Octopus Smart Meter fitting IHD or Mini Hub

Pat38493

I have booked a smart meter fitting with Octopus - in the blurb it says that I will have a choice of an IHD or an Octopus mini hub (payable).

I would prefer the mini hub, but does this mean that if I ever move away from Octopus I will have no IHD and the mini hub won't work?

MattMattMattUK

Pat38493 said:

I have booked a smart meter fitting with Octopus - in the blurb it says that I will have a choice of an IHD or an Octopus mini hub (payable).

I would prefer the mini hub, but does this mean that if I ever move away from Octopus I will have no IHD and the mini hub won't work?

The Mini Hub only works if you stay with Octopus, the IHD is far less useful and they often stop working or at least only report usage when someone switches supplier. Very few people use an IHD long term, most stick them in a draw after a week or two at most. 

QrizB

I've got both 😀

My IHD was supplied by EDF and still works since I've switched to Octopus. The Mini was (obviously) supplied by Octopus after I'd switched.

If I'm at home I'll glance at the IHD every time I pass it. I'll only pull out my phone to check the Octopus app if I'm looking for something specific.

Ildhund

MattMattMattUK said:
... the IHD is far less useful and they often stop working ... Very few people use an IHD long term, most stick them in a draw after a week or two at most. 

Any documentation for these assertions?

I was really sorry to lose my Secure Pipit 500 SMETS1 IHD when my meter was upgraded to SMETS2 after seven years' sterling service. The snazzy Chameleon IHD3 I got instead isn't half as useful, but it's still there on the kitchen shelf and it's consulted at least a couple of times every day.

Lorian

What does (payable) in your post mean OP?

Pat38493

Lorian said:

What does (payable) in your post mean OP?

It means you have to pay if you want the mini hub - at least I assume so as they have been marketing them to existing customers for a good while 

debitcardmayhem

Pat38493 said:

Lorian said:

What does (payable) in your post mean OP?

It means you have to pay if you want the mini hub - at least I assume so as they have been marketing them to existing customers for a good while 

They didn’t charge for mine, have they intimated that they will?

MouldyOldDough

debitcardmayhem said:

Pat38493 said:

Lorian said:

What does (payable) in your post mean OP?

It means you have to pay if you want the mini hub - at least I assume so as they have been marketing them to existing customers for a good while 

They didn’t charge for mine, have they intimated that they will?

Same here - had both for free almost 12 months .........

FreeBear

QrizB said:

I've got both 😀

My IHD was supplied by EDF and still works since I've switched to Octopus. The Mini was (obviously) supplied by Octopus after I'd switched.

If I'm at home I'll glance at the IHD every time I pass it. I'll only pull out my phone to check the Octopus app if I'm looking for something specific.

Also have an IHD (Chameleon supplied by Eon), and the Home Mini. The IHD sits on top of my desktop where I can be alerted if usage surges for any unexpected reason.

Data from the mini is scraped from Octopus and pushed to a database, and from there, I can generate usage graphs. Having the data stored locally also means I can extract it for a report should there ever be a dispute.

Lorian

The page is still there to apply for a free one. It probably still works?

Pat38493

debitcardmayhem said:

Pat38493 said:

Lorian said:

What does (payable) in your post mean OP?

It means you have to pay if you want the mini hub - at least I assume so as they have been marketing them to existing customers for a good while 

They didn’t charge for mine, have they intimated that they will?

Actuall not really - they said I could "jump the queue" to get one as I am getting a smart meter installed, and when I looked at them on the Octopus website a year or so back, you had to pay for it, so I assumed it would be something that I had to pay for.

If not, so much the better.

To be clear, I am talking about the Octopus home hub mini and not the IHD - the IHD is always free I think on first install.