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Why did my smart meter stop sending reads after last bill?

  • 26 May 2024
  • 8 replies
  • 173 views

Logged on to MyOvo on laptop this morning to find the following...

  1. Home page - under "Your meter readings" shows "We couldn't get a reading from your smart meter. Mind sending one manually?" Last reading was 21st May i.e. the reading used for the final reading of my latest bill
  1. Click on Meter readings from left hand menu on home page and get "Your electricity smart meter is sending us readings automatically, so you don't need to do anything."

So I have a mismatch on the information being shown by the website

Latest bill was 21st April - 20th May 2024 so readings lost after bill production - odd???

The usage for May shows estimates for 21-24 May inclusive

Meter shows green for SW, WAN & HAN so pretty sure my meter is reachable and functioning, internal display working fine.

Not had any issues with readings being sent since a similar issue was fixed after about 6-8 weeks delay back in December 2023 This was only after Emmanuelle_OVO got involved https://forum.ovoenergy.com/smart-meters-136/smart-meter-install-woes-16433

After my problems getting the December 2023 issue fixed, I have rather lost confidence in the first-line support team and their knowledge of the billing system so would appreciate if one of the Community Managers could reach out to the Forum_Support team as when this happened last time readings were re-instated almost instantly.

Meanwhile I guess I’ll go back to providing manual readings.

I find it odd that the readings stopped immediately after my last bill was produced perhaps it was as Ms Vennells would say an anomaly or as I call it after almost 40 years working in IT - a bug😉

8 replies

Firedog
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The first thing to check is that your account is set to ‘half-hourly readings’. You’ll have to contact Support to find out. We’ve seen a few cases of spontaneous switches to ‘monthly readings’, which would result in what you’re seeing. Support can make the change to the reading schedule for you if necessary.

You can check whether your usage data are getting through to DCC by using one of the third parties that do this. I use Guy Lipman’s simple utilities, which get your data via n3rgy.com, part of SMS, the smart meter people. If you find that data are getting through to DCC but OVO isn’t retrieving them, that’s OVO’s fault and you’ll have to persuade Support to investigate for you.

Two related pages:

All your frequently asked questions about smart meter reading schedules | The OVO Forum (ovoenergy.com)

The second one has some helpful troubleshooting tips.

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
G
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@Firedog

Thanks for the heads up, should have searched FAQs first as that one is new to me.

Just checked the usage page and actual/estimated readings are showing as daily which is what I originally asked for, however the actual readings can be drilled into to give 30 min readings so I guess that may have been changed to fix my previous problems at the end of 2023. I’ll give Guy Lipman’s utilities a go next and then talk to support.

Chris_OVO
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Hey @grumpy235,

 

@Firedog has made a great job of supporting you! 

 

Let us know how things progress after speaking with our Support Team. 

Renewable energy jokes never get old.
G
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Hi, @ChristopherS_OVO 

Yes @Firedog was very helpful. The green lights on my meter are fine, signal to IHD is OK, readings in the meter are OK and I am now trying to get to grips with Guy Lipman’s utilities to determine if my data is reaching the DCM.

I have sent an email this morning to the Support Team detailing my problem and I am awaiting a reply.

Am I right in thinking the generalised email I have just received from Customer Care is the standard one triggered when the OVO systems detect a number of days without readings? It contains seven bullet points starting with a request for meter numbers, WAN and HAN light frequency, siting of meter, mobile strength etc..

As I stated in my initial question, I have been here at least twice before since the smart meter was installed and on both occasions First LIne Support were unable to help.

The last time this occured, just before Christmas 2023, I waited 4-5 weeks for an engineer, who never turned up as although I was told I needed an engineer and a booking had been made - it had not. Once I raised the issue here, it was fixed almost instantly by one of the Moderators reaching out to Forum Support and has been working just fine since 22nd December 2023.

 

G
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@Firedog looks like you were right about ‘monthly readings’ checked this morning and readings have been re-instated but no drill-down since the last “good one”

Not sure if it was my email to Support or an intervention by @ChristopherS_OVO . Thanks gentlemen, I’ll know what to do the next time 😀

Do think your software team need to poke the vendor as this looks like a bug in their program to me.

Blastoise186
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OVO’s billing platform is custom built in-house by OVO’s sister company Kaluza. There isn’t a vendor as such. :)

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way!
Firedog
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Am I right in thinking the generalised email I have just received from Customer Care is the standard one triggered when the OVO systems detect a number of days without readings? It contains seven bullet points starting with a request for meter numbers, WAN and HAN light frequency, siting of meter, mobile strength etc..

 

That sounds like a ‘health check’:

OVO Energy - Smart meter help

SMETS1 Secure Smart Meter Health Check

SMETS2 Smart Meter Health Check

 

Submitting the form sends the diagnosis straight to the smart team.

 

Noel | I have no official status; I'm just a volunteer who comes here to help other customers. My gear: Aclara SGM 1416-B Electricity-only E7 meter; Chameleon IHD3-PPMID-AAA
Chris_OVO
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@Firedog takes all the credit on this one and i’m glad it’s working for you now! 

 

I’ll do some digging and raise this and see if the team are aware of the issue 😊

Renewable energy jokes never get old.

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