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Bart
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January 21, 2019
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Gas usage not showing online after SMETS2 smart meter fitting - any ideas?

  • January 21, 2019
  • 27 replies
  • 6896 views

In response to OVO's 'encouragement', our 'smart' meter system (so far, marked only by its dumbness) was fitted on 18th December. The IHD (In Home Display) shows some (and inconsistent) info about electricity usage and none about gas - I note that other contributors have flagged this problem.

Compared with the known power rating of various appliances (I tend to use our microwave since it is programmable for a wide range of different power outputs), the IHD is showing much higher electricity usage that I would have expected.

So far, there is no info at all on the OVO website regarding our gas usage and, as elderly people, my wife and I struggle to press the buttons and read the figures on the new gas meter - that is equipped with an entirely blank display...

OVO customer support promised that someone would arrange to visit and check the system within five days of my notifying the problem. Nothing has happened - except for a further email politely telling me to shut up and wait. I can provide these emails if needed.

At the very least, I need to be able to compare power usage now with the historical readings I have supplied for several years in order to check the accuracy of the meters - but this information is no longer readily available when I log in.

As you can see, this is very frustrating and worrying - gas and electricity costs are major issues for pensioners. I would welcome some proper (and understandable) information and, of course, solutions to these problems.

    Best answer by Transparent

    Updated on 11/07/24 by Abby_OVO

     

    Sorry to hear that it hasn’t been smooth sailing since you had your new smart meters installed.


    As the meters have only just been installed, the missing data could be down to the meters still being in the process of being updated on your account. It can take up to 6 weeks for them to be fully up and running - this is due to the some background work we need to do both on your account and with the meters themselves - you can see a full technical breakdown of this process on this great user guide and in the comment below.

    If it’s been longer than 6 weeks since you had the meters fitted and you’re still not seeing the really useful usage data either of your online account or OVO app (download for Android or iOS) or the In Home Display (IHD), it might be that there’s a communication issue that we’ll need to investigate. We’d advise completing a smart meter health check and contacting our Support Team with the results.

    Hope this info helps and you get the teething issues resolved quickly so you can start enjoying the benefits of your new smart setup! :slight_smile:

     

     

    Before OVO can provide the correct data, there is a process which gets completed which is out of their hands. This includes:

    a. Notification being sent by the Meter Installer to ECOES (the National Meter database) which identifies the Meter Reference numbers, the readings on the old meters and the readings on the new meters (which may not be zero!)

    b. ECOES sends a Notification to DCC (Data Communications Company) to establish an encrypted link to your new Smart Meters and undertake tests.

    c. ECOES sends Notification to your Energy Supplier (OVO) providing the readings. OVO must check these against your billing record and confirm to ECOES that the readings are valid... in that they are constent with what was expected for the exchange date.

    d. ECOES Notifies DCC that OVO are the Supplier who is permitted to pass control data to your meters. DCC acknowledge and send a copy to OVO.

    e. OVO send your tariff data to your Meters (which gets used by your IHD to inform you how much you're spending).

    f. OVO check the usage-stats since your SMETS2's were installed and send a correction-factor to the meters to allow for inaccuracies.

     

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

     

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    27 replies

    Show previous replies
    Transparent
    Rank 20
    Transparent
    Rank 20
    August 6, 2019
    Hi @Barnabee - it might be more useful to read through the discussions on similar issues we've been having elsewhere on the Forum. Start by jumping in to the middle of this thread about issues with Smart Meters not working and IHDs displaying nothing.

    I doubt that OVO Customer Services have yet been briefed on the content of that Thread. OVO's SMETS2 Team will want to be very certain of how they successfully implemented a cure on my meter installation before they risk propagating the same code to others.
    Save energy... recycle electrons!
      Barnabee
      Newcomer
      Barnabee
      Newcomer
      August 6, 2019
      Thanks for the replies. Having read through a few more threads I will wait a further 2 weeks. If OVO had been more honest about SMETS2 I would never have accepted the new meters.
      I was wrongly led to believe all of the issues were sorted out after SMETS1. Somewhere at the bottom of this mess the taxpayer and the customer is picking up the tab. I just wonder if the team in overall charge ever worked on the Nimrod Project.
      Transparent
      Rank 20
      Transparent
      Rank 20
      August 6, 2019
      Thanks @Barnabee ~ I don't think the situation is anywhere near clear enough to lay any blame at the feet of the numerous parties involved in the running saga of SMETS2. Have a look at the "interpretation" I've just posted here yesterday.

