I have a SMETS1 Landis+Gyr smart meter and Trilliant comms hub from British Gas - Can I get an OVO Aclara SMETS 2 smart meter fitted?

Photo of the troublesome pipe

Oh good. It’s another pesky S1 Landis+Gyr G370. I kinda dislike these things… Thanks for the snap @Tedbarn !

They’re also nearly impossible to tell apart from the S2 variant, because L+G re-uses the model names and numbers so extensively for just about everything.

I don’t know about what Transparent might say, but in my opinion there’s LOADS of space there! I could fit Deoxys (my Nintendo Switch) in that gap… Twice… And still have room on all sides.

At very most, it might just need some clever fitting kits but I don’t see any reason why an S2 UniFlo or S2 SciFlo can’t be fitted. They’re actually smaller than a G370...

Ok. I’ve just done some more research into this one.

The only reason that particular L+G G370 is able to fit in that space is because it’s an Ultrasonic type rather than a Diaphragm type. The reduced number of moving parts results in the entire unit being more compact. But I’m still not a fan of any L+G meter anyway due to several design flaws - the tiny displays are just the start. If you want an ultra easy read display, Aclara is definitely the go-to for electricity meters and Flonidan UniFlo/SciFlo does the job nicely for gas meters.

Having looked at the datasheets, it does appear as if the Flonidan SciFlo is slightly smaller than a G370, so if it were my decision, I’d rather go for the SciFlo instead of messing with the pipework. Not least because it’s easier, more cost effective and less disruptive!

It’s just a case of getting hold of one...

Very useful info @Blastoise186 

I'm all for less disruption and happy to wait....just hope I don't fall off of the Ovo radar and am able to change it in future

Don’t worry, I won’t allow that to happen. 

Whenever I play my Joker Card, it never leaves the deck until it gets results. 

I don’t always reveal all the tricks and mischief that my Joker Cards can deploy, but I use them… Wisely… For those cases where I see a valid reason. OVO will also have to sort you out anyway, as you can’t be left with a half upgraded site with a Frankenstein setup!

I love that you have a Joker Card! Very impressive!

I was feeling a bit despondent after my earlier online chat but you have restored my faith that the situation will change.

Thanks so much again 🙏

Hehehe. Anytime.

Given how many contributions I make via this forum, it’s only fair that I can call in extra help from time to time. And it should be a no brainer that an Ultrasonic Gas Meter that was fitted due to space constraints is best replaced with an Ultrasonic Gas Meter that’s also designed for said confined spaces. You’re probably not going to fit a Diaphragm Gas Meter like the Flonidan UniFlo in tight spots like this one!

The Support Team are always great with me, but they don’t always have the same insights - or time - that I’ve got on my side over here. Unlike when you’re on the phone to OVO, I have the freedom and flexibility to go off and do research for a few hours before responding. I use that to my advantage.

I don’t even have access to any of the internal systems either! I purely go off of publicly available sources combined with my ability to reach out to some of OVO’s teams via Tim and Jess for those cases where more specialist advice is needed.

One point I should add, there were no space constraints when the meter was fitted.

Understood and it is very good of you to help people like me. Imagine what you could do if you had access to the internal systems!!

From Ovo I am just looking for a bit of consistency with the information provided to me and hopefully a resolution.

So what you’re saying is… Somehow that magic gas pipe materialised after that Landis+Gyr G370 was fitted? I knew L+G was a weird company, but I’ve never known them to use black magic as an anti-competitive or vendor lock-in strategy! 

As for the internal systems, that may be true. But it would also create a crazy amount of liability issues, GDPR, NDA and a bunch of other pesky blockers. I happen to know about quite a few of the systems OVO uses internally, because I’m pretty good at figuring stuff out… But I don’t think I’ll be able to touch them anytime soon.

Mind you, it’s a good party trick for when I reach out to the Support Team and ask them to use a SMETS Command to pull an Instantaneous On-Demand Reading from Pikachu, and that they’ll need to search insert sekrit internal system name here to find Pikachu because it’s been upgraded to S2 firmware - and because it’s an Aclara meter rather than a Secure meter. And especially when I ask them if they could log said reading into Insert sekrit internal codename for MyOVO that I’m not meant to know here. Hehehe! 

As for consistency with information, that’s one of the biggest things I focus on here - especially with accuracy - and trying to get these standards up across the board is something I’m hoping to push for this year. The more snags I can flag up and submit for review, the closer that goal can get.

And yep. Bug hunting is also my passion. But I never let that take over my entire free time!

🤣 not quite - the pipe was fitted around the meter but the absence of black magic makes this a tad dull.

I know, it would be a GDPR nightmare!

That is a good party trick!!

You are not the only bug hunter I know and all of you provide a tremendous level of help to the rest of us.

Well, I will admit that your own contributions have also proven useful to us.

Not least the fact you’ve contributed images of British Gas installed S1 L+G meters. Which are actually a LOT harder to acquire than you might expect! Sure, there’s a lot of the pesky things installed all over the country, but not many people actually take snaps of them. Copyright free ones even less so.

I actually have an offer I’d like to make to you though. My own Super User rights here basically gives me the ability to do some extra stuff like having Global Best Answer rights, being able to break through certain anti-abuse mechanisms on the platform and completely bypassing the spam filter (the Super User role is considered a trusted role). I think you could potentially reach it. It’s about time you ranked up anyway, so if you manage to score some Best Answers… You will rank up…

You might want to stick around even after your meters are sorted. Good things may happen if you do. 

