Trouble-shooting issues with your OVO Chameleon In-Home Display (IHD)
Updated on 18/07/24 by Abby_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!
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:
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.
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:
Does the device show a correct time and date?
Is the WiFi symbol solid/flashing/not there?
Could you confirm the Device ID? (Long ID number on the bottom of device)
How far away from your electricity meter do you store your IHD? Are there any walls in between that could be blocking the signal?
What is the issue with your IHD? E.g. not showing electricity/gas usage, displays incorrect tariff, device is rebooting itself?
Please confirm if your device is an IHD3 (black all over) or IHD6 (black on the front and white on the back)
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.
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All sorted getting a new one. :)
Hi,I had smart meters fitted last Friday , and had a brief explanation of the IHD . Electric usage showed up straight away, gas usage display has not displayed at all, any ideas?
IHD7-CAD-PPMID
Thanks in advance
Hiya!
It can take up to six weeks for everything to start working properly. Would you mind showing us photos of everything though? We might be able to help check a few things.
Thank you for the reply , I am in work now but will take pictures when I get home,
Regards
Hope these pics are what you require. When I was taking the picture of the electric meter I noticed that the mesh or gas green light did not flash and stayed off . Flashing lights are at 5 sec intervals
Great to see some meter photos there, @Miyagi.
Just to double-check, were these installed by OVO? Looks like they might not be the usual type of smart meters we’d install, so wondering if you’re currently with another supplier.
In case it’s still relevant we do have a great trouble-shooting guide to help sort common issues with the Chameleon IHD below.
The fitting was booked through the ovo app , which is where I gave my meter readings. The van had SSE on the side , but I am definitely paying ovo for my gas and electric.
Sorry for my confusion there, @Miyagi.
Just double-checked with the team and can confirm that we are installing this smart meter model. There’s more details on this meter which you might find handy in the guide below.
Have you logged in to your online account to check whether the meter readings are being received yet?
I have logged into the app and nothing showing on there.
Just the usual send a meter reading on such and such date .
I will have a look at the tutorial now.
Thank you
Had a look through the tutorial but can't see anything about getting the gas to show on the IHD, or do I have to wait and see for the 6 weeks ?
Ah so sorry, @Miyagi, that tutorial was more for checking the meter readings on your meter type.
We’d recommend waiting at least 6 weeks to see if those IHD issues sort themselves out. If you’re still seeing some missing info after 6 weeks, the guide below will run through the actions to take at this point.
Hope this helps.
Hi @Miyagi
You could also keep an eye via one of the regulated 3rd party apps that some of us use.
It is very unlikely this app will see the gas readings quicker than OVO, but sometimes it can be useful to see the data in another app with slightly different functionality.
Thanks for everyone's input,
I recently switched from Fixed to Variable. My gas tariff is correct, but my IHD is still showing the Fixed electricity rate for units and standing charge. Thankfully, my online account is showing the correct information, but it’s still a pain. I’ve got too much going on right now because my mum is in hospital, but as soon as I get a spare moment I’ll phone support.
My IHD has not been updated. Gone through troubleshooter, checked all relevant references and even the current updated meter reading. Unit prices not updated with new values.
Hiya!
The Support Team can fix this one. Let them know you need to have the SMETS Command Update Tariff Configuration applied to your meters and it should get your IHD updated as well.
Best of luck with phoning support , I have tried many times, different days and times ,all are busy try again later
Sorry to hear your IHD is yet to update with the new rates, @rjsimmonds.
Just in case it helps, have you tried placing the device close to the electricity meter and rebooting (a quick turn off and on again)? This can sometimes help get things back on track. If not our Support Team can give things a little remote nudge too.
You can find the best contact channels for the Support Team here and it’s usually fairly quick to reach the team on the phone. Were you using the 0330 303 5063 number, @Miyagi? Don’t forget we also have a call-back feature if the lines are busier than usual.
Hope this helps.
Sorry to hear your IHD is yet to update with the new rates, @rjsimmonds.
