Smart meters

Yes, smart meter appointments are safely going ahead - with strict safety measures in place. With new restrictions in place across the country, we're continuing to follow the government's advice.

We can only carry out appointments where it’s safe to do so. This means we still won’t be carrying out non-emergency appointments in homes where anyone is unwell or self-isolating from coronavirus.

We install smart meters because they help you to manage your energy better. Smart meters send readings automatically, so you get more accurate bills, and a clearer understanding of how you’re using energy - meaning you have a chance to cut energy use and carbon emissions. 

Our full risk assessment for smart meter operations can be found here and for office workers here. You can also see confirmation that we comply with the government guidance on Staying COVID-19 Secure here.

Our top priority is the same: to keep you and our teams safe. They're specially trained to take strict precautions while they're inside your home. We'll be following all the latest government guidance - including in areas where a local lockdown is in place: 

• On the day of your appointment, our team will call ahead to check it’s still safe to visit. They’ll ask if anyone in your household is unwell, or self-isolating. If this is the case, your appointment will need to be rescheduled.
• When the engineer arrives, they’ll check this again with you in person.
• Our engineers will wear masks while they're in your home. The only time they might remove their mask is when it's safe to do so - for example, if they're working alone in a room - and they'll always check with you beforehand. 
• Our engineers will also be observing social distancing, which includes asking you to stay safe in another room while they work. Wherever possible, please give the engineer space to work safely.  
• Our engineer may take more frequent breaks to get fresh air. They will also ask you to open windows and doors close to the meter for the duration of their visit.

To minimise the time our engineers spend in your home, they may work in a slightly different way to usual. This means that they might install a smart meter but not switch on its smart functions. Don’t worry, you’ll still be left with a working meter. And, if any of this happens we’ll return as soon as we can to finish the job. 

All our engineers will stop working immediately if anyone shows any symptoms of coronavirus, during their visit. 

Important: if you or anyone in your home feels unwell before your appointment, please give us a call on 0330 303 5063 and we’ll work through your options. 

Unfortunately not. We’re taking strict measures to keep both you and our teams safe, so this means we’re not able to carry out smart meter appointments for people who are self-isolating. 

Yes, no problem - you can reschedule the appointment by calling us on 0330 303 5063. 

Important: if you’re showing any symptoms of coronavirus, please make sure to reschedule for after the two week self-isolation period. 

No, we won’t charge you a cancellation fee if you need to cancel because of a coronavirus-related situation, or if you become unwell. 

We’re now able to carry out smart meter appointments everywhere we have engineers operating. You can check their availability here  

You can take the following steps to make sure things are as safe as possible: 

• Before your appointment, disinfect the area around your meter where the engineer will be working. Do this again after they leave.
• Open windows and doors in the room where the engineer will be working. 
• Make sure the engineer has clear access to your meters, and they’re free from clutter. 
• Stay at least 2m away from the engineer at all times. If possible, go into a different room while they’re installing your meter, and make sure pets are kept out of the way. 

We’ll call you the day before your appointment to check it’s still safe for us to visit. Please tell us if you or anyone in your household is unwell or self-isolating. When the engineer arrives, they will check this with you again. 

When you book, we’ll share even more info about what to do before, during and after your appointment, to stay as safe as possible. 

If you’re not able to maintain social distancing of at least 2m during your appointment (because of the size/layout of your home or for any other reason) then please don’t book one. We won’t be able to carry it out safely. 

If you’ve already booked a smart meter appointment but you don’t think you’ll be able to maintain social distancing, please cancel. You can do this via your appointment confirmation email, through your online account or on our app. 

Yes, you need to be an OVO member before booking an appointment with us. Click here to join us. 

Smart meters come with an optional (and free of charge) In-Home Display, which shows you how much energy you’re using and what it’s costing you. You can see how much you're using now or how much you’ve used over the last hours, days, weeks or months. Log in to your account online to learn more about your energy use, costs and how this compares to what you've used in the past. You can also upgrade your plan to OVO Beyond for insights into how to cut your energy use, and to supercharge your journey to zero carbon. You’ll find more info and how to sign up in your account online.

The Smart Metering Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP) is a set of rules and standards that make sure that you get a great experience and quality of service when you’re having your smart meter installed. 

At OVO, we've signed up to this code of practice (of course). And naturally we always do our best to ensure our engineer are fully trained to give you an excellent service.

The code covers many parts of the installation process, like:

• Helping you understand how to use your smart equipment, so you can get the most from it.
• Making sure our engineers are trained to the highest standards.
• Giving you all the info you need.
• Giving extra support to anyone who is vulnerable of who might need special help.
• Showing you how to check your energy use - so you can spot patterns and make small changes that could help you save energy.
• Keeping you informed, quickly, on progress if something's not right with your smart equipment.

Smart meters have been rigorously tested for safety. They’ve passed all the UK and EU regulations that make sure a product is safe. All the same regulations that your phone, microwave, and TV will have had to pass too.

Your smart meter automatically sends us readings. This means your bills are accurate and we can tell quickly if there’s any interruption to your supply.

We can check the info from your smart meter, and use it to:

• Manage your energy supply, and spot any problems as soon as they happen.

• Give you relevant advice to help you reduce your energy use and lower your bills.

• Improve our service to you and other members.

• Develop and manage energy supply and demand.

If we need to use the information for anything else, we’ll get in touch to talk it through with you and explain why. 

Smart meters are super secure. We use safety measures agreed with the government (like encryption) to make sure that any data your smart meter shares with us is always safe and private. We also follow strict rules set out by the industry regulator, OFGEM, and all your personal data is safeguarded by the Data Protection Act too.

Smart meters don't use the internet and have their own closed communications system. It's been designed with top cybersecurity experts, including the government's security and intelligence organisation, GCHQ. This means your data can't be seen by anyone but you and us.

Yes you can: having a smart meter doesn’t change your right to switch energy suppliers. Here are a few things to know before you switch;

• If you have a latest generation SMETS2 meter, you'll be able to switch without an issue.
• If you have a first-generation SMETS1 meter you might find that your meter loses some of its whizzy smart benefits. But the good news is that thanks to a remote software update planned to finish by the end of 2021, all smart meters will soon be compatible with all suppliers.

Thinking about switching to OVO? You can find more about our energy plans and get a quote here.

We ask you to choose how often your smart meter sends readings when you first book an appointment. You can change this anytime after the installation, by calling us.

The more often you share your readings, the more feedback we'll be able to give you... which can help you save energy.

• Sharing half-hourly readings can help you understand more about your energy use. (Most OVO members choose this option.)  

• Sharing daily readings means you won't get as much info about your energy use. (It's the default option if you don't tell us otherwise.)

• Sharing monthly readings means you won't receive feedback about your energy use on a day-to-day basis.

If you have a smart meter your readings will update automatically, so there’s nothing to worry about.

We’re asking anyone who doesn’t have a smart meter to submit their readings through their online account or in the OVO app. This is because we’re now only able to take emergency calls, so we can help those who need us most. It’s really easy to submit readings this way – and we thank you for your support. To help, we've created some short videos showing you how.

If your online account looks like the picture below, you can watch this video on how to submit meter readings:

Or if your account looks like this, here's the video for you:

To submit a meter reading online, log into your account, here.

Or download the OVO app for Android here or for iOS here.