Does my In Home Display (IHD) smart meter need to be plugged in all the time?

Hey nealmurphy, thanks for answering my question. I honestly thought that mine was not working properly. I can't believe they have made them in that way, it's not the cost coz like you said its a pound a year but I thought they would of given them at least a few days of charge, I really think its a bad design.i know it's no big issue, I just think its a strange design but who I'm I to say anything.  Thanks again Jess 

IHDs were designed to run off mains power. 

The idea of the battery was simply as a very short term backup if the power went off for a very short time or if you wanted to move the IHD a short distance. 

I suspect quite a few IHDs end up in landfill at some stage sadly. So having a minimal battery etc has some eco advantages. 

I appreciate all the security and tech issues but non the less it is a shame a mobile app on phones or tablets can't replace the IHDs for real time information. I wonder if all countries have IHDs? 

There was a limited trial of several thousand customers, one of my friends took part. Although obviously a bit of a fudge in terms of technology

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-meters-derogation-guidance-supporting-energy-supplier-applications-for-trials-of-in-home-display-alternatives

The findings in terms of behaviour were not great. The apps were worse in terms of users reducing their energy consumption. This is thought to be due to the always on benefit of the IHD and the average consumer behaviour. 

The government decided against the current mandate of free IHDs for all smart meters based on the trial.

A lot of the IHDs have very short battery life and are designed to remain plugged in. The internal battery is generally enough for you to move your display around the house if you want to check usage of individual appliances.

Thank you both for that. 

Disappointing that we have to charge the IHD up every time we want to view it!

I wasn’t aware we can check usage of individual appliances - I will need to look into that.

For a Chameleon IHD6, IHD7 or an ivie Bud, you can simply tap the grey bar on the home screen a few times until you get to Now. :)

At least you’ve got one. I have now 3 times requested an IHD as I didn’t get one when I was transferred from SSE. I have had 3 phone calls from OVO saying ‘yes, of course, we will send one’ but months down the line there’s no sign of it. The messaging ‘service’ on the so called ‘Help Centre’ is useless - just says ‘redirecting’ all the time. The only ‘service’ I’ve got from OVO is monthly price increases - not impressed. 

*Edited by Mod*

Thank you, I’m new to this I didn’t realise I was replying to you personally.