Storage heaters and smart meters

Hi ​@Carry ,

Please tell us your current tariff exactly as it shows up in MyOVO.

Thanks

Currently on Simpler Energy, which is the rolling variable rate as I didn’t want to tie myself in to anything, prior to getting my new storage heaters in. Standing charge is 65.75p per day and 25.34p kWh for all heating and electricity.

Ok. I need to discuss this one backstage with the other Forum Volunteers. Please bear with me.

No problem. I appreciate you taking the time to look into it. Thanks

Hey ​@Carry 

I’m sorry for the issues you’re having, how frustrating.

Have they advised why this isn’t an option? I’m not a metering expert but ​@Lukepeniket_OVO is & may be able to advise?

I found the below advice:
 

SMETS2 Five port smart meters - Your Guide

You’re now able to book five terminal/port SMETS2 meter installations via your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS), subject to availability. 

What’s a five port meter?

A five port meter is an electricity meter with an extra terminal which is usually wired up to alternative heating solutions such as underfloor heating or storage heaters. You can check whether your meter is four or five port by checking the number of wires connected to the bottom of your meter.

How does the SMETS2 five port meter work?

Five terminal meters are most often used for members on an Economy 7 plan. The fifth terminal is automatically powered on during the off-peak hours of your tariff. 

Technical info here, but for those interested, unlike SMETS1 the time-switch controlling the fifth port isn’t decided by the tariff loaded on to the meter and is instead set-up at the point of manufacture. This means the fifth terminal should work properly even if the meters aren’t communicating with us. The default off-peak hours loaded on to the meter are 00:00 - 07:00. When the engineer installs your meter they’ll also send an 'Electricity Configure Auxiliary Load' request (commonly known as an 'ECAUL') to configure the time-switch on the meter to match the off peak hours for your region. 

• Getting a SMETS2 smart meter with storage heaters, underfloor heating or other 5th port appliances Tutorial

• Everything you need to know about an Economy 7 (Eco 7) energy plan F.A.Q.

Hey all,

Tariffs available to you I believe include single rates and a multitude of multi rates including E7, E8&E9(scotland) and E10. The 3 latter rates would be ideal for your heaters as they have various in day times to utilise them??

Hi Emmanuelle and Lukepeniket.

Thanks both for your replies and, yes, I have seen this info online and it all looks great. In fact, when I first rang OVO last week to ask for my meter to be upgraded to a 5 port (to accommodate the new heaters), I was even sent info on all of this from the customer service person, who recorded that I wanted the Domestic Economy tariff (formerly E7) and said I’d get a call back to arrange a date. It was when I didn’t get a call back that I rang again and was told the info I’d received was incorrect and there was no dual tariff for storage heaters - it had to go on the single rate. I asked why (multiple times) and the customer service person just kept saying that it wasn’t possible and OVO didn’t do it. I pointed out the info online, but got the same response - it’s not possible. When I click on the link at

You’re now able to book five terminal/port SMETS2 meter installations via your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS), subject to availability. 

in my online account it also tells me it’s not available. 

So, it says online it’s available, I’ve been told by one engineer (who installed my meter) and one customer service assistant that it’s available, but when I try to book it - it disappears! What’s the problem please? Thanks

Sometimes with complex meter set ups you do have to book over the phone. It isn’t something you can book yourself online ​@Carry.
 

• How to contact OVO - best practices and Data Protection Tutorial

Let us know if you have any issues. You can signpost the agent you speak to to this forum topic if you feel it might be helpful 🙂

Thanks Emmanuelle, but I’m getting deja vu here!

I posted on this Forum precisely because I have tried to arrange it over the phone and have not been successful.  It’s all detailed above.

Agent 1 said “No problem. Which dual rate tariff would you like? Someone will call you back with a date”. No-one called me back, so I called OVO and Agent 2 said “We can’t do that. I’m very sorry. Absolutely not possible”. Agent 2 also said I could make a complaint if I wanted to - but I don’t want to make a complaint, I’d rather spend my time and effort (and OVO’s) getting a solution. Agent 2 also said he’d log my feedback. I don’t care if my feedback is logged or not - I just want a solution!!!

Are you now telling me if I ring OVO again then Agent 3 may have a different answer?

Thanks

I can understand what a frustrating experience this has been for you ​@Carry. It might be worth escalating a complaint, I know you’d rather not but if you’re not getting anywhere with the support team it might be an option. I’m afraid we don’t have access to your account here on the forum so it’s hard for advise more than the above. 
 

​@Carry A couple of points:

• Scotland’s a big country, served by two different DNOs. The options available might not be the same for both, so it would help to know what the first part of your postcode is to locate you a bit more precisely.
    
• Whether ‘Economy’ tariffs are available might depend on how your meter is recorded on the national database. Can you find the MPAN grid (example below) on your latest bill, i.e. post-smart meter exchange? A screenshot of it, with the meter ID (the 13-digit number in the middle box on the bottom line) obscured, might shed some light. 
    
  (The left-hand box on the bottom line tells us who the DNO is, so that would also answer my first question ...)

Hi both. Thanks for your responses. 

Emmanuelle - I’d rather focus my time and effort on finding a correct answer (and hopefully a solution) than complaining. If the answer is - we can’t do this right now but will be able to in the future, then I’ll have to wait. If the answer is “we’re not ever going to do this” then I’ll cancel the installation of my storage heaters (scheduled in 2 weeks) and buy something else. 

Firedog - I had no idea there was so much info on my bill! The DNO is 17, which will tell you I’m in a PA postcode. Not sure how to do a screenshot (never been on a forum before either), but it looks like this:

   01 - 500 - 100

S  17 - xxx - 000

Does that help? Thanks

You’d be surprised! DNO 17 is the old Scottish Hydro region, which you may see called _P, a designator for the Grid Supply Point group which is almost always the same as the DNO area. It doesn’t locate you any more precisely than that.

That’s fine, thanks. For a start, the first number - 01 - shows that this is a single-rate metering point. Anyone seeing that might assume straight away that multi-rate (peak and offpeak) tariffs just aren’t possible. That could explain some of the odd responses you’ve had from support staff.

The middle number - 500 - means just what you’d expect - no time restrictions. For a multi-rate meter point, the number would be different and indicate at what times offpeak changes to peak and vice versa.

Since you had storage heaters before the meter exchange, I’d be surprised if you weren’t then on some sort of economy plan with cheaper overnight electricity to charge up the heaters - and possibly a hot water tank, too. Were you? If so, someone has gone to the trouble of changing your meter registration from multi-rate to single-rate. I can’t imagine why, but that’s probably the reason why Computer says no. 

As ​@Emmanuelle_OVO said, it may be best to enter a formal complaint about this. This would eventually give you a dedicated complaints handler who can delve into the history of your account, find out who did what when and why, and with any luck get you back on track towards getting a less expensive tariff. I don’t think you’ll get anywhere fast otherwise.

I don’t think there’s much doubt that modern storage heaters would work much better than the old ones, but only if you’re not paying over the odds for the electricity you use. Any other solution (“I’ll cancel the installation of my storage heaters ... and buy something else”) will certainly be ruinously expensive, if you’re misled by advertisements for ‘more efficient heaters’. 

Thank you Firedog. Armed with a lot more knowledge I am now going to ring OVO again and see what Agent 3 tells me. Will update! Thanks

Keep us posted ​@Carry!