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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 teamĀ , 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

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Ok Iā€™ll try the ihd near but itā€™s only Ā about 2 meter away now.


Hi I have placed the ihd on top of the smart meter cannot get any closer turned it off back on only gas showing.


ā€œthe 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. Itā€™s best to leave the IHD in this new spot andĀ try re-booting the device after 24 hoursĀ Ā (a classic turning off and on again move), sometimes this simple step will do the trick!ā€

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This is TOSH!

Typical of some one who is reading what the computer in front of them is telling to say.

If your in home display is showing gas readings, then its NOT a communication problem. The Gas meter talks to the same hub as the electricity meter does. If the IHD can show gas meter readings then it is talking to the hub OK.

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IS THERE ANY ENGINEERS OUT THERE!!!!

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This forum is primarily volunteer led and supported, with a few OVO staff helping out with moderation and housekeeping. PleaseĀ be patient as weā€™re not likeĀ a 24/7 helpline. I am one of those volunteers.

There are also engineers on this forum who know a lot about this stuff, but Iā€™m not able to summon them at will without a good reason.

Before you reply again, may I please remind you of the House Rules which apply here. Maybe come back a bit later, once you've cooled down a bit? We can talk then. :)


Nope itā€™s not changed still only gas displaysĀ 

the green lights flash though the middle one mesh? Is dimmer.


Well itā€™s been 48 hours the ihd sat on top of the meter it was turned off for an hour then back on still no electric use displaying?.


As our community volunteer, @Blastoise186Ā  has mentioned, this forum is the ideal place for OVO members to share knowledge and general advice.

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Technical issues with In-Home Displays is an issue we see here mentioned quite a bit so we have put together thisĀ guide which might help to get things sorted:

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Unfortunately if youā€™ve followed the advice given there and this issues still not resolved, weā€™re fairly limited in terms of taking further action. Weā€™d therefore recommend any ongoing issues with your device are raised directly to our Support Team, who can investigate things on an account-specific level.

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Sorry we canā€™t be more help here - Hoping the team can get to the bottom of things for you.
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Well the ovo team sent a signal yesterday itā€™s been over 24 hours and itā€™s still not showing any electric usage been turned on and off when turn back on it says gas meter has been initialised what ever that means.


Sounds like the Support Team have already taken some steps to try and get the signal back remotely, @adam carvell.

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If your device is still not showing you all the usage data youā€™d expect following the re-boot, weā€™d recommend re-contacting the team to report this.

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Hope youā€™re managing to use the ā€˜Usageā€™ pages of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS)Ā in the meantime.Ā :slight_smile:


Contact them again yesterday they unpaired the ihd. Now it just displays the gas with no usage the electric is still missing how long before it pairs again? Iā€™ve turned it on and off but no different.


Hi there,

I have been reading through the forums on smart meters to see if anyone else has a similar issue and to see what the guidance/advice is. I have looked at the various Smart meter tutorials and health checks too.

Here goesā€¦.

There are 2 issuesā€¦.

1st being Electric is not showing on my IHD - disappeared about 3 weeks ago.

  • I have theĀ IHD6-CAD-PPMIDĀ - also known as theĀ IHD6Ā smart meterĀ 
  • All lights on the comms hub (minus the MESH) are flashing every 5 seconds.
  • The Han and signal bar is showing on the meter therefore indicating its commissioned.
  • The meter is ā€œclocking usageā€.
  • Serial number of the meter is correct as per the OVO app
  • I know I can go into the app to see what my usage is but why have a smart meter plugged in and using electricity if its not showing what it should?

Questions

  1. Why is my electricity not showing?
  2. How can this be resolved quickly?

2nd issue being having to send manual meter readings to OVO for Gas.

So, the gas is showing on the IHD6 but have to send OVO a manual meter reading every month and this has been the story right from the beginning when the smart meter was fittedĀ - not sure its showing correctly either as days when usage is higher its showing less and vice versa.

