Why are people so disparaging about IHDs?

[Deleted User]

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.

Your home would have had SMETS1 meters which were supplier dependent. Unless you moved to a supplier that  used the smart model of meter as your previous supplier, the meter was in ‘dumb’ mode. Over the last few years there has been a programme to enrol all SMETS1 meters onto the National smart meter network run by the DCC. Once enrolled via a firmware update, your meter once again started to communicate with your supplier. Ten million+ of SMETS1 meters are now smart and will remain smart if you switch suppliers.

tightauldgit

Chrysalis said:

To me the value in IHD's is the live usage data, the rest of it can be read from Octopus dashboard and their smart app.

Today I was given a new device from Octopus called the Octopus Mini which acts as a hub, and sends the data to the cloud so can be accessed via the app, the actual live data and 30 min intervals for the "current" day.

I dont think IHD's are a waste of time, but I think they should have gone down the smart app route as the default, as the mini hub is clearly cheaper to produce, can also be paired without a visiting engineer, and accessing via the phone from anywhere is better than having to stand next to a IHD that has to be near the meters.

I removed the Bright app permissions and frozen that app, as it offers nothing over what the Octopus app does, and with live data the Octopus app is actually superior.

No doubt the spec for smart meters included something about having to have an IHD without the need for a smart phone so that there was no roadblocks to all users receiving the information. At the time smart meters were spec'd smart phones weren't really as ubiquitous as they are now and the idea of using an app to do something like this was a pretty new one. 

Personally find the IHD a bit of a waste of time but I can see how some people might find it useful - the only thing that annoys me slightly is that they seem to be pitched as an energy saving device but the only thing that actually saves energy is changes in behaviour. 

Swipe

k_man said:

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.

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.

My EDF Chameleon IHD is on the most part pretty accurate but occasionally (every few months), it will add the usage of two consecutive days and show double the cost.

Raxiel

I used my IHD for a while when we first got it in 2018, but eventually put it in a cupboard until last summer, when it was pressed back into service after all the alarm bells ringing ahead of the October '22 rise.

It's typically either on current usage (kW) or the daily total (kWh) for electric. Initially we just used it to get a better handle on how much different appliances used on different programs - we figured out that the eco mode on the dishwasher didn't use much less than the full wash, while the quick wash used about half the power (and did an acceptable job if you didn't mind a quick hand rinse while loading it) to give one example.

When we got the solar panels though, it became significantly more useful. The app for the inverter will give a rough idea how much we're currently generating its not real time and doesn't know how much of that we're currently using. The IHD in current usage mode can tell me exactly how much is spare, which is great for timing appliances.

Sea_Shell

Sea_Shell said:

My IHD has always been accurate, to within a few pence.

We come off a fix next week, so will be interesting to see how quickly and accurately it updates.

Eon, btw.   I've probably jinxed it now 😉

Well, after a few days away, when the IHD was switched off and during which our fix ended, it's come back on at the old rates.

I wondered if it would update overnight, but not yet.

We have our meters set to monthly readings, so it might not update until reading day (11th), as it might not "communicate" until then.

RG2015

Sea_Shell said:

Sea_Shell said:

My IHD has always been accurate, to within a few pence.

We come off a fix next week, so will be interesting to see how quickly and accurately it updates.

Eon, btw.   I've probably jinxed it now 😉

Well, after a few days away, when the IHD was switched off and during which our fix ended, it's come back on at the old rates.

I wondered if it would update overnight, but not yet.

We have our meters set to monthly readings, so it might not update until reading day (11th), as it might not "communicate" until then.

I have mine set to half hourly. That may well be why my rates updated almost immediately.

dealyboy

I love my IHD and it loves me  .

I switched electricity from E.ON Next to EDF recently and they started supplying it on 28th March. On the IHD the E7 rates changed automatically and I received a message 'Welcome to EDF dealyboy' ahhh!

On 1st April again the rates changed automatically. The only thing I might be critical of is that it doesn't fully understand economy 7, it shows me the day rate during the day period and the night rate during the night period but doesn't separate out the two readings, rather giving a total of the two added together ... but then again it's only young 

MikeJXE

peter_the_piper said:

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.

I'm an oldie too and have that problem with the water meter

Could you not put your camera down there and take a photo ? 

[Deleted User]

RG2015 said:

Sea_Shell said:

Sea_Shell said:

My IHD has always been accurate, to within a few pence.

We come off a fix next week, so will be interesting to see how quickly and accurately it updates.

Eon, btw.   I've probably jinxed it now 😉

Well, after a few days away, when the IHD was switched off and during which our fix ended, it's come back on at the old rates.

I wondered if it would update overnight, but not yet.

We have our meters set to monthly readings, so it might not update until reading day (11th), as it might not "communicate" until then.

I have mine set to half hourly. That may well be why my rates updated almost immediately.

It makes no difference. Meter tariff rates will only update if the supplier has sent out the correct tariff rates to each of  the meters. Updates are not related to billing dates. The supplier can communicate with a smart meter at anytime for such things as meter firmware updates.

Swipe

dealyboy said:

The only thing I might be critical of is that it doesn't fully understand economy 7, it shows me the day rate during the day period and the night rate during the night period but doesn't separate out the two readings, rather giving a total of the two added together ... but then again it's only young 

Yes, that is really annoying. It means I still have to go out in the rain to get day and night readings.