Just in case it helps, have you tried placing the device close to the electricity meter and rebooting (a quick turn off and on again)? This can sometimes help get things back on track. If not our Support Team can give things a little remote nudge too.
You can find the best contact channels for the Support Team here and it’s usually fairly quick to reach the team on the phone. Were you using the 0330 303 5063 number, @Miyagi? Don’t forget we also have a call-back feature if the lines are busier than usual.
Hope this helps.
Thanks Jess. Neither moving the IHD nor rebooting worked. When I get a moment I’ll contact support.
Thanks ,
will try the call back feature
I had an electric smart meter put in on August 11th. First I would like to thank OVO for coming out and doing this. The required reception is patchy in my area an no other provider would do it (“computer says no”). Ovo sent out their installer (Tim) who was brilliant, put a T2 aerial on it, and it connected.
It took a week to all connect through. But now I can see half hourly readings on my OVO app and the new meter number, so I know that part is working
My issue is that the little IHD isn’t connected. For about a week after the installation is was blank. But a few days ago the connection strength indicator icon in the very top left started flashing. It is also rebooting itself every few minutes. I looked this up and it means it isn’t connected to the meter.
On investigation this isn’t something I can do, so I phoned OVO. It took a little while to explain it wasn’t the meter syncing to my account, but the IHD to the meter that was the issue. Eventually they took the IHD number and said it can take 45 working days to connect it.
My question is, how on earth can it take 2 months to connect a display to my meter?
Howdy @James_N !
Glad to hear the installation went well! Those T2 Aerials are pretty big, but just wait until you’ve seen a T3 Aerial, those things are absolute monsters! (It’s also a good thing we don’t have T-1000 ones!)
As for diagnosing the IHD issues? Erm… I suspect your site is still in the commissioning process, which can take up to six weeks to fully complete. Diagnostics are a bit limited during this process as not everything is completely set up juuuuust yet. But chances are someone is looking into it. Keep an eye on things and keep us posted. If we can think of any solutions, we’ll let you know.
Oh and it’s also great to hear that Tim did such a good job, I’m sure Tim will be pleased to hear your new meters are up and running, so I’ll let Tim know and pass the feedback onto Tim so that Tim knows you had a great experience with Tim. While I’m at it, I’ll probably also make sure that Tim knows that I’m talking about Tim and not about Tim because otherwise Tim won’t know that I’m talking about Tim who does a great job, right Tim? Ok, I guess I am just messing with Tim’s brain and giving Tim a headache at this point. If so, sorry about that Tim. I'll try not to give Tim a headache again Tim. Also Tim, I'll try to make sure it's more obvious which Tim I'm talking about Tim, so that Tim and Tim don't get confused. Because I guess Tim really is confused at this point!
Quick update on this. IHD still not working. Ovo have emailed me and asked more questions. They say it is conncted as far as they can tell. And I think the appropriate green led on the new meter is green and flashing every 5 seconds.
But, as you can see from the attached photo its not working.
You can’t see it in the photo but the 4 signal bars top left flash on and off, and the ihd itself restarts itself about every 5 mins
Looks like it’s not getting a proper time sync to me. That’s why it keeps restarting.
Hey @James_N,
I’m sorry your In Home Display (IHD) isn’t working properly.
It sounds like @Blastoise186 might be onto something there and good to hear our Support Team are on the case.
In the meantime here are some similar threads you may find helpful:
If your smart meters are communicating with OVO, this suggests the issue is the Home Area Network (HAN). If you haven’t already done so contact our support team with the IHD health check:
Does the device show a correct time and date?
Is the WiFi symbol solid/flashing/not there?
Could you confirm the Device ID? (Long ID number on the bottom of device)
How far away from your electricity meter do you store your IHD? Are there any walls in between that could be blocking the signal?
What is the issue with your IHD? E.g. not showing electricity/gas usage, displays incorrect tariff, device is rebooting itself?
Please confirm if your device is an IHD3 (black all over) or IHD6 (black on the front and white on the back)
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.
Keep us posted with how you get on!
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