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Wigwam66
Rank 1
March 29, 2020
Solved

Why is my Smart meter In Home Display (IHD) not showing any electricity usage data?

  • March 29, 2020
  • 222 replies
  • 29017 views

Okay, here goes... Smart meters installed in June 2019, except they weren't commissioned until January 2020. Since then my meter readings are being sent hourly to OVO and my usage is visible online after 24 hours, but my IHD is only showing gas usage. I've asked the email team , about showing electricity usage on the IHD and after 16 days advised that they'd requested my IHD's firmware to be refreshed and I should wait 48 hours and turn my IHD off and on. I've tried this but after 3 days nothing has changed and I'm looking to try and resolve this before the anniversary of the installation (although maybe I'll get a prize for the longest smart meter installation?) Can anyone suggest a solution?

Many thanks

 

Best answer by Nancy_OVO

Updated on 30/10/25 by Ben_OVO

 

Sorry to hear about your Smart meter journey - certainly not the smooth transition to smart that we aim for.

 

If you’re not seeing the information for both your gas and electricity usage on your In Home Display (IHD) this could indicate a communication issue either between the IHD and the meters or between your smart meter and OVO. If you think your smart meter may not be communicating with us, please check out the helpful guide below:

 

 

SMETS1 Secure Smart Meter Health Check

SMETS2 Smart Meter Health Check

 

If you believe there’s issues with your smart meters or IHD please contact our Support Team. If the smart meters need relacing we can book this in free of charge. If the smart meters are working, but the IHD is faulty, we can try and repair the IHD remotely. If that doesn’t work we can post you a new one, free of charge.

 

Here’s some things which can cause communication issues between your IHD and your Smart Meter:

  • Distance: make sure your In Home Display is near your electricity meter - ideally within 6 metres. If it’s not connected or isn't showing usage data, move it closer!
  • Obstructions: Is there anything that could be blocking the signal between the IHD and the meters? (eg an exterior wall)
  • Firmware: there might be a firmware issue with the IHD or smart meter, that’s causing connectivity issues (sometimes a device reboot can help with this - we’d recommend unplugging the device and allowing the IHD to run down it’s battery before restarting)

 

For more help see our Chameleon IHD trouble-shooting guide:

 

 

Hope you get these initial teething problems resolved quickly so you can start enjoying the benefits of your new Smart meters.

 

OVO customer but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!

Interested but not yet an OVO customer? - Check out our plans!

 

222 replies

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T
Rank 2
Tomo
Rank 2
April 12, 2024

Hello,

 

I am hoping that this doesn't come across as me being dumb! However, I will ask anyway..…

 

So I have just had a new gas prepayment smart meter installed, with new IHD3-PPMID  module all set up.

Currently, it is only displaying the gas meter settings ( working fine) but isn't displaying any electricity readings as yet...is this normal?

 

For the record, my old prepayment electric smart meter was left on by the engineer and topped up with £15 emergency credit, even though it had £75 before today's installation. 

The electric meter is displaying the following message " searching for meters"

Is this something that will rectify itself overnight or is there an issue here?

All help is appreciated!

Regards,

 

Tom

 

Blastoise186
Super User
Blastoise186Super User
Super User
April 12, 2024

Sounds to me like the IHD needs to be authorised again - OVO Support can do that if you reach out to them.

Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
    T
    Rank 2
    Tomo
    Rank 2
    April 12, 2024

    Thank you for the reply.

    I took your advice and got straight on to OVO. Thankfully the issue has now been resolved.  Not totally sure what the problem was, however, after aending numerous photos and bother bits of information, the IHD is correctly displaying both gas and electric.

     

    Once again, thank you.  Appreciated.

     

    Tom

     

     

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    April 15, 2024

    No worries, my suspicion is that the IHD was paired to the HAN, connected to the Comms Hub and authorised in the Gas Meter to get data from it, but not authorised in the Electric Meter yet. It’s usually a pretty easy fix - just run some SMETS Commands again and it normally resolves pretty fast after that.

    Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
    S
    Rank 1
    ssray23
    Rank 1
    August 1, 2024

    Hi,

    I am a Ovo PAYG customer.

    My IHD shows “Waiting for Balance” today morning. I also notice a flashing connectivity icon on top left corner.  This has never happened before since I moved to this flat last year. 

     

    Do I need to do anything to resolve this or will this start  working on its own in due course of time?

     

    Thanks in advance,

    Ray

      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      Emmanuelle_OVO
      Retired Moderator
      August 1, 2024

      Hey @ssray23,

       

      I’m sorry for the issues you’re having,

       

      This topic may have some helpful advice:

       

       

      It might be that your meters have temporarily lost ‘HAN’ or ‘Home Area Network’. 

       

      If this problem persists, I’d advise reaching out to the support team.

       

      How to get in contact about my OVO Pay As You Go account

       

      • The best way to get in touch with us is via chat here. Just click the green chat icon on the bottom right of your screen. We’re here to help anytime from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 2pm on Saturday.
      • Or call us on 0330 175 9669 during the same times.

       

      If you’re with Boost

       

      Hope this helps

      Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
      BPLightlog
      Super User
      BPLightlogSuper User
      Super User
      August 1, 2024

      If it’s just a dropped link between your IHD and your smart meter @ssray23 , it’s worth going through the power down process to try to reconnect. 
      You would remove power (mains and battery if fitted) from your IHD for at least 30 seconds. Then power back on and the signal to the meter will try to reconnect. 
      You can also check your smart meter state by looking at the flashing indicators 

      Bring me Sunshine ~ E&E {Solar PV, Battery Storage, Hybrid EV, ASHP and Home Assistant automation}
        spmsupun
        Rank 2
        spmsupun
        Rank 2
        November 18, 2024

        recently received an IHD from OVO, and it worked for about a day before stopping. After I contacted OVO, they said there might be an issue with the device and sent me a replacement. The new one didn’t work at first, but I left it plugged in for 2 days, and after about an hour, it started working again. However, after I unplugged and replugged it to properly arrange the wires, it started showing the "Not Commissioned" message again. (I don’t remember if I did the same thing with the first one.)

        am I not supposed to unplug it? My smart meter has the SW, WAN, and HAN lights blinking every 5 seconds, but the MESH and GAS lights aren’t showing anything (I don’t have gas). Does anyone know what might be going on?

        Blastoise186
        Super User
        Blastoise186Super User
        Super User
        November 18, 2024

        Howdy ​@spmsupun !

        I need a couple more things from you to help me figure this out:

        • Please post photos of your meter(s) and IHD(s)
        • Please tell me the results of the check at https://homebrew.n3rgy.com - make sure to REDACT personal info such as your address and MPAN/MPRN!!!
        Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
        Emmanuelle_OVO
        Retired Moderator
        Emmanuelle_OVO
        Retired Moderator
        November 19, 2024

        Hey ​@spmsupun 

         

        I’m sorry to hear this

         

        Blastoise is somewhat of a smart meter expert so I’m sure will be able to shed some light if you answer the above 😊 I just wanted to add the following topics which you may find helpful:
         

         

        Renewable Energy? Big Fan.
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