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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! :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:

My smart meter monitor has not worked correctly since my previous contract ended in October.  It doesn’t show any electric cost and I don’t think the gas cost follows correctly. Is there something I need to do.

Hey @Jonesyovo ,

Can you post photos of the meters and monitor please? I think I know a fix for this, but I need to check what you’ve got first.

Attached. This s at 20 past 10

Thank you

Ok, can you show me the electric and gas meters as well please?

Elec meter

Nope, looks fine to me. It might just be that there’s no juice being imported from the grid right now, causing a zero reading.

Ok, I'll monitor it. Thanks. Do you know what the delay is between consumption and read out?

For electricity it’s about one heartbeat every 10 seconds. For gas it’s one heartbeat every 30 minutes. :)

Hi again Blastoise186. As you can see, I have used 2.21whrs. Today but it will s still reading zero. Any ideas?

 

Ta. I suspect a comms issue but this would need diagnostics to be pulled remotely. You’ll probably want to let support know about this.

Ok, thanks. 

I got a smeg 2 meter in on the 9th and on the 10th wooke up to no elec or gas. The engineer didn't put my money on the meter it doesn't show my gas amount ant it doesn't show pence just pounds it wasn't even new. The engineer didn't show us how to use it he cut our supply for hours and was told ure not getting compensation for our stress since we've had it in and still no gas amount on it and we haven't even received all of our £66 or £67. Just 1 £66 that's all we've had plus we got the £150 from Gov and I'm not supposed to get stressed that's impossible with SSE. The meter doesn't even display the pence which it should. 

Hi @Rhind and thanks for flagging this. I’m sorry to hear about your experience with the engineer. 

 

There’s a few elements to this post and in general I think it’s best to discuss the missing energy bills support scheme payments directly with your supplier. We’re all one OVO family but we have separate Support teams. 

 

With OVO prepayment you should have an app and an In Home Display (IHD) that lets you see your balance. The IHD balance updates every 30 minutes and is in pounds and pence. 

My new IHD does not show pence just pounds plus I've discussed this with SSE but get no where I just get laughed at or told lies. I've only had 1 payment of £66 from the gov. the engineer didn't put our money on the meter he just gave the IHD to my carer (son) and told him to plug it in that  was on the 9th woke up on the 10th to no electrick or gas we got gas put on to smart meter it says on the gas (GAS NOT IN PREPAYMENT MODE). I told SSE this on the 10th and I'm disabled severely and was forced to go out to get our elec on and gas. I pay for my gas the same way I pay for my electric but I 1st was told my gas is direct debit I would never go direct debit I'm not that stupid. Others have experienced the same I've got letters from SSE saying I'm getting a payment of £150 which we got and a letter saying we're also getting £140 not received that. Now I'm topping up my meter by my credit card when I need gas or elec

The type of in home display I have is the geo trio ll touch button I have and to be honest it wasn't even new. 

 

This is what it shows me in my.meter doesn't show you the pence and gas amount isn't even been applied but I'm charging for compensation till this gets fixed and the amount is rising the longer it takes as I've over £668. 30 on gas as I put a further £100 in this month and a further £50 on elec because we haven't received all payments from Gov just 1 at the beginning of £66

 

Doesn't show pence and looks nothing like the pictures of ure IHD so how can I see my pence. And my gas money. 

I find when I call sse all I hear in the background is shouting and laughing. Many times I've had to tell who I am talking to to be quiet as I can't hear myself speak with screaming, shouting, laughing it's Unprofessional and I'm still getting told lies last week I was told my gas was direct debit (no way) I pay for my gas same as I pay for my electrick but yet they can't put my amount of gas on to it but for each day of stress and no gas amount on my IHD I'm charging compensation and its getting higher as all we've had since 9th is 4hrs without elec and gas. Woke up on 10th no elec or gas. And still no money from Gov apart from 1 payment at the beginning for £66 that's all I've had. The umbudsman has suggested I go to the press about all of this. I might as got 1 letter saying I'm getting £150 which I got and I got another letter saying I'm getting £140 haven't received that though yet was told I'd get it in 7 days still waiting  I'm not willing to wait any longer as like I said I'm  adding Compensation for each day till this gets sorted 

Is your gas supply working @Rhind ? Are you registered on the Priority Service Register?

Yes it's working I paid a further £100 this month on gas. Yes I'm registered on the Priority Service Register. But they still treat me as if I can go out in severe gales and fiddle with the outside meter when it can be all done at your end that's why I got the smart meter to start with to save me the pain and stress. 

Hi @Rhind,

 

Thanks for the replies. 

 

We’ll do our best to offer advice here, but I’ll first repeat the advice I gave earlier, which is that this forum isn’t best placed to help with your previous suppliers account specific issues. Best to them directly.

 

I agree it looks like the Geo Trio doesn’t show the balance in pence. Not ideal. There does seem to be something wrong with how the gas is set up if it’s not showing you a live balance on the IHD and you’re being advised that it’s set up in a Direct Debit setting when you call.

 

I suggest that if you’re not easily able to get to the meter itself, a prepayment tariff isn’t suitable. Gas smart meters need to be manually reconnected when they go off supply. This is a safety feature that you won’t need to deal with on a credit tariff in most cases. This is another thing to discuss with your previous supplier as well as your missing EBSS payments. You mentioned a request for compensation for your experience so far. If you haven’t already mentioned a complaint, you can get the ball rolling via this link. 

 

Hope they can get this sorted for you. 

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