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All about your smart system

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Getting smart with OVO Energy

Smart meters are innovative technology. Along with an In Home Display (IHD), they can make your life easier and can even help save money. What’s more, as long as your smart meter has an active connection, you don’t need to give meter readings.

This guide covers all the essentials – what you need to know about your new meter, how it works, and how to use it. You’ll find step-by-step guidance to help you get to grips with your meter’s functionality, and info on what to do next if you ever have a problem.

We’re a signatory of the Ofgem-approved Smart Metering Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP). Find out more by visiting www.ovoenergy.com/smicop, or ask us to send you a copy in the post.

Thanks

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All about your new smart set up

Introducing your IHD

Using your IHD

See how much energy you’ve used

Setting targets on your IHD

Using your smart meter

Keypad shortcuts

How to tell if your smart meter meter has fault

Our top energy-saving tips

Saving energy around the home

Where to find more help

Contact us

What’s covered in this guide

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All about your new smart set up

Smart meters are a serious upgrade on traditional technology because they help you understand your relationship with energy. By using the technology from mobile phones, these meters ‘talk’ to us about the energy you’re using. This means you can see information about how much you’ve spent and when.

GAS METERELECTRICITY METER

Meet your smart meters

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It’s a small device that ‘talks’ to your smart meter using a wireless network. It provides near-real-time details of how much energy you’ve used, and what you’ve been spending. Your IHD is very energy efficient and costs less than 70p a year to run.

As well as sharing your meter readings with us, your smart meter can give you all kinds of info about your energy. You can access this through your IHD.

Introducing your In-Home Display (IHD)

IHD HOMESCREEN

What is an IHD?

Important safety note

You should only use the charger that comes with the IHD to power it.Using other chargers with the IHD could cause a safety risk.

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Using your IHDIf you requested one, your engineer will give you your IHD when they install your smart meter and talk you through its functions. However, this guide can helpif you forget.

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Navigating your IHD screenYour IHD is very easy to use. You can access all its functions with the 7 buttons along the bottom of the screen.

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Using the buttons along the foot of the screen: Tap the Home button to see how much energy you’ve used so far today.

Use the Calendar button to move the display through ‘so far this week’ and ‘so far this month’.

Use the ‘back’ arrow to scroll back and see how much energy you’ve used each day, week or month.

Tap the Utility button to switch the figures on the display between electricity, gas or combined fuels.

See how much energy you’ve used by day, week or month

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Tapping will show you how much electricity you’re using in real time. This is displayed as kilowatts (kW) and cost per hour.

This lets you check if anything’s been left turned on, and work out which appliances use the most energy.

The coloured light at the bottom shows whether your current use is low (green), medium (amber) or high (red).

How much are you using right now?

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Setting budgets on your IHDTo take control of your energy use, you can set a target:

• Bring up the menu screen by tapping OK. Select Adjust Settings and then select Set budget by tapping OK.

• Choose the time period you want to set a budget for (daily, weekly or monthly) by tapping the Calendar button. Tap the back and forward arrows to change the amount. The IHD will show you how much you used in the previous period to help you set an achievable value. Tap OK to confirm your choices.

You can set an electricity and a gas budget; the IHD uses these to create a combined budget, which is used when looking at both fuels.

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Track your energy onlineWhen we installed your smart meter, we asked how often you wanted it to share information with us. If you chose to share daily or half hourly meter readings, a few days after your installation you’ll be able to track your energy on My OVO – anytime, anywhere.

To get started, visit https://my.ovoenergy.com three days after your installation and click on the ‘usage’ tile. You can use My OVO to see how much energy you’ve used, what your next bill is likely to be, and other useful info.

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S W 1 O NS W 2 O N

ON READY OFF

H A N

If you have a Feed-In Tariff these symbols indicate whether you’re importing or exporting energy

This tells you which unit of energy is on show - M3 (cubic meters) is for gas and kWh is for electricity

This is the main display where you’ll see things like energy usage

You’ve got an unread message

HAN (Home Area Network) shows that the communication network between your IHD and meters is working

This tells you if your energy supply is on or off. The plug shows electricity, the flame shows gas

Using your smart meter

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It’s easier to use your IHD – no dodging spiders or poking about in cupboards – but if you’d like to, there are a number of things you can do using your meter keypad.

