Can I get a SMETS2 smart meter installation when I sign up to OVO?

Before I take the leap to go smart I want to get assurances from OVO that I will get a Smets 2 meter, that it will not cause issues with my PV system and that they can cope with an old house with thick walls and large gaps between the gas and electricity meters.
How do I talk to someone without being charged for contacting them as my contract will penalise me for contacting OVO?

Hi @Grumpypurple Welcome to the OVO Forum.

I checked your Profile to see which geographical area you're in, but it's still blank. Please fill it in, then we can better answer such questions. Thanks.

PV system... if installing a Smart Meter disrupted a pre-existing PV system, then it wouldn't have passed the certification process! If, however, your existing meter is providing you with particular facilities which aid your usage of PV, then please say what these are here.

Thick walls and distances between the two meters is usually overcome by installing a Zigbee Repeater in a suitable location within the house. This is mains-connected but takes negligible power.

Most of these issues are covered during the installation process itself. There's not much that can be achieved by talking to OVO at this stage. You'd actually get far more extensive information from this Forum!

Can OVO please advise if they are now (June 2019) fitting SMETS2 meters in the Lancashire area?

Please read through the above feed, @samread, you'll find all the info you need. 😊

if i request a smart meter now can you guarentee a SMET 2 meter

Take a look at the best answer, @brianelectgas, the link will let you know if there's SMETS2 appointments in your area!

Hi @brianelectgas - just to make things clearer, please note that Lancashire addresses are in the Northern Territory of the National Smart Meter Network.

The company overseeing the roll-out of SMETS2 meters in your area is Arqiva and they use meters manufactured by EDMI. You can read more of the background on this Topic about SMETS2 Installation.

The network communications in Arqiva's territory are different to those in the Central and Southern areas of Britain. It is taking longer to ramp up the volume of SMETS2 Meters in the North.

Most of the comments you read about SMETS2 meters on the OVO Forum are currently from customers like myself, who live in areas served by Telefonica's meter communications network. However, we would like to hear more from customers like yourself. Your experience of getting SMETS2 Meters in the Northern Territory would be a very useful addition to the pool of knowledge available here.

So please let us know what happens, even if everything goes wonderfully well and you experience no problems!

And please fill out your Forum Profile, because that's where I look for basic information about correspondents here. Thanks.

I had my SMETS 2 meter installed at the end of March, works fine for Gas, it looks as if they take a reading every day! However, it has failed to send any Elec readings, the last I heard was that I would be getting "estimated" readings for Elec in the future until the problem is sorted. I was a bit miffed that after 40 years in the industry, I'm not trusted to read a meter, despite submitting my readings since March exactly on the days specified! Be aware everyone asking for a SMETS 2, it seems that they don't always work!

Hi @stonosnr. This is interesting. Yours is the third site known to me that has reported a SMETS2 electricity meter not sending readings. We discussed another of the three on this Topic here.

I believe we now know what was the issue with the first site to inform OVO of such a failure because the customer was at the VIP Open Day in Bristol last week when we discussed it!

There is a known issue with some SMETS2 gas meters not sending readings. But failed electric readings is a very different scenario because the Communications Hub is physically bolted to the top of the electricity meter and therefore doesn't use wireless signals to transfer the data.

I'm just going to tag @Darran_OVO here so that he can draw this discussion to the attention of the engineer Ben, who is investigating these issues.

It would help us all if you could fill out your Forum Profile too. We need to know your approximate location (nearest town will do), Smart meter installation date, what type of heating you have, and any peripherals such as an EV Charger, solar panels etc. Thanks.

My SMETS 2 was fitted on Tue 26th March 2019, pm. I live on the outskirts of Ipswich, Suffolk on high ground. My heating is Gas, Warm Air, I do not have an EV charger or Solar panels. When I look at my Gas consumption on the OVO website, there is a daily reading, so the Gas part is working fine. The Gas is 100% heating, we cook by Electricity. I've been in touch with OVO Customer service staff around 3 times advising them that the Elec part of SMETS 2 did not appear to be working, the KWh are registering correctly though in the digital window. I did a survey of which LED's were flashing and how many seconds between flashes which were to be passed to the Smart Meter Dept. No contact since then.