  • Serial number of the meter is correct as per the OVO app
  • Contacted OVO after the smart meter was fitted to let them know and they said they would send an engineer out giving 1 month as a timescale but they never did

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Questions

  1. Why am I still having to provide manual meter readings?
  2. How can this be resolved quickly?

I have attached photos of the meters and the IHD6 below too.

Thanking you in advance.

Ā 


Hey there @au175Ā !

You probably already discovered one of my guides, but the nameā€™s Blastoise186 and Iā€™m one of the forum volunteers who totally destroys the foruā€¦Ā ahemĀ I meanā€¦Ā Helps out here. And definitely doesnā€™t tear the place apart! Yeah, totally doesnā€™t do thatā€¦Ā Or do Iā€¦?

My first thoughts are that this could be an easy fix, or it could be horrible. But I donā€™t see a reason to jump straight to a Meter Exchange at all, at least not without trying the remote fixes first.

For the gas meter, Iā€™d suggest asking the Support Team to reconfigure the Read Schedule again - itā€™s quite likely there isnā€™t one set up on the gas meter right now and this could be preventing the readings from coming in. I notice thereā€™s also a message on your gas meter right now. Please could you use the menus to view that message and tell me what it says? It may help with diagnostics.

As for the electric meter? Iā€™m kinda tempted to suggest asking for that meter to be re-commissioned as it might fix the issue. There are also other remote fixes that can be used which target both the electric meter and your In-Home Display. Thereā€™s a high chance that at least one of them will get the show back on the road for you. One of the other possible fixes is to have the Comms Hub rebooted but that takes a while because only DCC can do that.

A meter exchange is only a last resort and shouldnā€™t be the default fix.

Hope this helps!


Hi @Blastoise186Ā 

Thank you for your prompt reply šŸ‘šŸ½
I will check that message tomorrow and report back before progressing further.

Is it simple to read the message? Just donā€™t want to press something that I shouldnā€™t and end up creating another problem šŸ«£


You can't break it easily!


Sorry to hear that youā€™re having some issue with your IHD and gas smart meter communications, @au175.

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Just to check, have you noticed any issues with your electricity readings when logging in to your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS)?

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If thereā€™s readings being received here, I suspect it might be more a Home-Area Network (HAN) issue. Worth checking out the advice in the guide below.

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In relation to your gas meter, you mention raising this to the Support Team already. Have they recommended you carry out a smart meter health check?

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Electricity readings appear on my app, . Gas readings do not appear on the app.Ā It just says sorry this usage data is currently not available. Every month I have to send gas readings to Ovo, itā€™s been like that since day 1 over 12 months ago.Ā 
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strange thing is that gas readings appear on the smart meter and electricity readings donā€™t. Iā€™ve tried moving the smart meter to within 1 metre of the meter and still no luck.Ā 


In that case it sounds like there could be a connection issue between your gas meter and the comms hub (which is attached to your electricity meter), @au175.

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Are the meters far apart? This and other checks form part of the smart meter health check, which weā€™d recommend carrying out and contacting our Support Team with the results.

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Theyā€™ll be able to advise on any possible solutions to get that gas meter in communication. They may be able to carry out some remote process to get your electricity usage data showing on your IHD again too.

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Let us know if you need any further help getting things sorted.


I had smart meters installed for dual fuel today. The IHD6 isnā€™t receiving anything from my smart meters at all. Itā€™s not registering the meters or any usage dataĀ etc nothing not even showing my supplier everything is a blank entry apart from the date and time. Itā€™s connected to my wifi and the WAN/HAN connection shows as stable.Ā 
Also the engineer said it would take a couple of hours to charge but Iā€™ve since foundĀ it has to be permanently plugged in, thereā€™s no battery symbol and it just turns off if unplugged. It doesnā€™t hold any charge. I tried contacting Ovo today but didnā€™t have any joy before they closed and the social media team were looking into it then stopped responding so have no idea what the issue is. Tried Loop and itā€™s managed to connect to my gas smart meter but not the electric one.Ā 
Hoping someone here might have a suggestion that could help me figure out how to resolve it.Ā 
ThanksĀ 


Not my specialist subject by any means (!) but Iā€™m fairly sure the in home display will have to be permanently plugged in as the battery is only good enough for short periods without mains power. Once plugged in leave it as long as you can stand and itā€™ll sort itself outā€¦Ā If nothing happens on it come back here as @Blastoise186Ā knows just about everything there is to know about smart metersā€¦Ā Havenā€™t found a question yet that he canā€™t answer.