0. This displays the date and time

1. Press once for today’s usage and twice for yesterday’s

2. Press once for this week’s usage and twice for last week’s

3. Press once for this month’s usage and twice for last month’s

4. See up to 12 month’s usage by month

5. Displays CO2 data for the current hour, day, yesterday, last week and last month

6. Tariff details: plan name; standing charge; what you’ve used; cost per unit

7. This button doesn’t have a useful function for you – just ignore it

8. This button doesn’t have a useful function for you – just ignore it

9. See your meter readings (if you’re on Economy 7, press 6)

B. Use this button to wake up the display and scroll back through thedisplay sequence

Keypad shortcuts

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How to tell if your smart meter has a fault

This means your meter has poor signal. Your electricity smart meter has a SIM cardin it and uses the strongest available mobile phone network signal at the time.That’s why the signal strength can change even though your meter is in the same place.

I N S T A L L C O D E :

D B 4 C 5 0 C 8 E 8 F A B 9 4 F

1 5 8 0 2 0 9 4 0 1 6 3 6 8 6 5 4 6 7 1

G A T E W A Y N O : S 0 0 0 0 7 2 8

T Y P E C O D E : M A X 1 0 Y

I M E I N O . : 3 5 9 1 9 3 0 3 2 7 8 9 3 0 7

M A C I D : B 8 7 9 7 E 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 C C

L I B E R T Y 1 0 0T Y P E C O D E : E 1 S 0 B 1

1 P, 2 W , 2 3 0 V , C I B , 5 0 H Z

0 . 5 - 1 0 ( 1 0 0 ) A , - 2 4 ’ C T O 5 5 ’ C

C O N S T A N T : 3 2 0 0 I M P / K W H

Red ‘WAN’ light on solidly - or completely off

Like all technology, smart meters aren’t 100% perfect. If yours stops ‘talking’ to us, we won’t know how much energy you’ve used, so you may receive an estimated bill. This could mean it’s higher or lower than you’d normally expect.

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This means there was a mistake when your meter was installed. Give us a call, and we’ll send an engineer ASAP to get it fixed for free.

Let us know on on 0330 303 5063 or our landline number 01179 303 100.

If it turns out that the problem is caused by a weak signal in your home, we’ll have to go on using estimated readings while the work continues on building up the smart meter itself, our network and our systems.

Meter says ‘commission’ when you press ‘0’

What happens if there’s a fault?

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Our top energy-saving tipsWant to cut your energy use, lower your bills and reduce your carbon footprint? On this page and the next, we suggest some ideas to get you started.

This is one of the most straightforward and cheapest ways to save energy in your home. Energy-efficient bulbs can be Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) or Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). If an average household replaced all their old-fashioned bulbs with CFLs and all their halogens with LEDs it would cost around £125 and save around £60 a year.

Switch to low-energy light bulbs

Need help deciding which bulb to use? Check out our guide to energy saving light bulbs www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-gudies/energy-saving-light-bulbs.html

17Need help deciding which bulb to use? Check out our guide to energy saving light bulbs

www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-gudies/energy-saving-light-bulbs.html

ROOF Loft insulation will reduce your heating bills, and could cut heat loss by 25%.

PIPES Insulate exposed hot pipework around the cylinder or your boiler. WALLSIf your home has cavity walls you could save up to £140 a year with insulation. Solid walls can be insulated too. It costs more than insulating cavity walls, but the savings on your bills will be bigger.

DOORS AND WINDOWS Unless your home is very new, it’s probably losing heat through gaps around doors and windows. If you can afford it, get UPVC double or triple glazing. If not, buy draught-proofing products for doors and windows. Depending on the size of your house, materials could cost around £160 but you could save up to £75 a year.

HOT WATER TANK A properly-fitting tank jacket could save you around £25 to £35 a year – or more if you heat your water by electricity. FLOOR Insulate under floorboards and seal gaps between floors and skirting boards. Be careful: floorboards rot without ventilation, so don’t block air-bricks.

Insulate everywhere you can

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Saving energy around the home

You could save £40 a year by being careful how you use your kitchen appliances. Set your washing machine to wash at 30°C. Only use your tumble dryer when you can’t dry your clothes outside. Don’t fill your kettle right up every time – just boil the amount of water you need. Keep your fridge and freezer at least two-thirds full, defrost them regularly and don’t put them next to cookers or in bright sunlight.

Take showers rather than baths. And don’t spend hours in the shower – just one minute less each day could shave £10 a year off your bills.

