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ccooky98
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March 5, 2019
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New IHD showing high levels of usage - is this right?

  • March 5, 2019
  • 110 replies
  • 8678 views



Hi, I had my smart meters installed yesterday lunchtime, this morning my IHD tells me I used a combined gas and electric totalling over £25!! there is no way this is correct. My daughter had a shower this evening for 5 minutes and the electric cost went up on the IHD by £5.....anyone else having these unusual readings? its worrying me as my bill is going to be massive!
    Best answer by jewelie

    Updated on 23/10/25 by Ben_OVO

     

    Sorry for the inaccurate usage costs you’re seeing on your In-Home Display (IHD).

     

    With a smart meter the tariff information showing on the device should match the rates showing on the ‘plan details’ page of your online account or app. If the tariff figures loaded on your device aren’t correct, it may appear that your usage costs are far higher than they should be - reach out to our Support Team to get that corrected. You can find out how to see your plan details using this guide:

     

     

    It is worth bearing in mind the following: 

     

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

     

    If the unit rates loaded on to your device are not accurate the daily costs shown here will not match what you are actually charged. For this reason we’d always advise checking the actual usage charges on the ‘Billing’ page of your online account or app. You can find out how to use the Usage pages using this guide:

     

     

    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 tariff won't change. 

     

    Your meter will be accurate:

     

    The meter will clock accurately. Old meters (this does depend on how old your previous meter was) 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.

     

    IHD user guides can be found here:

     

     

    OVO member but not got a smart meter yet? - Book today!

    Interested but not yet an OVO member? - Check out our plans!

     

    110 replies

    Show previous replies
    S
    Newcomer
    SD.shannon1234
    Newcomer
    October 1, 2022

    My smart meter gas usage for the morning reads £41542.81 as I live in a small two bed and my daily usage is around £1.75 a day .has anyone else had this issue . You could run a power station on that amount of gas used 

    Blastoise186
    Super User
    Blastoise186Super User
    Super User
    October 1, 2022

    Hi @SD.shannon1234 ,

    You can safely ignore that. Your IHD will be fixed within 72 hours and your billing hasn’t been affected. There’s no fault here, just a need to fully refresh the tariff rates configured against your IHD.

    The official response from OVO is below.

    We’re aware that a small number of our In Home Displays have a fault that’s causing them to show incorrect costs. We’ve emailed affected customers in advance to confirm that this is an issue with the display only and not the actual meter, meter reading or energy bills. Customers don’t need to do anything and an automatic fix will happen within the next 24 hours. 

    Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
      S
      Newcomer
      SD.shannon1234
      Newcomer
      October 1, 2022

      Cheers for the info , will leave it and see what happens 

        A
        Newcomer
        andreamaloneya
        Newcomer
        October 3, 2022

        I have a electricity smart meter and has used £50 in a day and a half with not a lot of electricity appliances plugged in surely this can’t be right ? 

        Blastoise186
        Super User
        Blastoise186Super User
        Super User
        October 3, 2022

        Hi @andreamaloneya ,

        This sounds like a known issue that OVO is already investigating. Your bills won’t be affected and it should be resolved by the end of the week.

        Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
        Tim_OVO
        OVO Staff
        Tim_OVO
        OVO Forum Legend
        October 4, 2022

        Hi @andreamaloneya, I’ve replied to your other topic here offering generic advice on how to identify the causes of higher than expected costs: 

         

         

        If it’s just the costs showing on your IHD that are high, then that’s likely to be the issue Blastoise has referred to which can be ignored. It’s affecting customers who have an In Home Display and an Acalra SMETS1 smart meter, and is related to the price cap changes. Fix is incoming. 

         

        Carbon neutral - we need a community to get there! My green tech: Aclara SGM 1411-B smart meter, Chameleon IHD6
        T
        Newcomer
        Tony Tucker
        Newcomer
        October 12, 2022

        Our Home Display unit has gone haywire with crazy readings - gas usage today (Wed. 12 Oct) showing as 124kWh and electricity as £6.85.  Since Sunday midnight I would expect something in the region of £15-20 in total as we only have the boiler on for limited hours per day.

        Any thoughts please - should I just unplug the display in the hope that it reboots, and can OVO tell me whether they apply charges from the meter itself or what comes up on the Home Display?

         

        Blastoise186
        Super User
        Blastoise186Super User
        Super User
        October 12, 2022

        Hi @Tony Tucker ,

        Please can you post photos?

        Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
        T
        Newcomer
        Tony Tucker
        Newcomer
        October 12, 2022

        Here’s today’s one - and thanks for your quick response

         

        Blastoise186
        Super User
        Blastoise186Super User
        Super User
        October 12, 2022

        I see you’ve got a Chameleon IHD7-CAD-PPMID by the looks of things. This is the latest model from Chameleon that OVO has been sending out recently. Since it’s based on the IHD6, I know it pretty well.

        What I’m seeing there seems normal to me as in your photo, you have it on So far this week. Try tapping that to get it to either Now or So far today. :)

        Securing energy by zapping security bugs... For that is The Blastoise Way! Remember, I'm just like you - AI Powered Evil Geniuses aren't Staff!
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