Thanks for the assist @kwick1 ! I’m also glad to see you’re all sorted there @Ajk .

I can also answer that other one for you. There’s four main ways you can get hold of an IHD from OVO. In all cases, the first one is always free:

1. If you don’t yet have smart meters when you join OVO and OVO install them for you, the engineer will bring an IHD along with them and get it paired up as part of the installation job.
2. If you already have smart meters in your new house when you move in, but no IHD yet. OVO will happily pop one in the post for you, free of charge
3. If you switch to OVO from another supplier and need a suitable IHD, OVO can check which one you need and send one out
4. If your existing IHD breaks/isn’t compatible/gets stolen/goes missing, OVO will send you another one for free - provided you didn’t deliberately break it (such as smashing it with a sledgehammer for example)
5. If you fancy having more than one IHD, OVO can consider reasonable requests

All of these cases except the first one require you to put a request in via the Support Team and you will have to pair your new IHD after it arrives. If an engineer sets up your smart meters, they’ll pair up the IHD for you.

There’s now a lot of useful answers in this thread, but only one comment can be tagged as the best answer. Given that note, @Tim_OVO could you tag some notes to it for me?

 

OVO uses Chameleon branded IHDs, rather than Geo branded IHDs. So it’s possible that your Geo Trio II might not work properly anymore. I’d recommend keeping it around as a spare anyway. The good news is that OVO can supply you a Chameleon branded IHD completely free of charge. As you’ve got a SMETS2 meter, you’ll want a Chameleon IHD6.

Please let the Support Team know that you’ve had a chat with me on the forums and provide a link to this thread. Once the agent catches up, they’ll know what to do next.

Hi again @Ajk 

I think @Blastoise186 has covered all the ways to get hold of an OVO IHD6 but when you do request it, just make sure of a couple of things:

1. Double check the new IHD6 requested is set up to match your account details. Mine came with the wrong information and doesn’t match the correct tariff I am on nor the fact that I have a dual tariff ECO7 account. Hence all my IHD readings for cost (£) are incorrect and there is no separation for Day/Night usage even though my online web account is correct. Been told it is a known s/w issue for some users and to wait for an update? 
2. I’d recommend having your account set to collect data at 30 min intervals. I think default is monthly and they need your specific agreement to change to 30mins. It took me 3 calls to support to get this corrected even after I had been told it had already been set up. Slightly frustrating but done now.

I’m not complaining and my minor issues are getting sorted and the support has been friendly and responsive. Perhaps a couple of teething troubles on my switch though.

regards, kwick1

Howdy @kwick1 !

Tim has re-assigned the best answer in this thread to one of your comments, which means you’ve just earned a reward. Please check your PM’s for one from Tim that tells you more. 

If you keep up like this, you will almost certainly be rewarded again. Thanks for helping out! We really love the support!

Hi @Blastoise186 ,

My IHD6 is now showing the correct information for my account and the Day tariff rate is correct. So some update has occurred to correct the mismatch. Would that have come across via the internet connection or via the SMETS2 and Zigbee?

The OVO IHD doesn’t show the Night time tariff during the daytime hours but I’m assuming that the tariff will swap to the Night rate after midnight and until 7:00am? I’ll check tonight.

The old Geo Trio II on EDF used to display the two tariffs and the times each were effective which was a little more helpful but it looks like OVO doesn’t work in the same way but I’m happy if it is working correctly as I believe it now is.

Seems like all is OK now...

Yeah, I have to admit that I’ve got no idea as to how good the IHD6 is at supporting Time of Use tariffs like Economy 7. It’s also not exactly all that well documented either… But if you could find out for us and let us know, that would be awesome.

I kinda wish I could put Kecleon (soon to be renamed Purple Kecleon) into a sort of demo mode that would let me have it simulate all the various states. Alas, I’m not sure that’s a feature which exists...

The tariff data is loaded on via the HAN using ZigBee, as with all IHDs for both SMETS1 and SMETS2 meters. The reason for this is because not all IHDs have a built-in CAD and/or built-in Wi-Fi support. While some of them can integrate with an external CAD Gateway accessory, this depends on what the manufacturer supports. And even then, a few IHDs have absolutely no CAD/Wi-Fi support at all, so it’s easier to have ZigBee take care of that.

Feel free to ask OVO to pair your Geo Trio II back up as well if it got unpaired somehow. You’re definitely welcome to run both at once and it may well help with side-by-side comparisons as to how they both behave.

I can confirm that with the s/w update sent by OVO support (or whatever type of update it was), my OVO IHD6 is now displaying the ECO7 Day and Night meter readings correctly for  both KWh used and Cost in £, so everything is now in sync with my web account (apart from the historical readings prior to the correction). I can set a cost budget on the IHD and it will alarm if exceeded correctly.

NOTE: One thing, the OVO IHD displays your tariff with 5% VAT added but your web account displays the tariff without the VAT added - in case you notice a difference.

