Sorry for the inaccurate unit rates you’re seeing on your In-Home Display (IHD). Sometimes it can take up to 6 weeks for your smart meter to complete the initialising process, which could mean that the information displayed your device might not be accurate to begin with.

Once it’s fully set-up the tariff information showing on the device should match the rates showing on your online account or OVO app (see the guide below).

If it’s been over 6 weeks since your smart meter was installed and things still don’t line up - reach out to our Support Team who can make sure the rates on your IHD are corrected. In the meantime it’s worth bearing in mind:

Usage costs on your IHD may not 100% match your daily charges

If the unit rates loaded on to your device aren’t accurate, the daily costs shown here won’t match what you’re actually charged. For this reason we’d always advise checking the actual usage charges on your bills, which can be downloaded via your online account or OVO app. You can also check the ‘Usage’ section of the online account / app, which gives you a more detailed breakdown of your usage than your IHD does.

No increase in costs due to a smart meter

Having a smart meter installed won't directly increase your costs. There are no hidden effects on usage, and your unit rates and standing charges won't change. 

Your meter will be accurate

The meter will clock accurately. Old meters can slow down, or even speed up meaning they're not measuring your energy usage correctly. We'd only expect to see this with very old meters. A brand new meter, smart or otherwise, will clock what you're using accurately.

My IHD is showing incorrect information. The Tariffs are higher than the plan we are on. The daily charges for both the gas and electricity are also showing higher than they should be. 

The time is showing correctly, but both CIN numbers are showing zero. The daily costs are showing quite a bit higher than they do on the OVO app and website.

Any help in resolving this will be greatly appreciated.

Howdy @Swaddie !

Welcome to the forum. :)

Sorry for the trouble there, but I do have some good news. The fix for this one is actually really quick and easy, but you’ll need to get the Support Team to help you out with it. Feel free to ask via phone, live chat or email for this one, whichever works best for you.

There’s a SMETS Command called Update Tariff Configuration which when used correctly, forces your meters to pull down the correct tariff rates for your account, which will also cause your IHD to refresh. When used on the electric meter, it generally goes through within a few minutes, but may take an hour or two for the gas meter. The full refresh would go through at around midnight. If you ask the Support Team to issue that command to both your meters, it should fix everything for you.

Don’t worry about being overcharged - the costs on the website should be accurate, while the IHD is mainly a guide.

Hope this helps. Let us know if you get stuck.

Blastoise186 thanks for the advice much appreciated, will contact support tomorrow.

Hi everyone,

I have recently checked my daily charges for my electricity and my gas on my Smart meter and noticed the amounts are different (more) than what they say they are on my Plan.

Yet apparently our bills are created from our Smart Meter readings as these are the most accurate, we are led to believe. Am I being over charged?

Hey @Jasmin10 ,

You’re not being overcharged. Only the meter readings are used to calculate your usage for billing purposes, nothing else. What your meter and IHD say is just a guide and shouldn’t be treated as a source of truth.

The Support Team can however, help to fix this. Try asking them to run the SMETS Command Update Tariff Configuration against both meters. :)

Hi @Blastoise186,

Thank you for your reply. I did then check my bills (which I probably should have done before posting) and what you say is correct.

Thanks too for the info as to how to get the discrepancy fixed.

Good Morning

I’m not long up this morning and my smart meter says I’ve already used £1.50 in gas.. My heating was set to 15C  overnight.. radiators warm, smart meter says its 16.5 C .Am I right in thinking I’m going to have to set it even lower overnight so it doesn’t kick in.. ?

I don’t mind it being chilly overnight as I tend to sleep better when its colder, but I struggle with the cold in general due to my arthritis.. 

Also anyone know if there is any help with bills for those 60 and over that are working but struggling? 

Firstly, your IHD includes the standing charge so you might have used less than you think.

What controls do you have on your heating? If you have a programmable thermostat you can set the overnight temperature lower, if you want. However, the colder your house gets overnight the more heat you'll need in the morning so it might take a while to get it to a comfortable daytime temperature.

Do you have a combi boiler? If you do, check that the pre-heat is turned off. This function keeps some water in the boiler hot so you get hot water from your tap more quickly. It uses a fair amount of gas and you can make savings by switching it off.

Hiya,

Yep It’s a programmable so typically have it set at a low of 15 overnight. Aye that was my thought don’t want to have the issue that it takes more to get it up to a comfortable  temp.   I do have a combi boiler new last year.. Not sure how to access the pre heat on this one to be honest.. Will have a look at the paperwork later today.. 

That does sound high although as @M.isterW mentions you will need to factor in the standing charge. Is this an unusual first thing reading or have you not noticed before?

Our overnight setting is also 15deg but I’ve not seen anything that high to start the day. If your boiler is one of the latest, it does take into account the outdoor temperature so depending on your local weather, that may be a factor. 
On your settings, it’s certainly worth switching eco mode on and then adjust the flow temperature to between 70 and 75 deg

My heating has been set at 14 c since last night.. Never bumped it up this morning before heading to work.. Yet I came home at 1630 to find gas usage was £2.21.Showered last night so not hot water.. ANY idea on why ?   Seems a high usage to me when heating has been set at 14 since last night.. 

It could be several factors:

• Your IHD shows the Standing Charges as part of the costs
• Maybe your boiler flipped on during the day?
• Did your heating come on at some point?

Food for thought. :)

Hi @Amerififer if you have a smart meter and are set for readings every 30min, then post a copy of your  Day usage page for us to have a look at. Then we can see when the usage occurred

https://account.ovoenergy.com/usage?datePeriod=daily&unit=kwh

Have tried to get 30 min reading ability several times now from OVO Not happened so far.    Just frustrated !!! 

If you have a combi boiler is the pre-heat option selected? This will use gas to keep water in the system hot even if you aren't using it.

I do have a combi boiler… No idea if pre heat is selected or not to be honest.. Fairly new boiler , will need to check to see how I access that .. thanks for the suggestion.. 

Vote for this

Can't get a 30 min usage on OVO. Have Bright app as well. According to it's 30 min usage mapping, this was the usage when temp was set to 14 while I was at work, so not home to use any gas. I've a  Baxter Maxi 800 combi boiler and can't find any info on if/where there is a pre heat function. Any ideas welcome. Screen shot of yesterday usage when no one was home. 

Do you have a Baxi uSense controller? If you do, this video shows how to turn pre-heat off.

https://youtu.be/FiJsruKEslI

Saw that..however I don’t have that controller.. sigggh.. Thanks for the suggestion tho :) 

Hey @Amerififer,

I can see there has already been some really great suggestions here from other community members. 

Just wanted to add, you’ll be billed to the actual meter readings taken from the smart meter, not the figures shown on the IHD. 

It might be that the IHD is including standing charge. If you add up the 30 minute usage through the day from the Bright App and add standing charge does that make more sense? 

Hope this helps. 

Im glad im not the only one seeing odd increases on the smartmeter.  I have managed to get my consumption down to an average of 9-16p/hr (yes I have turned nearly everything off), but for the last few days at least I have seen the cost jump to nearly 40p/hr and then after about 10-20 minutes drop down again. This is happening a few times each day when nothing else has been turned on.

Could it be a cycling fridge/freezer, @greyab? This appliance isn’t on constantly, but instead turns on every so often to maintain the temperature. 

See @BPLightlog’s blog for other possibilities: 

@Tim_OVO thanks for that suggestion, will have to take a look at that.