If you’ve got a shower that takes hot water straight from your boiler or hot water tank (rather than an electric shower), you may be able to cut your hot water use without noticing any difference when you shower. A water-efficient showerhead will cost around £27 and a family of four will save around £75 a year on water heating.

In the kitchen

In the bathroom

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Don’t leave devices on standby. You could save another £30 a year just by turning them off. Turn off the lights as you leave a room, and if you’re not using your computer for a while, switch it off rather than leaving it on screensaver. Never leave chargers switched on, as they use power even when the device isn’t charging.

Call our energy efficiency advice line0800 408 6601 (or 0117 934 1999 from a mobile)Lines are open Monday - Friday 9am - 6pm or email ovo@cse.org.uk

We’ve partnered with the Centre for Sustainable Energy to give you free, independent advice about energy efficiency and how to apply for grants and financial support. If you’re a pensioner, have a disability, are blind or partially sighted, have hearing difficulties or suffer from long-term ill-health, there may be special help available, so mention this when you call.

Read our guides at https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides, particularly ‘120 ways to save and conserve energy’.

Not using it? Turn it off

For more energy-reducing tips

For free expert advice on saving energy

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Complaints

If we ever make a mistake or do something wrong, please let us know straight away so we can put things right for you as soon as possible.

Tell us what’s wrong and why you believe it’s our fault. You can contact us any way you want:

• Call us between 8am and 6pm Monday - Friday, on 0330 303 5063.

• Email us at hello@ovoenergy.com.

• Visit www.ovoenergy.com/help/feedback and fill out our simple form.

• Write us a letter – address it to our Complaints Team at OVO Energy, 1 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol BS1 6ED.

• Or even drop in to see us.

First, let us know why you’re not happy

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We’ll do our best to sort out any issues the first time you contact us, and put things right for you within 5 working days or, if it’s quite complicated, within 8 weeks. Our response could include some or all of these:

• An explanation.

• Doing all we can to resolve the problem.

• An apology.

• A goodwill payment, if it’s appropriate.

We hope you’ll be satisfied with our response. If not, get in touch again and tell us you want your complaint to be referred to our Complaints Team. They’ll need to talk to you, so it’s best to phone or, if you’re emailing or writing, include your phone number so they can call you back. If they can’t reach you by phone they’ll email or write to you within 5 working days.

Our team will explain what’s going on and work with you to resolve the issue. If you’re still not satisfied, you have a choice. You can:

• Ask us to look into the matter again.

• Or ask for a ‘final response’ or ‘deadlock letter’. In this, we’ll explain that we haven’t been able to sort the issue out to your satisfaction, recap what’s happened, and give you contact details for the energy ombudsman.

We’ll respond as quickly as we can

If you’re still not happy

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The energy ombudsman is an independent organisation that can step in if you’re not happy with our response, or if it’s more than 8 weeks since you first complained and we still haven’t put things right for you.

The service is completely free, and if they decide we should do more to help you, we have to do whatever they recommend. However, if they decide you should do something, you don’t have to follow their advice.

How the energy ombudsman can help you

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Where to find more help

OVO Answers

We’re a signatory of the Ofgem-approved Smart Metering Installation Code of Practice (SMICoP). Find out more by visiting www.ovoenergy.com/smicop, or ask us to send you a copy in the post.

Smart meters send us data so we can accurately track your energy use. For information about the data we collect from your smart meter and your rights, read our data guide at www.ovoenergy.com/smart-data-guide

For more about the data we collect from your smart meter, visit www.ovoenergy.com/smartdata

OVO guide to energy efficiency www.ovoenergy.com/ovo-answers/topics/energy-and-environment/environment/what-is-energy-efficiency.html

Find more helpful guides and FAQs atwww.ovoenergy.com/guides

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Email:hello@ovoenergy.com

Phone:0330 303 506301179 303 100

Post:OVO Energy1 Rivergate Temple QuayBristolBS1 6ED

Keep this booklet handy

Contact us

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Notes

Meter readings

Old electricity meter 1

Date

Time

Meter serial number

Closing meter read

Old gas meter 2 Date

Time

Meter serial number

Closing meter read

Smart electricity meter 1

Date

Time

Meter serial number

Opening reading

Smart gas meter 2 Date

Time

Meter serial number

Opening reading

Smart electricity meter 2

Date

Time

Meter serial number

Opening reading

Old electricity meter 2

Date

Time

Meter serial number

Closing meter read