Tutorial

Trouble-shooting issues with your OVO Chameleon In-Home Display (IHD)

  • 2 December 2021
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Trouble-shooting issues with your OVO Chameleon In-Home Display (IHD)
Jess_OVO
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Updated on 14/10/2022 by Emmanuelle_OVO

 

Chameleon IHD Health Check - Your Guide

 

Noticed an issue with your Chameleon In-Home Display, this guide is here to help. We know how useful these devices can be for keeping an eye on the usage data we’re receiving from your smart meters so want to make sure any technical bugs can be ironed out! :bug:

 

Missing some data, spotted some incorrect unit rates (excluding the 5% VAT difference) or has the device started rebooting? These could all indicate an issue we may be having with the connection between us and your meters (also known as the Wide-Area Network or WAN) or between the device itself and the smart meters (also known as the Home-Area Network or HAN).

 

Newly installed Smart meters?
 

Eager to get tracking your smart meter usage data straight away? We hear ya! Whilst most devices are up and running from the date your new meters are installed, it’s not unusual for them to lose some data or experience a few teething-issues as we carry out some behind-the-scenes initialising process (read more about these on this great user-guide). We’d recommend keeping the device plugged in close to your electricity meter if you notice any issues during the first 6 weeks following a smart meter installation - hopefully things should start working as expected once the smart meters are fully up and running but if not, read on to check our next trouble-shooting steps.

 

Checking the smart meter connection (WAN) via your Online account or OVO App

 

Been over 6 weeks since the smart meters we’re installed and you’re still noticing issues with your Chameleon device ? - It’s time to start doing some investigating! First place to check is your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS). If we’ve lost connection to your smart meters for over 5 days you may see this message on your home-screen:

 

Exact wording may vary

 

In this case the best next steps would be to carry out a smart meter health check for your meter type below and forward the results on to our Support Team:
 

 

Once any communication issues with your meters are resolved, we’ll be able to get your IHD connected and showing your usage data again too.

 

DIY steps to help with issues with your Home-Area Network (HAN)

 

Checked your online account and no ongoing smart meter communication issues to see? In this case it’s more likely to be an issue with the connection between the device itself and the smart meters (also known as the HAN). The In-Home Display connects to your smart meters via the communications hub attached to your electricity meter, so it sometimes helps to move your IHD closer to your electricity meter to help it re-gain connection. It’s best to leave the IHD in this new spot and try re-booting the device after 24 hours  (a classic turning off and on again move), sometimes this simple step will do the trick.

 

Contacting our Support Team

 

Can’t get things back on track with the above steps? Not to worry - our Support Team can help get the issue escalated to our Smart metering team for further investigations.

 

Before you get in touch it’s best to complete the following IHD health check so we can make sure we’ve got all the information we need to carrying out some remote processes to get the IHD re-connected:

 

 

  1. Does the device show a correct time and date?

  2. Is the WiFi symbol solid/flashing/not there?

  3. Could you confirm the Device ID? (Long ID number on the bottom of device)

  4. How far away from your electricity meter do you store your IHD? Are there any walls in between that could be blocking the signal?

  5. What is the issue with your IHD? E.g. not showing electricity/gas usage, displays incorrect tariff, device is rebooting itself?

  6. Please confirm if your device is an IHD3 (black all over) or IHD6 (black on the front and white on the back)

  7. If your IHD is showing incorrect rates: what rates does your IHD currently show? Are the rates shown on the IHD higher or lower than your actual rates?

 

Your responses to these questions can be forwarded to our Support Team (we’d recommend via live chat which you can access at the bottom of this page) who’ll let you know the next steps. 

 

Another way to check your usage

 

So long as we’re in communication with your smart meters themselves, don’t forget you can always keep an eye on your usage data by checking the ‘Usage’ pages of your online account, whilst we get the IHD issues sorted. Check out the great guide below for an introduction to the usage info you can see here:
 

 

Noticed an issue we haven’t covered above or need some more help carrying out these trouble-shooting steps?

 

Comment below as we’ve got plenty of IHD  community experts on hand to offer advice. :slight_smile:

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72 replies

C
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Userlevel 3

Last night for no apparent reason, my IHD is no longer showing any evidence of the existence of a smart meter for electricity, even though the gas is still working as expected with both tariff information and KWh consumed.

Any ideas out there, before I raise this with support?

Blastoise186
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Hmm… It might just be firmware updates or a temporary outage. Keep an eye on things overnight and we’ll see if we can help diagnose any issues if you’re still having problems in the morning.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Tim_OVO
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What’s the latest, @croninsfc? 

