Mine is fairly accurate. I’ve seen some utility companies use previous usage to estimate monthly bills and only ‘read’ the meter every few months. I was over billed by $100s of dollars my first couple months after I moved into my house. I believe your bill should state whether it is actual or estimated and the current kWh reading.
This is likely what you’re seeing.
My HEM so far seems to be very close the actual readings I get on my bill. My electricity company provides daily info online (I have a smart meter) and I’ve checked a few random days and it’s remarkably close to what my HEM reads.
Up a bit in this very thread:
I’ve considered that. However it doesn’t appear to be the case based on my latest bill. I had an actual reading when I first moved in on 12/20 and then my most recent bill which covered up to 2/15 was an actual reading. The kWh consumption between these dates according to the utility was 1,743 kWh. I installed the HEM back on 1/7 so I missed approximately 17 days of data. However, from 1/7 to 2/15, my HEM recorded 371 kWh. As a rate, the HEM is logging around 9 kWh/Day for me where the utility is charging me for approximately 30 kWh/Day.
The 9ish kWh/Day utility bill reading was approximately what I used in the winter at my old house and I can’t think of any substantial changes in electric loads at the new house or changes in uses or schedules.
Just out of curiosity, how would you guys read the following meter (this was the read I took when I first moved in).
Wow, I could only wish for that low.
This should help you: How to Read an Electric Meter: Monitor Usage on Digital/Analog
Looks like 99540.
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99540 is what I was leaning towards originally too. The utility actually interpreted it as 00541 according to my first bill. I’m not sure if that would ultimately make much difference in the amount they charged me for if they were consistent with those last three digits. I’m going to have to check the meter again myself once I get home to make sure their most recent read is accurate.
I’m glad to hear that most people have achieved solid accuracy with the HEM though. The other thing that keeps me believing in the HEM more than the utility is that I will watch the HEM as I turn lights on and off around the house and generally it seems to report an increase in total wattage in line with the wattage of the bulbs I turn on +/- 1 or 2 W.
I average 30kWh a day but I have a hot tub, 2 salt water tanks and way too much tech gear.
My hem’s seem spot on. I would check both clamps and make sure they are latched and on the right wires. Post a pic if you want a second opinion.
To check the HEM accuracy find a large load(washer, drier, microwave), find it’s wattage and fire it up while watching the HEM and see if it matches. Mine is accurate down the 10w my hot tub draws for the radio and electronics in standby.
If all checks out, I would then read the meter yourself for a few days. And you can always call the electric company and have them re-read the meter. Mistakes happen.
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So I checked my meter once I got home today…definitely looks like a meter read error. Attempting to work it out with the utility now. Fortunately, what I calculate as the actual value for the meter reading matches up quite closely with my HEM!
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So I’m using the latest build of this handler, and I have 4 empty boxes I’m not sure how to get filled out. If I click on the gear icon I get an error of ‘error refreshing page’ and all it shows is the name with the icon. I get this error for both panels. I am getting ‘pole 1’, total, ‘pole 2’, and my running cost. Configure button does nothing as well.
Also, is it possible to configure your ‘billing date’ with your power company so you can actually track your bill the exact same as your power company would be? So in the app be able to set the start/stop billing dates your power company uses and it auto-resets based on that.
Thanks!
Look a little further up this thread for discussion on the reset SmartApp:
That doesn’t sound like you’re using my DH. You should see a large tile, and several small tiles. The gear should definitely work so you can go in and change/validate preferences (highly recommended), and the Configure tile will work but nothing will be seen in the mobile app because it works in the background to configure the HEM with your preferences.
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I’ll look for yours, any chance you could send me a link to yours, just to make sure I get the right one?
Ok found it. Yours is MUCH better than the other one I was using. Thank you!
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Okay, reporting back as I said I would at my next reset.
I had the app set to reset at 11:59pm on the 16th. It reset at 11:59pm on the 15th so it seems there’s still an issue.
That’s so weird. I have mine resetting 3 HEM’s all at 12:01am and it fires fine on the correct day.
That should not be happening anymore. Are you using the latest version of my SmartApp?
That was my first thought so I checked and I believe I am. I have GitHub Integration on for this and this is what I have installed:
Yep, that’s current. Have you uninstalled and reinstalled the SmartApp?
No. I’ll give that a go tomorrow. For now I have changed the reset date to the 17th so it will reset tonight (watch, it’ll work as designed this time, lol).
I’ll report back.
I highly recommend uninstalling and reinstalling.
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