Your smart meter comes with a handy digital device called an In-Home Display (IHD), which can help you keep track of your home’s energy use.
It shows how much energy you’re using in real time, and how much it’s costing in £ and p. It’s an effective way to help you see where you can make changes to lower your energy bills.
Check your IHD when you’re using the devices and appliances you’d usually have on. Make a note of how much energy your IHD says you’re using, and what it’s costing. This’ll be your benchmark.
Pick an appliance you want to test and turn it on. Now check your IHD. Within a few seconds, it’ll update the electricity usage so you can see how much energy the appliance uses. And how much it costs. Gas usage takes up to 30 minutes to update.
Look at your energy use with the appliance on and compare it to your benchmark usage. The difference shows you how much it uses. E.g if your benchmark was £0.24/hour and this went up to £0.96/hour with the appliance on, it costs £0.72 per hour to run it.
Once you know the cost of using each of your appliances, you can adjust your energy use, like unplugging appliances instead of leaving them on standby. And using energy when the IHD’s off-peak indicator light is on helps you benefit from lower rates.
In kWh (the unit used to measure energy) and in £ and p. You can also easily check your meter readings any time in a couple of taps.
See daily, weekly, or monthly costs - so, you'll know what you'll pay each month. You can also spot the biggest energy users in your home to help make changes that could save money.
To help manage your monthly bills, you can set an energy budget for both electricity and gas. You can also receive alerts for high usage if you're close to the limit you've set.
An IHD comes with your smart meter – so it won’t cost you anything extra. And if it’s faulty, we’ll replace it for free.
It depends on which IHD model comes with your smart meter. Our engineer will tell you whether your IHD can be connected to your home WiFi when they install your smart meter. If it can, you can ask them to pair it, or they can show you how to do it yourself. An IHD that connects to WiFi (often called a Consumer Access Device, or CAD) has the following benefits:
If you have any issues with your IHD, we can usually detect the problem straight away
You can see your home's energy use in real time
It makes any future software updates easier
For the best connection, keep the IHD in the same room as your smart meter or within 15 metres of it. If you’re connecting through your WiFi router, it should be within a similar range.
If you have a smart meter and you move to a new OVO tariff or prices change for any other reason, we’ll update your In-Home Display so that any changes are shown automatically.
The majority of IHDs we provide don't come with a built-in rechargeable battery. They all come with a mains power adapter and it should always be left connected to the power supply.
If you have any problems after installation, check out our easy-to-follow troubleshooting guide. It covers many simple solutions to help you fix most common issues. If you still can't find the answer you're looking for, please contact us.