Why is there a problem getting a smart meter in my area?

Weirdly , OVO just contacted a near neighbour and insisted on doing theirs. Meanwhile they still won’t or can’t even tell me why they won’t or can’t change mine despite numerous promises to sort it and get back to me… I can , I guess, only hope someone has competent customer services? 

Hey @Miwdr,

That is very strange. 

@Abby_OVO is still looking into this for you, but so far it’s proving difficult to pin point why the system won’t allow us to book you in. One of our experts has spent a good few weeks looking into connectivity issues but says there's nothing they can see in your area, so we’re speaking with someone else to see if they can make them ‘available’ or try and book bypassing the system.

Do you have the same set up as your neighbor? Maybe worth contacting the Support Team now, just incase availability in your area just opened up?

Thanks. It’s … frustrating. lol. 

Having reported a fault in my day time meter, an engineer has been booked for next month.  I now see on the email they are saying it will be a smets2 which I was previously told we couldn’t have in my area yet due to poor signal(  Perthshire, Scotland).

Is he likely to turn up and then realise he can’t fit one, or can it be fitted and just read and submit readings myself as I am currently doing.

As I also have a meter for THTC, I would have thought it would be better waiting until there is a system in place to combine both meters into one dual rate at a later date when signal issues are resolved.

Hey @Maureen D 

As far as I understand at the moment, customers aren’t able to book their smart meters with THTC set ups just yet. I’d advise contacting Customer Support to see if the installer is aware that you had a THTC set up and whether we can go ahead with the appointment, as I wouldn’t want your time to be wasted at the moment if this wouldn’t be suitable when they arrive.

I do believe that you’ll be contacted about your setup directly with a solution to move forward with.

I’ve linked to a similar topic below that might also be helpful for you:

Thanks.  Just had an email back to say they will ask the engineer to just set it up as a dumb meter just now, so I presume I will just carry on sending in readings as normal.

Hey @Maureen D,

If you’re able to update this topic once you have the upgrade that would be really helpful for other customer arranging a meter exchange for THTC.

This is the information provided on our website:

We’ll soon be ending our support for some of our meters.

If you have a meter that’s affected, we’ll be in touch to arrange a meter and tariff upgrade to keep your heating and hot water working.

Or contact us now to arrange your upgrade.

This is just actually to replace my day time meter which is currently broken, so I am surprised they are fitting a smets2 rather than just repairing or replacing with a similar meter in the meantime until the whole THTC thing is resolved. I am presuming at that stage I will then need another meter to combine the two I currently have.

Hey @Maureen D,

There’s very little stock of traditional meters, which may be why a second generation smart meter is being installed. It’ll be interesting to hear first hand about your experience once the engineer has replaced the meter. These meter types are rare! So it would help other Community Members in the same position. 

Check out our new FAQ which shares a bit more detail about this topic:

Not sure they are that rare up here in Scotland.  There are still villages with no mains gas.  Personally, I love my storage heaters and the timing of them coming on and off suits me perfectly.  At least if we get a lengthy power cut as happened in the last big storm, my heaters stayed hot for ages.  I have no intention of replacing them, so I hope whatever method replaces the radio Teleswitch  works as well.