      Perhaps all those engineers who spent so long working on Nimrod have now found their niche positions in the UK Smart Energy market 😜
      Save energy... recycle electrons!
        B
        Newcomer
        bperry306
        Newcomer
        August 27, 2019
        So over a month ago my Electricity Smart meter failed and stopped sending readings to both my IHD and to OVO, after weeks of minimal discussion and with the exact same basic answer each time, nothing has been resolved and I am completely in the dark with what’s going on. I am still waiting to be contacted or phoned by the smart team which I was promised would be within 10 days..... I’ve been waiting over a month now.

        Anyway I have now not received my statement this month which is odd and just to top it all off it now appears my Gas smart meter has also failed and stopped sending out readings as of 3 days ago!

        I really do understand that all this smart tech is new and untried with OVO and I’m sure they’re busy and all this and all that, but I just want to be kept in the loop. How do I even go about phoning OVO? **Edited by moderator** to my self service reward I couldn’t care less about that anymore I just want results and answers and somebody to speak to me.

        I would like my meters replaced and a date which this will be performed please 😊
        Amy_OVO
        Retired Moderator
        Amy_OVO
        Retired Moderator
        August 28, 2019

        I've popped your post here, @bperry306, I feel it has the most relevant information, please check out @Transparent's best answer.

        This does sound like it has been arduous and a bit of an ordeal, none the less, I'd recommend getting in touch with our team to check over progress of the firmware update that is due, this should resolve all issues.

        You can send us a message on Facebook, Twitter, webchat via the Help Centre, or give them a call. You can reach our Customer Care team 8am-6pm Monday-Friday on 0330 303 5063.

        Thanks!

        OVO-Joyed to help!
        C
        Newcomer
        Corskey
        Newcomer
        August 30, 2019
        Please delete - moved to a more appropriate thread
        E
        Newcomer
        Emphire
        Newcomer
        November 6, 2019

        Hi@Bart May I please put your mind at rest here?

        It's only 1-month since your meters were exchanged for new SMETS2's.... and that period includes the Christmas break.

        Before OVO can provide the correct data, there is a process which gets completed which is out of their hands. This includes:

        a. Notification being sent by the Meter Installer to ECOES (the National Meter database) which identifies the Meter Reference numbers, the readings on the old meters and the readings on the new meters (which may not be zero!)

        b. ECOES sends a Notification to DCC (Data Communications Company) to establish an encrypted link to your new Smart Meters and undertake tests.

        c. ECOES sends Notification to your Energy Supplier (OVO) providing the readings. OVO must check these against your billing record and confirm to ECOES that the readings are valid... in that they are constent with what was expected for the exchange date.

        d. ECOES Notifies DCC that OVO are the Supplier who is permitted to pass control data to your meters. DCC acknowledge and send a copy to OVO.

        e. OVO send your tariff data to your Meters (which gets used by your IHD to inform you how much you're spending).

        f. OVO check the usage-stats since your SMETS2's were installed and send a correction-factor to the meters to allow for inaccuracies.

        etc...

        So there's an awful lot of work going on in the background before OVO are in a position to give you proper statistics, let alone calculate a bill!

        The system works - and is secure.

        Hi @Transparent Currently experiencing the same problem here. Firstly interesting to see that OVO installers are still misleading customers some 9 months after this original issue was raised! I too was told it would take 2 hours for the Gas display to show up not 2 months during my installation 3 weeks ago.

         

        Having read your explanation above it’s clear there’s a lot of processes need to happen to enable the Gas usage to feed through into the SMETS2 IHD. However my question is why does it take OVO 2 months to do what they’re competitors can do in 30minutes? Shell energy states in their online brochure that the gas usage should display within 30 minutes of installation and I know this claim to be true to based on a friends experience. Similarly my parents have a SMETS2 from Sainsbury’s energy and said the Gas showed up almost instantly. Why is OVO letting it’s customers down so badly by lengthening the process unnecessarily? 

        Transparent
        Rank 20
        Transparent
        Rank 20
        November 7, 2019

        I understand the points you’re making @Emphire … but I think that’s an over-simplification of the process, which unfairly makes OVO look poor. Let me explain:

        The 30-minute interval you refer to is dictated by inbuilt delay in SMETS2 gas meters. In order to conserve battery life, they only transmit a reading to the Comms Hub every half-hour. There is no “set-up mode” which allows more frequent transmissions whilst the engineer is on site and tracking down possible problems. I am reporting this deficiency back to Ofgem as part of the current Public Consultation.

        Thus, a 30-min commissioning time could only be achieved if the link between the SMETS2 Gas Meter, the Coms Hub, the “gas-proxy”, the IHD, and the Telefonica Network all operates successfully first-time. No competitor can alter this sequence any more than OVO can.

        Secondly, there is no direct link between your SMETS2 installation and OVO. All SMETS commands pass through DCC via their encrypted transmission system.