 

Issues with your IHD seem to be coming in thick and fast over the last few weeks. Here’s another thread which you reported issues relating to gas costs showing on the IHD:

 

 

We’ve seen a few members report issues with previously working IHDs in recent weeks. I’m still looking for patterns in the issues being reported, so let us know the latest and we’ll go from there. :)

 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
Blastoise186
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One of my friends is seeing a lot of people reporting IHD issues as well. Theunknowntech told me that he’s seen a whole bunch of reports about IHDs going down recently, with some of the following ones most affected:

  • Chameleon IHD1 (yes, that really was a thing!)
  • IHDL SmartView2 (similar to the SSE SET)
  • Geo Duet II
  • Chameleon IHD3

Perhaps worth noting that most of these are S1, but he told me that he’s picking up a handful of S2 reports. We’re both attempting to dig deeper to try and spot a pattern, so bear with us for a bit.

It doesn’t seem as if Raichu or the Kecleon Brothers are being affected though. I’m able to grab full usage data out of all three as usual with no problems.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
C
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Userlevel 3

Hi @Tim_OVO the latest on mine is that I contacted support and the smart meter team are apparently doing some behind the scenes stuff. I was told to make sure my IHD was powered on for 24 hours after which I am to reboot it, so that will be after 12:30 PM today for mine

 

C
Rank
Userlevel 3

No joy with the reboot of the IHD 😒

it was working fine, and now it’s not. Still looks like there is no electricity meter attached, which is bizarre as isn’t that how the gas meter talks to everything?

Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

 

No joy with the reboot of the IHD 😒

 

Sorry to hear that the IHD issues weren’t fixed with that reboot, @croninsfc.

 

If you haven’t already it’s worth flagging this one to the Support Team once more as they’ll be able to continue trouble-shooting until the issue is resolved. In case you hadn’t spotted it already we’ve got a great guide to using your online account to help diagnose any smart meter communication issues, if the issues go beyond just the IHD pairing with the meter. 

 

 

Still looks like there is no electricity meter attached, which is bizarre as isn’t that how the gas meter talks to everything?

 

Almost but not quite on this one. Both meters and the IHD are connected to the communications hub which is attached to the top of your electricity meter - which is why too great a distance between the meters often causes gas communication issues, but an electricity meter can still experience communication issues even if the gas meter is communicating as usual.

 

Hopefully it’s an intermittent issues which the Support Team can help resolve quickly for you. :slight_smile:

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C
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Userlevel 3

Well nobody hold your breath… apparently the turn around time for fixing IHD issues is 45 days. Just been told this in an email from support.

Wouldn’t mind but they only just fixed the gas part of it!

Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Sorry to hear that this appears to be a recurrent IHD issue for you, @croninsfc.

 

As these smart meter communication issues are sometimes intermittent we often find the issues resolve themselves without the need for further action. In the meantime it’s best to keep the device plugged in close to your electricity meter and continue monitoring the meter readings we’re receiving via the ‘Meter readings’ page of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

 

If you’re hoping for a quicker fix we’d recommend giving the Support team a call, they may be able to carry out some trouble-shooting with you over the phone to get things sorted straight-away.

 

Do pop back and let us know how you get on. :slight_smile:

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P
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Hi there, out IHD 6 has been working fine until today, only showing gas data. 
 

 

Jess_OVO
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Hi @Plc606 and Welcome to the OVO online community,

 

Sorry to hear your Chameleon IHD is missing some of your important usage data - hopefully this is a temporary blip and the data should return of it’s own accord but if the electricity information is still missing in a few days it’s worth following the trouble-shooting advice given in the guide above.

 

Don’t forget to you can also check the usage information by logging in to your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS).

 

Hope this helps - Keep us updated if you notice any changes to the data you’re seeing. :thumbsup:

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C
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Finally had an email asking for all the relevant information to allow investigation into why only gas info was being displayed and a follow up call from OVO - both yesterday (where they again explained the 45 day turn around), but today my IHD is all good, with both Gas and Electric consumption/cost information.

P
Rank

What (if anything) did you do? I have the same problem. OVO promised me a new one… it didn’t turn up! 

C
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Userlevel 3

HI @Plc606, did nothing at all, I’d quietly given up with ever hearing back about it (original issue raised 2 months ago), and then got the email and phone call out of the blue. My issue (assuming it is a permanent fix), may have been resolved by removing another IHD from my account (from the previous SMET 1 meter maybe), as they mentioned this specifically and needed the GUID to make sure of the current IHD that I have

P
Rank

Interesting that so many other people are having this problem. I’ll check mine tomorrow… I moved it into the garage so it’s right next to the meters. Didn’t make any difference. It’s so annoying because it’s electric you have more control over! 

Blastoise186
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Yeah, that can sometimes mess things up. If you upgrade from S1 to S2 it’s important to get any S1 IHDs properly de-registered from the account as I’ve heard stories from elsewhere of them otherwise getting in the way.