I can also confirm that if you are on a ECO7 account and you look at your IHD6 account settings, it will only display the tariff actually in use at that moment. So, if you’re in the Daytime period (07:00-24:00GMT) it will display your Day rate and if you’re in the Night time period (00:00-07:00GMT) it will display the Night tariff. Slightly different functionality from my previous EDF IHD which displayed both the Day and Night tariffs with the times when each one was in effect. I found that more helpful but a minor personal preference.

So, it’s taken a little longer than expected but all good in the end. Thanks for all help received.

cheers Kevin (kwick1)

Nice one!

At this rate, you’ll be writing the next Tutorial guides @kwick1 ! And just as a heads up… With the way you’re going, you’re attracting the attention of a certain moderator who's likely to consider awarding you a Community Builder badge… 

Just out of interest, what’s the Software/Firmware and CAD Version on your IHD6 now? The latest version I’m aware of is Software 1.4, CAD 1.9 which you can check under IHD Info. It would be nice if this stuff was better documented though.

As for the VAT stuff, MyOVO tends to break everything down into individual list items, so that you get more transparency as to exactly what makes up your bill and how much each “component” costs, which the IHD6 can’t do (and MyOVO also factors in any upgrades, surcharges or discounts too).

Hi @Blastoise186 

Software Version

IHD6-CAD-PPMID   1.4   CAD   1.9

Cheers

Thanks.

That's actually the same version I’ve got on Kecleon right now, and just so happens to be the same version Kecleon was running on when it was delivered a few weeks ago.

Most likely then, the software on your IHD6 was either up-to-date already, or has been updated to the latest release that you’re seeing now. Other than that, I suspect a config change was probably made so that yours handles Economy 7 properly - I think SMETS Commands can be used for this. 

Hi @Blastoise186 

I also suspect it was a config change to match my account rather than a s/w update as I don't think that's changed and support always said it only affected some users.

Anyway, all sorted now :)

If this is a SMETS2 meter, then there is no technical reason it should not work. Switching from EDF on a SMETS2 to Ovo should not affect this. I am not sure why the Ovo support team would say it will not work, this was the whole point of SMETS2 to allow for easy migration of meters and IHDs between suppliers. 

If this was a SMETS1 then I would have expected the display to eventually only show very limited information. Once the SMETS1 meter is adopted and enrolled, it should all spring back to life.

The geo Home app only works if you have WiFi installed in the geo IHD. Easy to check, look under settings and if you see WiFi network and Online setup you can use the geo Home app. If it does not the WiFi module for the touchbutton can be bought on Amazon https://www.amazon.co.uk/Module-Accessory-Touchbutton-Home-displays/dp/B08M42ZS43/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3465N05VER9ZZ&dchild=1&keywords=geo+wifi+module&qid=1621349431&sprefix=geo+wifi%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-3

On a SMETS2 meter switching supplier the IHD should continue to work as normal, that applies to both Chameleon and geo. This applies to the BG device as well.

Welcome @kevinmcintyre09 :)

You are somewhat correct there. While OVO doesn’t support Geo branded IHDs, nor Hildebrand ones for that matter, they might continue working if you already have them paired up to an existing S2 meter when you switch to OVO. As for legacy supplier specific IHDs such as the - albeit not very good - British Gas one and the not much better SSE Smart Energy Tracker… These ones definitely will not work with an S2 meter, but they might continue to work if you’re on SMETS1 meters even if the meters are upgraded to SMETS1+ and migrated to DCC. However, OVO cannot provide any help or support for these ones.

Pretty much the only thing that I know OVO can definitely do is issue SMETS Commands to unpair just about any IHD from your meters - even if the IHD isn’t a Chameleon IHD or one of the legacy Secure Pipit 500 IHDs. That’s because the command to unpair is pretty standard stuff and works more or less the same way no matter what you’ve got. But unless it’s a Chameleon or Secure branded IHD, OVO’s Support Team will probably not be able to help much beyond that.

Forum volunteers such as myself are definitely willing to try to offer advice if we can for them, but we’d be limited to what we can gather via self-research and personal experiences. That’s not to say we won’t try - I’m always happy to spend a few hours researching if needed - but we also can’t promise any lucky results.

But what I can say is that if both the old and new supplier use the same IHD brand as each other then yup, you should be fine.

Thanks I can see you are a major contributor to the forum, so good job.

The key point I was trying to make is an IHD, Chameleon, geo or Hilderbrand, that support SMETS2 will work after switching supplier- SMETS2 was designed to accommodate this.

The older devices that support only SMETS1 of course would not work, but if they are enrolled and adopted into the DCC’s cloud, then any IHD already paired to them will still work. It is my understanding that a utility can pair a new device as long it supports SMETS1. The enrolment and adoption of SMETS1 meters means they look like SMETS2 to the DCC, but are under the hood still a SMETS1 meter.