        When an Installer telephones OVO’s engineers at HQ to check that they are “receiving” data from a new installation, that isn’t the end of the process. Both DCC and Telefonica then commence their part of the commissioning, which is likely to include firmware updates being downloaded from the manufacturers of the various component parts.

        Finally, OVO themselves diagnosed a problem with maintaining the Zigbee link between the Proxy within the Communication Hub, and the physical SMETS2 Gas Meter. I know this because my site was used to verify the process by sending firmware updates created by OVO themselves.

        The new code was not immediately propagated to all other OVO customers, because it was only partially successful. The firmware in my Comms Hub later failed in such a manner that remote recovery was no longer possible. As such I received another complete set of SMETS2 hardware (my third).

        And that’s why you aren’t yet seeing OVO sending out a code-fix to all other sites. Had they done so, then they would probably be facing the need to replace everyone’s SMETS2 hardware, not just mine!

        I’m just going to tag @BenS_OVO so he’s aware of what I’ve posted here, but I’m not expecting OVO to say much more about this until they’re sure they have robust code ready to distribute to everyone.

        Save energy... recycle electrons!
        E
        Newcomer
        Emphire
        Newcomer
        November 7, 2019

        I understand the points you’re making@Emphire … but I think that’s an over-simplification of the process, which unfairly makes [color=#009030]OVO[/color] look poor. Let me explain:

        The 30-minute interval you refer to is dictated by inbuilt delay in [color=#A00080]SMETS2 gas meters[/color]. In order to conserve battery life, they only transmit a reading to the [color=#5060b0]Comms Hub[/color] every half-hour. There is no “set-up mode” which allows more frequent transmissions whilst the engineer is on site and tracking down possible problems. I am reporting this deficiency back to [color=#6060b0]Ofgem[/color] as part of the current Public Consultation.

        Thus, a 30-min commissioning time could only be achieved if the link between the [color=#A00080]SMETS2 Gas Meter[/color], the [color=#5060b0]Coms Hub[/color], the “gas-proxy”, the [color=#6010B0]IHD[/color], and the [color=#b02030]Telefonica Network[/color] all operates successfully first-time. No competitor can alter this sequence any more than [color=#009030]OVO[/color] can.

        Secondly, there is no direct link between your [color=#A00080]SMETS2[/color] installation and [color=#009030]OVO[/color]. All [color=#D00070]SMETS commands[/color] pass through [color=#d0b030]DCC[/color] via their encrypted transmission system.

        When an Installer telephones [color=#009030]OVO[/color]’s engineers at HQ to check that they are “receiving” data from a new installation, that isn’t the end of the process. Both [color=#d0b030]DCC[/color] and [color=#b02030]Telefonica[/color] then commence their part of the commissioning, which is likely to include firmware updates being downloaded from the manufacturers of the various component parts.

        Finally, [color=#009030]OVO[/color] themselves diagnosed a problem with maintaining the [color=#00C0D0]Zigbee link[/color] between the Proxy within the [color=#5060b0]Communication Hub[/color], and the physical [color=#A00080]SMETS2 Gas Meter[/color]. I know this because my site was used to verify the process by sending firmware updates created by [color=#009030]OVO[/color] themselves.

        The new code was not immediately propagated to all other [color=#009030]OVO[/color] customers, because it was only partially successful. The firmware in my [color=#5060b0]Comms Hub[/color] later failed in such a manner that remote recovery was no longer possible. As such I received another complete set of [color=#A00080]SMETS2 hardware[/color] (my third).

        And that’s why you aren’t yet seeing [color=#009030]OVO[/color] sending out a code-fix to all other sites. Had they done so, then they would probably be facing the need to replace everyone’s [color=#A00080]SMETS2 hardware[/color], not just mine!

        I’m just going to tag@BenS_OVO so he’s aware of what I’ve posted here, but I’m not expecting [color=#009030]OVO[/color] to say much more about this until they’re sure they have robust code ready to distribute to everyone.

        Hi @Transparent thank you for your reply, apologies I’d thought from your detailed response to the thread before that you were an OVO employee! 

         

        I actually think this has been over complicated. Unless we’ve got our wires crossed and are talking about two different things here. I’m simply wondering why SMETS2 IHD’s from competitors are able to start showing gas usage almost instantly after installation whereas OVO’s seem to take 2 months to link up all the information. I think it’s a fair enough question. 

        Transparent
        Rank 20
        Transparent
        Rank 20
        November 7, 2019

        Two of my three SMETS2 installations showed gas readings on the IHD within the hour.

        That is typical of the vast majority of OVO’s installations.

        However, that does not mean the data link and the software are adequately operational. That’s why there’s another Topic here on the Forum discussing failed communications up to 6 months after everything seemed to have been installed correctly.

        Save energy... recycle electrons!
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