Kind of you to say so but my contribution has been at best minimal and limited - if my photos have helped at all I will take this as a positive 😊

I will stick around but with zero knowledge on the meters I think my input will be someone stunted.

Continue to use your Super User role for the good of the community😇

Are you sure about your contributions being… Minimal? 

If there’s one way to drive traffic to a forum like this one, it’s gotta be talking about L+G stuff.

Trust me, ANY contributions are highly valued - we’re actually planning to open up the scope a bit more too. More news on that master plan soon…

Goodnight!

Thanks for the photo, @Tedbarn. Good to see what we’re working with in terms of space around the gas meter. 

As the electricity meter has now been replaced your gas meter won’t be able to complete the enrolment process making it S2 compatible so a meter replacement would be needed to re-gain the Smart functionality. Looking at the photo it does seem to me that the pesky pipe would need moving to allow enough space to fit the type of S2 meters we currently offer, in which case you would need to contact your Gas Transporter to get this arranged. Would be interested to hear if @Transparent would agree...

@Blastoise186 yup still sticking with minimal 😉  The master plan sounds interesting....…

@Jess_OVO but does this mean there is still an option in the near future that a smaller S2 meter may be fitted as I was advised by the engineer?

Even with minimal contributions you are raising some excellent points, @Tedbarn!

The exact model we are currently fitting is the Flonidan - G4SZV-2 which has the dimensions: 262mm (Height) x 235mm (Width) x 167mm (Depth). As the engineer found, this model doesn’t fit in the space you currently have available. Unfortunately we don’t know if there are plans to offer smaller models in the near future, apologies if the engineer suggested this was the case.

However we also work with some third-party installers who may offer different types of meter, if you did want to check this possibility it would be best to contact the Support Team.

Thanks Jess!

I knew my Joker Card would work. I can also grab the dimensions for the other gas meters that are relevant here. The datasheet for the Flonidan SciFlo and UniFlo makes this one easy.

The SciFlo G46UZV-2 and G46UDZV-2 are 103mm H x 224mm W x 135mm D. Which is pretty compact. It’s also pretty light at just 1.2KG.

However, the L+G G370 is not easy to find datasheets for, so I had to go off the Libra G310 instead. That one is 168mm H x 234mm W x 120mm D. Slightly larger than the SciFlo. And heavier too at 2.7KG.

Not sure why though...

@Jess_OVO wrote:

Looking at the photo it does seem to me that the pesky pipe would need moving to allow enough space to fit the type of S2 meters we currently offer, in which case you would need to contact your Gas Transporter to get this arranged.

Sorry. I disagree. The inlet pipe is the one with the isolation valve handle visible on the right of the photo.

The pipe that runs beneath the existing L&G unit is the outlet from the gas meter. That isn’t the responsibility of the Gas Transporter for your region.

The outlet pipe can be repositioned by a local tradesman who is Gas Safe registered.

That same tradesman should also know the dimensions of a standard gas meter and be able to confirm that it would fit when the pipework is altered…. otherwise I question how he/she comes to be Gas Safe registered in the first place!

@Tedbarn wrote:

From Ovo I am just looking for a bit of consistency with the information provided to me and hopefully a resolution.

It’s been very tricky for the OVO staff to keep their skill-set as wide as possible during the last 15 months of pandemic lockdown. Those in customer services and the Forum Moderators can’t get access to the training rooms and installation specialists who have this level of knowledge.

If we weren’t separated by 100 miles, I’d be dragging @Jess_OVO out on-site whilst some of her colleagues replace meters so she can see the process for herself. She might then learn what Enigma does, for example!

Better still, I’d be putting some tools in her hands and letting her gain some direct experience of handling meters, consumer units, tails and the such-like

I stand corrected on this one @Tedbarn!

As @Transparent has far more on-site experience than me I’ll trust that the pesky pipe is in fact the outlet pipe which can be moved by a gas-safe engineer rather than the gas transporter. There is a helpful guide on who is responsible for each part of your meter setup here -

• Who's responsible for what? A guide on who to contact to help maintain each part of your gas and electricity setup Tutorial

And can honestly say I would welcome some more hands-on meter training as soon as Lockdown restrictions allow. Pass me the spanner! 

After having already paid a gas safe tradespeople to move the outlet pipe there is absolutely no chance of us paying again to have it moved..... manual meter reading submission for the foreseeable future!

Gratitude again to @Blastoise186 for all of the helpful information

Whoops that should be tradesperson!

No worries! It will have to be taken care of eventually, since that existing gas meter won’t last forever. I’d say it’s already halfway through it’s service life too. Especially the battery! If that runs out, the meter will be toast and it won’t be possible to get readings via any means, even manually. I’ve also heard a fair few horror stories about L+G gas meters draining batteries way too fast and not being all that reliable overall either...

It’s also worth noting that emergency access may be required if the meter ever develops a fault, so if that pipe is still in the way, it could cause more nightmares. If that happened and a new meter couldn’t be fitted due to the pipe, your gas supply would likely have to be shut down for a while. The tradesperson who put the pipe there should never have done it like that in the first place! You might want to call them back and insist on remedial works being done for free, as what they’ve done has effectively created a bit of a safety issue and also prevents your supplier from being able to maintain their own equipment.

I agree that you shouldn’t have to pay for that @Tedbarn . If a gas safe engineer messed up, then it’s their problem to fix.

Fingers crossed we won't be here long enough before the meter needs to be replaced.

The tradesperson is gas safe registered and I would never let someone who is not gas safe registered touch any gas appliance.