Indeed. Normally Iā€™d be happy to help out with this right now, but Iā€™m afraid Iā€™m not available tonight.

I never thought Iā€™d say this, but Iā€™m currently helping Western Power Distribution deal with an emergency, so I canā€™t offer my usual range of advice right now. Normal service will be resumed once thatā€™s been cleaned up.

Thanks for understanding!


Thank you. Im going to call Ovo tomorrow and see what they say anyway as neither smart meter is showing on the IHD so hopefully they can get to bottom of whatā€™s going wrong. I didnā€™t realise it needed to be plugged in 24/7, the guide mentioned a battery symbol and showed a picture of it charging which mine just doesnā€™t have at all but maybe itā€™s just me being picky!Ā 
Hopefully Ovo can figure it out tomorrow ā˜ŗļø


Sorry for the wait! That incident is now dealt with (thankfully).

I donā€™t think youā€™ve got an IHD6, possibly more likely the IHD7. Could you show me photos of the bottom of the IHD please?

It also takes up to six weeks for everything to fully set up. It wonā€™t be stable during this time, so please hang in there!

Oh and if you donā€™t mind, try running both meters throughĀ https://smartmetercheck.citizensadvice.org.uk/Ā and tell us the result please?


Hi,Ā 

Gosh it sounds like a long night, I hope you managed to get some sleep!
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Youā€™re right itā€™s a 7 not a 6.Ā 
The gas is now showing on the IHD but still no electric. The citizens advice link doesnā€™t recognise either meter as a smart meter unfortunately. Iā€™ve not had any joy getting hold of Ovo either to be honest. I was cut off at 6 when the lines closed and social media failed to respond and I already have open complaints from many weeks ago that havenā€™t even beenĀ acknowledged much less answered. The chat doesnā€™t work either so itā€™s a case of put up and shut up it seems šŸ˜­Ā 

Iā€™ll wait it out 6 weeks and see what happens, fingers crossed it shows by then! Halfway there now at least.Ā 

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Ah yes I see.

I know for a fact that the ivie Bud is based on the Chameleon IHD7 and that doesnā€™t have a battery in it. Maybe the IHD7 doesnā€™t either? I might try to ping one of my contacts at Chameleon Technology and see if theyā€™re able to advise.

What youā€™re seeing in CAB Smart Meter Check is what Iā€™d expect at this early stage. It should update soon!

As for that incident? Nah, pretty easy for me! WPD mainly needed some advice about when that incident might get resolved (which it thankfully now is!) and asked me to convey some messages. Iā€™m just known to be pretty helpful to anyone who needs it.

Iā€™ve had a very nice phone call today with the duty manager from Western Power Distribution who was on duty at the time, and was in fact the same user who came to the forum for help over the weekend. Letā€™s just say he was beingĀ veryĀ resourceful and was trying every possible route to get hold of ā€œsomeoneā€ who might know what was going on. :)

Unfortunately however, I canā€™t revealĀ his details publicly (his role isnā€™t usually customer facing) and the contents of the call are confidential. I have permission to discuss the outcomes of the call with OVO but no-one else. All I can say is that it was very productive and could result in some very beneficial things happening.


Normally I have no problem with my meter readings. Very occasionally I have had to give a gas reading.Ā 

Unfortunately, when I got up this morning and checked the app, OVO had not taken readings for either gas or electricity. Thankfully, I was able to send them without any difficulty. Therefore, it might be an idea for those of you with smart meters to just check that readings have been taken,.


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