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Why has my central heating switched off after having a Smart meter installed?

  • 3 December 2017
  • 6 replies
  • 9555 views

I had smarts meters installed on Thursday. Instant, shattering regret as my central heating was cut off. On the coldest night if the year. Customer services were obstructive and determined to deny any responsibility. I spoke with three altogether but kept being told it was my responsibility and I must call out an emergency heating engineer. It was 6pm next day when I finally got someone to reignite the pilot light on my back boiler and I was the tenth customer that day that he'd tended in the same predicament -installed meters, heating off, left in the lurch. He had just come from a household of a woman with two young children in freezing conditions and was going to his eleventh customer of the day after me. He was outraged by Ovo's attitude and didn't know how much he should charge people, was leaving it up to them. Ovo made me feel that my situation was uncommon and that I was exceptionally incompetent - now I know that they are putting vulnerable people at risk of illness and hospitalisation and don't care at all. I am completely alienated, out of pocket, and just want to change supplier.
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Best answer by Nancy_OVO 21 December 2017, 16:05

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Userlevel 5

Updated on 21/07/23 by Emmanuelle_OVO

 

Sorry to hear of the issue you had with your gas central heating after getting a Smart Meter installed - this isn’t the experience we hope for when upgrading your meter.

 

Whenever there is a disruption to your gas pipes, such as the installation of a new gas appliance or in this case a new meter, there is a chance that air may enter the system which would affect the gas supply. To prevent this happening our engineers purge your gas system after replacing the meter - this is the action of releasing gas into the system, which forces removal of air. Once the air is fully removed, we’re able to relight your appliances.

 

Occasionally even after purging, trace amounts of air may remain which later cause a disruption to your supply, as happened in your case. We’d recommend contacting a gas-safe engineer if you experience any issues with your supply following a gas meter installation, as there’s no guarantee that the issue’s not due to a faulty appliance. 

I’m glad to hear that the engineer was able to restore your supply, and sorry that you were left without heating at such a critical time - I think it’s important we look into this further, to check whether the correct procedures were followed and what we can do to avoid this happening to other members in future - please reach out to our Support Team who can raise this as a formal complaint for further investigation and discuss a possible good will gesture towards any costs that may have resulted.

 

I hope once these installation issues have been resolved, you can begin enjoying the benefits of your new Smart Meters.

 

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

 

Interested but not yet an OVO member? - Check out our plans!

 

Can anyone help please. RTS switch stopped working November last year. I had a Smart Meter installed and since then there has been no heating. I have storage heaters. A second replacement meter was installed to rule out a faulty meter but still nothing. The meter has been commissioned properly. Electrician has checked everything and says it’s because there is no RTS switch however the new meter does not require an RTS switch. Can anyone offer any suggestions please

Userlevel 7
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Hi @Marguerita68 ,

Ask the Support Team to set up the ECAUL/ALCS Configs. That usually fixes this one.

Thanks for that. It’s already been sent and checked

 

Userlevel 7
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It’s already been sent and checked

 

Do you mean that it’s now working, and the heaters are coming on when they should? Or that you’ve been told it’s working, but in fact it isn’t?

It might help us help you if we could see (a) a clear photo of the meter itself,  (b) a screenshot of your plan page showing the tariff you’re on and (c) a screenshot of your latest meter readings.

Userlevel 7

Hey @Marguerita68,

 

Are you still having issues? Who raised the ECAUL for you?

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