Why are people so disparaging about IHDs?

RG2015

I was monitoring my energy usage long before smart meters and IHDs were rolled out to the public. My adult children still recall running around the house when they were kids, turning everything off to see how slow they could get the little meter wheel to rotate.

Before I had a smart meter and IHD, I purchased an energy monitor and was better able to isolate the high usage items and attempt to minimise their usage.

Now the IHD gives me instant accurate information and I know my consumption patterns almost down to the penny.

Of course I am deluded, am employed by the energy companies and know I really need to consign that dumb box into the back of the drawer and get a life. 

lohr500

I would be very happy if our IHD displayed anything, other than a message telling me that it is waiting for data.

After many discussions I gave up chatting to EDF about why it stopped working after we switched to one of their EV tariffs 20 months ago.

Thankfully the correct time of use tariff rates and readings are being received by EDF so our billing is correct.

I use the Bright App to keep an eye on our usage but it would be handy to have a working IHD so we can look at our real time consumption.

I also have a Tapo P110 energy monitoring smart plug that I can move around the house to check on individual appliance consumption.

Sea_Shell

Brie said:

When we moved in to our new home 5 years back there was a little display thingme on the kitchen counter.  I now know this might have been an IHD.  But there was nothing useful showing on it.  Some numbers.  Which were meaningless to me.  Add to this the fact that our supplier (& the previous owners' supplier) didn't have a smart meter.  So no idea how an IHD would work in that situation.  Eventually dumped the display thingme into the garage (where it still is, looking blank) and also eventually switched supplier, twice.  We now have readings done by smart meter (how? nothing installed????) but the IHD doesn't display anything so is useless.  

Smart meters are great as they mean I don't have to give readings.  IHD are useless as they give no information.  And if they did tell me something would it change what I'm doing?  Not cook dinner? No. Not heat the water??? No. So why have it.

Many years ago, we had something similar, which clipped onto the main cable going to (or from?) the electricity meter.   It had a display unit, that you kept in the house.    This was pre-smart meters.

It worked (of a fashion) until we had some really cold weather that got to it, and it packed up.     That did go in the bin! 

RG2015

victor2 said:

RG2015 said:

victor2 said:

RG2015 said:

I am relatively new to this board so this topic may have been discussed on many previous occasions. Apologies therefore if is this is going over old ground.

I have had a smart meter and IHD for a few years and the data has always been 100% correct. I therefore find it surprising that so many seasoned forumites here are saying that IHDs are a waste of time.

Would anyone care to enlighten me as to why this may be?

It appears from numerous discussions on here that many people consider the IHD to be the actual smart meter and then question how their "smart meter" shows a cost that doesn't agree with their statements.
Hence regular posters say to chuck it in a drawer...

Sorry to be pedantic, but surely such a response is a non sequitur and rather unhelpful. Sure the IHD is not the smart meter but it is an understandable mistake.

For regulars to respond like this is even more disappointing as it is disparaging towards those making an honest mistake.

Hardly what one would expect from a a friendly community of MoneySavers sharing their experiences and tips to help others.

There are a lot of very helpful posters on here, with a great deal of patience. Equally, there are less helpful ones, but it works both ways. You will get posters having a little rant about how their energy supplier is stealing their money and charging them much more than their usage, as their smart meter says. When someone offers an explanation, it can be met with an accusation of working for the profiteering energy company.

It is an open forum, but there are reporting tools for posts that do not conform to the forum rules, and they do get acted upon.

Thanks.

Just to clarify, I wasn’t criticising your response.

My concern was the suggestion that some regulars recommended ditching the IHD because they believed that they may be inaccurate.

Just because some IHDs may be inaccurate does not justify the advice for everyone to ditch their IHDs.

victor2

Sea_Shell said:

Brie said:

When we moved in to our new home 5 years back there was a little display thingme on the kitchen counter.  I now know this might have been an IHD.  But there was nothing useful showing on it.  Some numbers.  Which were meaningless to me.  Add to this the fact that our supplier (& the previous owners' supplier) didn't have a smart meter.  So no idea how an IHD would work in that situation.  Eventually dumped the display thingme into the garage (where it still is, looking blank) and also eventually switched supplier, twice.  We now have readings done by smart meter (how? nothing installed????) but the IHD doesn't display anything so is useless.  

Smart meters are great as they mean I don't have to give readings.  IHD are useless as they give no information.  And if they did tell me something would it change what I'm doing?  Not cook dinner? No. Not heat the water??? No. So why have it.

Many years ago, we had something similar, which clipped onto the main cable going to (or from?) the electricity meter.   It had a display unit, that you kept in the house.    This was pre-smart meters.

It worked (of a fashion) until we had some really cold weather that got to it, and it packed up.     That did go in the bin! 

I had one of those too. It took two D cell batteries and was so heavy I had to hang it on a nail in the wall. It wirelessly communicated with a mains powered display , which you could download the data from, to a PC through an RS232 cable. Stopped working when I upgraded from Windows XP though!

Qyburn

RG2015 said:

My concern was the suggestion that some regulars recommended ditching the IHD because they believed that they may be inaccurate.

Just because some IHDs may be inaccurate does not justify the advice for everyone to ditch their IHDs.

I haven't seen any posts advising everyone to ditch their IHDs. Only people whose IHDs are giving incorrect information and adding to their confusion. In those cases is it not good advice?

RG2015

Qyburn said:

RG2015 said:

My concern was the suggestion that some regulars recommended ditching the IHD because they believed that they may be inaccurate.

Just because some IHDs may be inaccurate does not justify the advice for everyone to ditch their IHDs.

I haven't seen any posts advising everyone to ditch their IHDs. Only people whose IHDs are giving incorrect information and adding to their confusion. In those cases is it not good advice?

I have read things like IHDs are useless and should be stuck at the back of a drawer. This sounds like general advice for everyone.

Someone may say my direct debit does not agree with my IHD. Good advice would be to explain why the figures may differ rather than saying to ditch it.

peter_the_piper

Just to look at it from a different side. As an oldie I find the IHD useful as I'm able to check the usage against the BG website. I do check the readings on th ihd every few months or so but as the gas meter is under the corner of the kitchen units it needs me to lay down , on my back, and round a corner to read it.

k_man

RG2015 said:

Qyburn said:

RG2015 said:

My concern was the suggestion that some regulars recommended ditching the IHD because they believed that they may be inaccurate.

Just because some IHDs may be inaccurate does not justify the advice for everyone to ditch their IHDs.

I haven't seen any posts advising everyone to ditch their IHDs. Only people whose IHDs are giving incorrect information and adding to their confusion. In those cases is it not good advice?

I have read things like IHDs are useless and should be stuck at the back of a drawer. This sounds like general advice for everyone.

Someone may say my direct debit does not agree with my IHD. Good advice would be to explain why the figures may differ rather than saying to ditch it.

Indeed, I too have seen this response (ditch it, it's a toy), rather than switch it to usage/kWh rather than cost.
There is also often advice to not trust the IHD, and read usage directly from the meter.

I don't remember seeing any reports of usage (or meter reading) via the IHD being incorrect aside from instances where it shows no data/loses connection*.
I would be interested to know if this has happened often.

*and the gas kWh being an approximation from the actual m³, which is close enough for most of us, and the same rough calculation used in the actual meter

jbuchanangb

I have an old IHD (2018 vintage). The signal strength on the HAN is so weak that the only indoor room it will reach is bedroom immediately above the meter. I have it set to display Gas KwH usage, which is interesting. I have an OWL electricity monitor, the type which has a clamp over the main cable at the electricity meter, which gives me real time electricity consumption. Its signal range is much better than the IHD.