Regards Ovo supporting devices that churn in, the DCC, BEIS and others are trying to help utilities in supporting IHDs that churn in by collating all the user manuals and guides. This is work in progress. SmartMe’s website already has many- https://www.smartme.co.uk/documents.html

I am the product manager for geo’s IHDs, but only speaking in a personal capacity. So here to try and help too with smart meter stuff generally, and obviously anything to do with our IHDs

Yup, you have absolutely no idea how much that SmartMe website comes in useful to us here!!! I love that resource so much that I almost feel like sending the owner a thank you message at some point.

Hey @Tim_OVO , you know our smart meter friend gave you that 100 page user manual for Raichu the other day. Do you think he’d mind if we gave SmartMe a copy of that thing by any chance? I guess we might have to check with Aclara first?

It’s been a few months since I last used my old S1 SSE SET and given that my new meter Raichu is an S2 Aclara SGM1411-B, an SSE SET definitely won’t work with Raichu! I also don’t have my previous meter Pikachu anymore, which was an S1+ Aclara SGM1311 that was originally installed by SSE and that was the one the SET was paired with.

It did kinda work with OVO sort of after I switched. But given that the SSE SET was basically a generic prototyping PCB manufactured by a generic electronics prototyping company and had custom SSE-specific firmware running on the device - and with no ability do do firmware updates at all - it didn’t work very well after I moved to OVO. It’s also worth noting that while SSE did sell their SSE Retail division to OVO (which is the division that supplies domestic customers), the SSE SET was launched several years prior to SSE wanting to sell off that part of the business and also a time when SMETS2 was little more than a dream, so they never really considered futureproofing the SSE SET. Mind you, many of the supplier specific IHDs are also the same…

OVO is of course happy to supply a Chameleon IHD6-CAD-PPMID to anyone with an S2 meter who doesn’t yet have a Chameleon IHD, or the special dual-compatible variant Chameleon IHD6-CAD-PPMID-S1 to anyone with S1 or S1+ meters who doesn’t yet have a Secure Pipit 500 or any Chameleon IHD. The support team will happily pop one in the post free of charge. There’s good stocks of the regular IHD6-CAD-PPMID, but the IHD6-CAD-PPMID-S1 is highly sought after and pretty rare so there might be a wait. To help play fair with other members, I would personally recommend that if you’ve got a proper S2 meter, please request the regular variant so that the special one can be more easily given out to members who have S1 or S1+.

As long as you get the right kind of IHD for your meters, it should work fine regardless of brand.

As it turns out, SmartMe have already thought of me too. Nice to see that they’ve got a manual for Raichu handy! XD

Time for some light reading!

Welcome to the OVO online community, @kevinmcintyre09 - very nice to have another IHD expert on board!

 In short, OVO Energy provide Chameleon IHD6s, and support the Pipit IHD, and the Chameleon IHD3, mainly for the Secure Liberty S1 smart meters. But as Kevin mentions, if you have an S2 smart meter, (or an S1 meter that is enrolled and adopted into the DCC’s cloud (in other words made into an S2), with a Geo IHD provided by a previous supplier, it will continue to work and we are able to support the re-pairing of these devices to the meter if needed. Our Support team are on hand to help.

Interesting news on improvements being made in this area though, as it will obviously reduce the need to issue a new device anytime someone switches supplier.

To be fair, it would be epic if we could get all the Chameleon, Geo and Hildebrand IHDs to work nicely with OVO even if OVO prefers to go with a specific brand. I’d be more than willing to help with testing stuff like that if needed.

The only IHDs that I’m definitely going to call out as not worth supporting, are the pesky supplier specific ones such as those from SSE or British Gas - and I’m specifically talking about those which were made by generic prototyping companies, rather than proper IHDs from Chameleon/Geo/Hildebrand that are simply re-badged and white-labelled to a supplier. Those ones are easy to handle at least. But the legacy supplier specific ones are just too much of a headache and I can definitely say that those ones have no manufacturer contacts to go back to, so even if OVO wanted to, it’d be impossible to support those ones.

Hi @Jess_OVO your DCC adaptor should allow you to pair/unpair any SMETS2 IHD that churns in. For SMETS2 this is by design, so there should not need to issue a new IHD in that case. 

For SMETS1 it will only work if the meter is adopted and enrolled, but my understanding is once it is adopted and enrolled, to Ovo it will look like mostly like a SMETS2 device.

This Monday (31 Oct 2022) OVO fitted my house with and Aclata SGM1415-B smart meter and a Geo Trio II IHD!!!!!!!

Any help appreciated, i’ve moved the smart meter closer to the electricity meter, but it’s made no difference. Turned it off/on etc. Phoned OVO, and whilst the adviser was lovely, she wasn’t able to answer as the ‘how to’s’ she was following didn’t have the model I have. 

Hi @Macca ,

Please go into the menu on the IHD > System Status and tell me the Status Codes for all elements it has. I can use these to diagnose the issue.

@Blastoise186 , thanks for getting back to me…..

for Electricity it says ‘Connected to Meter Network’ and for Gas it says ‘Connected to Gas Meter’

I could do with the code as well. It’s three numbers with a dash between the second and third one, such as 12-3. Please check the System Status again and provide all the codes you see.