It shouldn’t happen, but it unfortunately does from time to time. There’s also a limit of four IHDs at once with S2 so if you’re getting rid of one, it’s worth having the supplier unpair it to free up a slot. :)

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Jess_OVO
Rank
Userlevel 7

 

What (if anything) did you do? I have the same problem. OVO promised me a new one… it didn’t turn up! 

 

I’m so sorry to hear your promised IHD replacement is yet to arrive, @Plc606. 

 

I’m wondering when our Support Team made this request for you, as I’m aware that currently we’re unable to guarantee a timeframe for these replacement devices due to supply chain issues. In the meantime we’d encourage you to follow the trouble-shooting advice given above as this can sometimes help get things sorted without the need to replace the device.

 

Are you still able to view the same usage data by logging in to your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS)?

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eezytiger
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I have been waiting since November for a replacement IHD and the wait continues. My meter has the wrong tariff information, as it has had since day one, several years ago.

I thought these things were supposed to be updated automatically. Well, I took out a fixed plan last September - my third consecutive two year fix - and the tariff has not budged.

I have chased Ovo customer support and, weeks ago, received an apologetic phone call from "Charles". What I have not received is the long promised replacement IHD. 

What is the hold up?

 

Blastoise186
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Hi @eezytiger 

I think you’ve got SMETS1 if memory serves. The snag with that is that the supply of S1 IHDs has been very, very limited for quite a long time and it seems to be almost impossible to get one from any supplier right now and the warranty also only usually lasts one year. The only possible replacement IHD you can buy for yourself on S1 that I know of, is the Hildebrand Glow for about £70. The snag however, is that they’ve also been out of stock for ages and I have no idea when they’ll get more in.

As for the tariff update? The SMETS Command Update Tariff Configuration should fix that. Please ask the Support Team to run that command and your tariff data on the meter should update within 24 hours.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
eezytiger
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Hi, @Blastoise186 

Thanks for that. Yes, my meter is SMETS1. The IHD works perfectly other than the wrong tariff information. If the solution was as simple as sending the "update tariff" command I would like to think that support would have actioned that in the first place. It was their suggestion to replace the IHD.

Regarding warranty, well I'm only a few months into a new contract with Ovo and the tariff data has been wrong from the beginning. I raised the problem two months after the new rates were applied to my account. That was ample time for rates to have been updated. I think it's on Ovo to fix this in a more timely fashion than they have. If it means a new SMETS2 meter and corresponding IHD then so be it.

Personally I wouldn't wish to condone the waste - this is my third smart meter following changes in supplier over the years - but Ovo chose to install a SMETS1 meter when SMETS2 was already on the market, despite me requesting SMETS2. The least they can do is to make sure my IHD is kept up to date. 

Tim_OVO
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Userlevel 7

I totally understand you wanting this sorted, @eezytiger - sorry to hear that your IHD tariff information update hasn’t been possible so far. 

 

As Blastoise mentions, if a replacement IHD is needed, it’s reliant on us having stock in place. Unless the smart meter itself has a fault, we won’t visit to replace it with another smart meter. But in the meantime don’t forget about the usage features and OVO Greenlight area of your online account, made possible by the smart meter itself sending us your usage info… We’re even looking for people to test and try out energy challenges:

 

 

Would you be able to contact the Support team via chat (usually around a 60 second wait time) to make sure they’ve considered a remote tariff update request? If you don’t have much luck, pop back here and I’ll ask someone to reach out to you directly via a forum private message. :)

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
eezytiger
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@Tim_OVO 

Hi, Tim. 

I have emailed customer support with the suggestion above to push a tariff update, just today. So far I've had the standard automated response. It remains to be seen whether any progress follows. Quite frankly I hold out zero hope, since that should have been the first thing I would have expected, back in November.

 

As for the usage data in the app and the web, yes, I use that daily. I was about to report that daily gas figures were absent from the graph from the 18th onwards, but that seems to have caught up some time today. Weirdly the half hourly numbers were all there and up to date within each day, but not the daily totals within the month.

 

Regards,

Tim.

 

 

M
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Why isn't my ihd showing any figures on the home screen, and keeps going on and off WiFi connected time is correct 

Blastoise186
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Howdy @Merryharry !

The names Blastoise186 and I’m one of the forum gurus who helps out around here. We can try to help diagnose this one with you, but I could do with some more details.

Would you be OK to share some photos of your smart meters and IHD please? I need to identify what you have in order to figure out your options.

Thanks!

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Jess_OVO
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Userlevel 7

Great to see our community we’re on hand to help trouble-shoot the IHD issues over the bank holiday, @Merryharry.

 

Did you get things sorted?

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