Octopus Discrepancies

cheekymole

I am trying to get the tariff off the IHD but unfortunately it keeps bombing out today!

My issue isn't with the actual rate it's more to do with the principle of the gadget which is supposed to help people budget. How many people out there think the IHD is showing them what they are using then get a hefty bill because something isn't quite right within in - that's my worry/concern because now I have to find an extra £90 to pay my bill.

Qyburn

cheekymole said:

The total Kwh shown on IHD is 1307 and the bill shows 1454

Do you have meter readings for the start and finish of that period, and do they match either the figures on the IHD or on the bill?

matt_drummer

cheekymole said:

I am trying to get the tariff off the IHD but unfortunately it keeps bombing out today!

My issue isn't with the actual rate it's more to do with the principle of the gadget which is supposed to help people budget. How many people out there think the IHD is showing them what they are using then get a hefty bill because something isn't quite right within in - that's my worry/concern because now I have to find an extra £90 to pay my bill.

The IHD is an aid.

It will show you how many Kwh you have used.

It will only calculate the monetary value of your usage if it has the correct tariff information.

Can you update the tariff information yourself?

If you know your unit rate(s) and the daily standing charge some quick mental arithmetic will give you an idea of what to expect.

Your figures are so far out I suspect you might have known that it was not correct in monetary terms?

Maybe you are trying to demonstrate that smart meters and the IHD are somehow flawed?

cheekymole

Qyburn said:

cheekymole said:

The total Kwh shown on IHD is 1307 and the bill shows 1454

Do you have meter readings for the start and finish of that period, and do they match either the figures on the IHD or on the bill?

I don't have them as they tell you not to touch the smart meters and didn't want to mess anything up!

EssexHebridean

You can absolutely read your actual meter yourself - and indeed you should periodically do so to check everything is in order. 

[Deleted User]

cheekymole said:

Qyburn said:

cheekymole said:

The total Kwh shown on IHD is 1307 and the bill shows 1454

Do you have meter readings for the start and finish of that period, and do they match either the figures on the IHD or on the bill?

I don't have them as they tell you not to touch the smart meters and didn't want to mess anything up!

You can safely access your smart meter menus to get meter readings:

https://octopus.energy/blog/how-to-read-your-meter/

That said, if you just want to see your billing tariffs then download one of the Apps such as Octopus Watch.



The App uses an API to recover the tariff data from your Octopus account. It also recovers usage data to work out a daily cost: 

IHDs do have their uses. They accurately show electricity instant power (in kW) and total usage (in kWh) and gas total usage (in kWh). In my opinion, Apps are better at showing costs: that said, gas costs on Apps will vary slightly from that billed because of minor differences in the way calorific value is applied to bills.

Raxiel

As well as the other factors mentioned in this thread, it should also be considered that the IHD will almost never give an accurate kWh figure for gas, and the app probably doesn't either, at least for consumption since the last bill.

Part of the billing for gas involves a calculation based on the calorific value (CV) of the gas (touched on by Dolor in the previous post), which is derived from samples taken by the network operator. This information is only known afterwards and an average value is calculated for the specific billing period.

The IHD can't know the CV and uses a fixed pre-programmed amount. The difference is unlikely to be significant, but it can add up, particularly in the winter when a greater volume of gas is used.

UncleK

I had the same problem with my IHD, the tariffs not being updated. I just had to keep on at Octopus. They eventually put a "metering specialist" on the case and it got sorted.