected bill regardless of what happens when the meter is exchanged.

 

In my amateur opinion, the meter is working as expected and recording consumption as it’s been configured to. The problem seems only to be the intermittent transmission of data to OVO. Has the meter been enrolled and adopted (‘E&A’) on to the DCC system?  To check, enter its MPAN into this tool: smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk Because meters on DCC use a different way of communicating with the outside world, it could well be that the problem would change at E&A, with no way of knowing whether it would get better or worse.

 

If you can access your account on a computer, I’d be happy to help you do a little forensic analysis to try and find out where the R02 reading came from.

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA | It may look as if I know what I’m talking about, but don’t let that fool you. |

41 replies

vegas22Author
Rank 2
Aug 16, 2023 2:05 PM UTC

Just a quick and final update on this as I am now switched over to Octopus.

No one from OVO actually got back to me. Spoke to two people on live chat. One said that they could see my e-mail and it had not been allocated to anyone yet. The 2nd one today said there was no e-mail on my account and no one was assigned to it. They also told me I should speak to my new supplier to resolve the issue!! (How can my new supplier tell me if ovo had allocated someone to my old complaint email!)

So all in all 4+ years of incredibly stressful communication and fear about being over charged, lost out on fixed energy deals with other providers because I was unable to leave ovo due to the meter issue, and even now I’m not sure I’ve been billed right (lost the will to even try and speak to someone to work it out).

Octopus has been fantastic since joining them. They answer the phone, call you back and their billing system actually makes sense. Reminded me of how OVO used to be back in the early days.

The forum on here though was very helpful, lots of knowledgeable people willing to share help, just a shame ovo’s own staff aren’t anywhere near as well trained or care.

Toodle-pip OVO, you won’t be missed!

Thanks again forum members