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What to do if my smart gas meter has condensation in the display screen, doesn't send readings remotely and can't be read?

  • 7 February 2021
  • 7 replies
  • 2405 views
Steveo
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Hope someone  can help. Our gas smart meter is not communicating, I did contact Ovo via the chat. They asked me to fill out a questionnaire, which I duly did, & haven't heard anything since. The problem is the meters display has bad condensation on the inside of it, (pic) making it impossible to read. It also doesn't respond to any button pressing and is making a noise. There clearly is a problem with this meter, and would like it looked at asap, as my bills seemed to have increased, probably due to an estimation on the gas.
I look forward to your reply.

Regards.

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Best answer by Tim_OVO 8 February 2021, 13:43

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Blastoise186
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Howdy @Steveo ,

That looks like one faulty gas meter to me! I can definitely say that the display should NOT look that unhealthy at all. It looks like water or condensation has gotten into the electronics and probably damaged something.

The best advice I’d recommend here would probably be to have your meters swapped out via a Meter Exchange request. Since there’s a fault on the gas meter, OVO should be happy to pull out their credit card to pay for the job.

You might also want to chat with them about your bill concerns too. If it looks like the fault has messed up the metering, OVO can take a look and go from there.

I’d recommend the live chat in this case. If you tell the agent you spoke to Blastoise186 on the forums and provide a link to this thread, they’ll be able to see what we’ve said here.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Tim_OVO
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Updated on 30/07/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO

 

 

Hi @Steveo and thanks for posting. 

 

You’ve outlined a few things here, but they may or may not be related. 

 

  1. Condensation in the meter display screen: this would likely mean a free ‘faulty meter exchange’ can be booked in here. Especially if that gas smart meter can’t send OVO the readings remotely. However we need to look at why there’s condensation. Is the gas meter box getting wet? Does it have an intact meter box door? Does it flood? Please see this topic on gas meter boxes with water in them. This topic also lists types of engineer visits and what you have to do with broken meter boxes. 
  2. Why isn’t your gas meter sending its readings remotely? Please see this topic to diagnose Secure S1 smart communication issues. 
  3. Noise coming from your gas meter area is not uncommon. To see if it’s normal or needs an engineer visit, see this topic. 

Hope this helps! 

Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
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Can anyone advise how I can get my gas meter replaced as I can not read the numbers due to condensation. There is no water inside. I really do not want a smart meter just a straight swap.  My mums smart meter went bang so it scares me.  

 

Blastoise186
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Hi @Lisalimetree ,

That’s a dead gas meter I’m afraid. The Support Team can arrange a replacement for you, but it will almost certainly have to be a smart meter and this would also trigger your electric meter to be upgraded to a smart meter as well. There’s basically no stocks left of non-smart meters and the few remaining units are only being used in emergencies, for which this doesn’t qualify.

Meters cannot be repaired in the field either, so replacement is the only option.

The only realistic reason your mothers smart meter “went bang” would be either due to a faulty meter coming out of the factory (which can happen to ANY meter!), or a bad installation (which can also happen to ANY meter). They are just as safe, if not safer than the older types and you have nothing to fear.

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

That’s a dead gas meter I’m afraid. The Support Team can arrange a replacement for you, but it will almost certainly have to be a smart meter and this would also trigger your electric meter to be upgraded to a smart meter as well. There’s basically no stocks left of non-smart meters and the few remaining units are only being used in emergencies, for which this doesn’t qualify.

Meters cannot be repaired in the field either, so replacement is the only option.

The only realistic reason your mothers smart meter “went bang” would be either due to a faulty meter coming out of the factory (which can happen to ANY meter!), or a bad installation (which can also happen to ANY meter). They are just as safe, if not safer than the older types and you have nothing to fear.

  
@Blastoise186 how do I contact the support team? There seems to be no smart meters appointments in the north of Scotland will I be classed as any kind of priority. How will I ever get correct bills now 🤯

Blastoise186
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The best options are 0330 303 5063 or https://help.ovoenergy.com where there’s a Live Chat.

Once OVO is aware, they can try to make a best effort basis to estimate your bills as accurately as possible. If you get a Smart Meter installed and set it to Half-Hourly Mode, this will make the job much easier as OVO would be able to use that to “rebuild” the missing readings.

I can’t comment on engineer availability as I wouldn’t know myself. What I can say is that OVO will try to figure something out with you as soon as possible once you report the fault.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Emmanuelle_OVO
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Hey @Lisalimetree,

 

I’m sorry for the issues you’ve had.

 

@Blastoise186 has already given some really great advice here. Just wanted to step in to clarify, although this wouldn’t be classified as an emergency, it could still be booked in as a faulty meter exchange.

 

This is a 17 working day appointment, so you don’t need to worry if there are no smart meter appointments available online, our Support Team can get this booked in for you!  

 

Hope this helps. 

Renewable Energy? Big Fan.

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