Smart meter issues

Catplan

Smart meter was installed by SSE, July 2021, Ovo have now taken over these accounts, SSE energy bought out by Ovo is my understanding.

I have called the SSE number 0345 070 7373 and they can tie in my account details, and have promised and failed three times now to resolve the issue. Next bill is due end of May, who should I contact to resolve the issue? I’ve had no correspondence from Ovo so no account numbers or anything to provide. 

Smart meter stopped working in Dec 2022, reported to number above Jan 2023, again February and again in March, on each occasion I was asked to provide various numbers and even a recording of what was on the display, nothing changed all still the same nothing reporting back no stats in app and I have to manually provide meter readings to get accurate bill. 

Is it possible to get the old style meter put back? 

On initial install they tried to bill me 80k then revised that to 8k, then admitted it was still a mistake and paid me £30 and billed me the £80 I was actually due. It’s been nothing but hassle and I just don’t trust the meters to provide the correct readings now.

Robin9

Just to be sure by Smart meter  do you mean the meter in an outdoor meter box or garage or the IHD (In House Display Toy ) in your kitchen ?

Forget the IHD 


Can you read the display on the meter ?   If so what is its reading  -  and on the meter will be info re when it was installed.

Catplan

Electric meter in garage the ihd stays beside it, gas is on garage wall about 20 feet from electric meter and ihd, gas is on the external wall side.

yeah I can get meter readings etc from the display, it’s not reporting back and hasn’t since 5th dec 2022. 

Robin9

Having to do manual reads can be irritating but many here would recommend doing so and not rely on the Smart.

What of your other issue  - the £8k/£80k is that all resolved now ?  

[Deleted User]

Catplan said:

Electric meter in garage the ihd stays beside it, gas is on garage wall about 20 feet from electric meter and ihd, gas is on the external wall side.

yeah I can get meter readings etc from the display, it’s not reporting back and hasn’t since 5th dec 2022. 

The display does not ‘report back’. It is just a display.

As you can see from the above graphic, the IHD connects to the communications hub via a local Home Area Network. The supplier pulls data from your communications hub via a separate Wide Area Network. My guess would be that your communications hub needs a reset. The supplier can make a request to the DCC ( the company responsible for the smart meter network and all communications hubs) for a remote reset which powers down the hub for 15 minutes. If this fails, then an engineer visit is needed to carryout a hard reset by pulling your main house fuse for 15 minutes.

You need to be very careful about taking meter readings from the IHD. Each meter has 4 registers. The meter readings shown on the IHD are the total of all the registers that have been in use since the meters were installed. For example on an E7 tariff, if R1 read 01500 and R2 read 06500 then the IHD would show a reading of 08000

EssexHebridean

You won't be able to get it replaced with an old style "dumb" meter, no - but to be honest I'm unsure what the advantage would be for you anyway if that was done? With your current smart meter, as I understand it it has currently gone "dumb" so you have to manually read it and submit readings. If you reverted to a traditional meter, you'd have to manually read it and submit the readings exactly the same. The advantage of the smart meter is that there is a good chance that at some stage the "non-smart" issue can be fixed? 

Larac

I have a Smart Meter installed by SSE (in July last year) and the account was taken over by OVO in Jan this year.  The 'Smart' part is very intermittent in sending readings.  All I do is taking a reading each week,which I enter on an Excel and then check the OVO app to see if readings are being sent.  If none are being sent -the App will request you send a reading which keeps the account up to date. It is only in the last month that the Smart Meter has consistently sent readings.  I suspect this is a 'network' issue so would recommend keeping a manual record.

[Deleted User]

Larac said:

I have a Smart Meter installed by SSE (in July last year) and the account was taken over by OVO in Jan this year.  The 'Smart' part is very intermittent in sending readings.  All I do is taking a reading each week,which I enter on an Excel and then check the OVO app to see if readings are being sent.  If none are being sent -the App will request you send a reading which keeps the account up to date. It is only in the last month that the Smart Meter has consistently sent readings.  I suspect this is a 'network' issue so would recommend keeping a manual record.

Smart meters only return meter readings and usage data when the supplier makes a request for data. For those on a 30 minute usage profile, there is usually a data pull once a day. 

Catplan

Dolor said:p

Catplan said:

Electric meter in garage the ihd stays beside it, gas is on garage wall about 20 feet from electric meter and ihd, gas is on the external wall side.

yeah I can get meter readings etc from the display, it’s not reporting back and hasn’t since 5th dec 2022. 

The display does not ‘report back’. It is just a display.

As you can see from the above graphic, the IHD connects to the communications hub via a local Home Area Network. The supplier pulls data from your communications hub via a separate Wide Area Network. My guess would be that your communications hub needs a reset. The supplier can make a request to the DCC ( the company responsible for the smart meter network and all communications hubs) for a remote reset which powers down the hub for 15 minutes. If this fails, then an engineer visit is needed to carryout a hard reset by pulling your main house fuse for 15 minutes.

You need to be very careful about taking meter readings from the IHD. Each meter has 4 registers. The meter readings shown on the IHD are the total of all the registers that have been in use since the meters were installed. For example on an E7 tariff, if R1 read 01500 and R2 read 06500 then the IHD would show a reading of 08000

So nothing is reported back the ihd will give you the daily usage at a point in time. No commas between meters and supplier, I’ve been given an estimated bill of 3k, it’s nothing like that, I used £80 a month, will be less now as heating is off. But 

So bills are being estimated, and I’m challenging them as they are estimated way over actual usage. Im giving manual readings, been told three times now another team deals with these issues and to expect a call, been waiting on this call since February. They are challenging my readings as it’s too low apparently I live alone so it is low for the property.

I have lost all confidence in the provider to resolve the issue and the meter itself, hence the request to switch back to a dumb meter, but realise this won’t be possible so I’ll need to argue and complain continually….. hopefully a good switch deal comes up and I can move and hopefully get it fixed that way.

Catplan

Larac said:

I have a Smart Meter installed by SSE (in July last year) and the account was taken over by OVO in Jan this year.  The 'Smart' part is very intermittent in sending readings.  All I do is taking a reading each week,which I enter on an Excel and then check the OVO app to see if readings are being sent.  If none are being sent -the App will request you send a reading which keeps the account up to date. It is only in the last month that the Smart Meter has consistently sent readings.  I suspect this is a 'network' issue so would recommend keeping a manual record.

What app are you using? I’ve had nothing appear in the app since 5th December 22, for usage, I’m getting informed of bills and payment dates. Still on the my SSE entry services app.

Catplan

Robin9 said:

Having to do manual reads can be irritating but many here would recommend doing so and not rely on the Smart.

What of your other issue  - the £8k/£80k is that all resolved now ? 

 - yes that is resolved, although the latest estimated bill is for 3k, I challenged this and provided actual readings as I have been doing and they said it was too low as only £80 for gas per month and about £100 for electricity. So i requested the come and fix it if they don’t believe me, they are saying I need to pay 2.5k to bring my account up to date but I’m confident I don’t. I currently have £500 between gas and electricity account in credit. This will cover my bill before the next DD comes off, based on the manual readings provided.

So,the initial over estimate is resolved, but it’s an ongoing issue / battle.