Ovo smart meter

chrisofle

Hi,
I have recently moved to OVO from Scottish power for both my electricity & gas and have been asked by them if I would like to have a free Smart Meter fitted.
I have no apprehension as to whether 'Big Brother' will be watching over me or anything like that. I am quite keen on having a smart meter I think it's quite ridiculous we are still manually inputting our meter readings in the 21st century.
My question is if anyone has any knowledge regarding compatibility issues between the smart meters each utility company is installing. For example if after 12 months if I were to move to NPower is there a possibility that my meter may not work with them?
I ask this question as I had quite a 'frank' telephone conversation with a OVO representative and he inferred that this could be a potential issue.
The company that would be fitting the meter are called 'Lowri Beck'.

Thanks Chris

[Deleted User]

I would say that its a certainty that smart switching wont be in force by the time you decide to switch in a years time. So far all the smart meters I have seen, for domestics at least, are all by the same manufacturer.. Landys and Gyr but even so , the ability to switch amongst these few suppliers has nt been able to happen. 5 of the big 6 havent even started their own rollout yet in my area.. Your smart meter will just revert to being a dumb meter and lose all the smart functionality except the ability to act as an energy monitor

macman

There is no smart meter cross-supplier compatibility. Absurd but true.

chrisofle

Thanks for the replies

savva0122

There is no cross compatability and I would never go through the process again - avoid at all costs

spacesaver90

I had a similar question, but also how does it become smart or dumb? I.e I was given a unit that plugs into the mains so was unsure if that was how it becomes a smart meter after having 2 new smart meters in.

If I unplugged the handheld monitor thing does that mean they can cut me off i.e send a signal to the box?

Just as I myself want to change supplier in the future but to credit not pre pay so was worried that having a smart meter may stop me changing.

misterbarlow

the sim card & modem are in the actual meter, the IHD is optional..

spacesaver90

misterbarlow wrote: »

the sim card & modem are in the actual meter, the IHD is optional..

Sim card? Ah thats interesting to know.

I suppose my only real questions on that now is how they transmit that data, I notice a red light is always flashing on mine even though the IHD is plugged in I think it says wps(which is what routers use)

I have a 3G signal in my house on my phone but I would assume its weaker as my meters are in cupboards.

So what happens if the sim card fails to dial out? As in if I topped up how would it register if the sim card failed i.e does it automatically realise theres a fault and send out an engineer?

System

spacesaver90 wrote: »

Sim card? Ah thats interesting to know.

I suppose my only real questions on that now is how they transmit that data, I notice a red light is always flashing on mine even though the IHD is plugged in I think it says wps(which is what routers use)

The flashing LED is an indication of energy consumption; ie, the faster it flashes, the more energy you are using (WPS - watts per second)

spacesaver90

Hengus wrote: »

The flashing LED is an indication of energy consumption; ie, the faster it flashes, the more energy you are using (WPS - watts per second)

Sorry was a mistake, it says WAN which I assume is wireless network, also I think HAN which is always on solid.

Is wan the modem connecting to them? just seems strnage its flickering red all the time.

System

spacesaver90 wrote: »

just seems strnage its flickering red all the time.

Unless you turn everything off, then it will flash as energy is used. You can calculate how much energy is being used by counting the flashes.