I used these as well but don’t find them as accurate as fibaro or aeotec sensors. Im still hunting for a decent outdoor light sensor after my aeotec broken but I am not paying £50
The trouble with the clamp meters is they’re not necessarily that accurate - they can be affected by all sorts of things and accuracy changes with consumption ( low currents are detected with far less accuracy. ) I have one on the main supply and one on my solar PV spur… with a bit of tweaking and a fudge factor I’ve managed to get the PV reading within around 3%, which is about as good as it gets, but the main supply is only within 10% or so. Plus of course, there’s no chance of measuring gas use this way ( though there are solutions which attempt to read the digits on the meters. )
Unfortunately, until the energy companies are forced to give us real time access to our data, it’s what we’re stuck with 
In theory, “the industry” is aware of the need and again, in theory, should allow you to buy your own CAD ( consumer access device ) which the energy company then facilitates you pairing to your HAN. These CADs then provide the data you need. See https://www.beama.org.uk/asset/EBA9BBB9-756E-48A0-B6C38EBFBC3EEEAB/ amongst other things.
I think everyone needs to lobby the energy companies to get this sorted.
Sadly I dont think this will ever happen.
Some energy providers may give access as a product feature, but in reality there are not enough people who want to own their consumption data (or perhaps who understand that their detail consumption data has value that they are not being compensated for).
If it ever happens there will probably be some kind of tradeoff - such as being charged a premium rate for charging EVs (to cover future shortfall from fuel duty)
Actually, I’ve just had a look around, and it seems there may have been some progress. See https://forum.ovoenergy.com/ihd-in-home-displays-64/is-ovo-now-accepting-connecting-cads-from-hildebrand-or-labrador-5470
I’ve emailed Hildebrand to confirm.
OVO fall into my definition of “Some energy providers may give access as a product feature”.
I think if they will give an API to get the data its great - kudos to them!
But I dont see it becoming widespread. IMO the ROI to build and support the API is dubious.
Maybe OVO can justify it with good marketing as a smart home/maker/hacker friendly provider, but I dont see many other providers following.
Actually, I’ve had a very interesting response from Hildebrand which seems to change everything! Here’s the reply:
The really good news is that now that the SMETS2 regime is in place, the suppliers are no longer a barrier because in addition to selling the IHD/CAD we are also a DCC Other User (a process which involved building our own connection to the DCC and passing extensive tests and audits) - this means that you can switch to whoever offers you the best deal and we can then sell you our SMETS2 IHD/CAD :
Display and CAD - Smart meters – Glow from Hildebrand
We also provide our customers with API access to their data.
Apparently there are a few suppliers who are still being rather slow about installing SMETS2 meters - so before making your final choice, we recommend that you double check.
The IHD/CAD they offer isn’t mega expensive ( 65 quid, not sure if that’s inc VAT ) so would seem to provide the perfect solution! They also do have a solution for SMETS1 apparently but I haven’t looked into that. They’ve also sent me the API details, and it’s pretty standard JSON stuff, though they can also publish via MQTT apparently. Electricity meter readings are updated every 10 seconds, and gas every 30 minutes ( dictated by how often the meters themselves send updates. )
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Can this hook up to other companies… I. E. Npower? Very interesting.
It’s not tied to the supplier ( one advantage of having a third party device rather than a supplier API. ) If you have a SMETS2 meter, Hildebrand handle the pairing via the DCC - at least that’s how I believe it works. You can then switch suppliers as you wish.
If you have SMETS1, I think that might be more tricky. There was talk about integrating SMETS1 meters with the later system but since I don’t have one I’ve not really bothered to find out.
Such a shame that the DCC solution was not designed by default from the ground up to allow the consumer to have access and ownership of their usage data Its great that Hildebrand is closing the gap.
The Hildebrand/Glow CAD simply accesses the PAN (Personal Area Network) created by the SMETS2 meters and the ‘Comms Hub’ part of the Smart Meter ecosystem in your property. It can access this PAN because it talks to the DCC to enable a secure connection. This CAD then uploads the meter data to its own servers (over Wi-Fi) and then allows you to access that data via an API.
I’m in the process of moving to Octopus to use the Agile tariff as, even though I have no PV etc, it is still going to be much cheaper. However, moving back to Octopus is turning into a farce.
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Ive recently received my glow hub and access to hildebrands secure MQTT feed. Im currently in the process of getting this data into HA via Node-red! 
Who provides this CAD? Was there anything fancy you had to do to get access to the MQTT on it? Sorry if these are silly questions but i haven’t heard of this or know any energy supplier giving access to the data.
This is what you need:
Have it fully working in HA now thanks to the help of sidepipe and the others on the glow forums.
Josh
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Can you please provide a link to the forum post? Sorry to be a pain!
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I just got a Conbee-II and have it setup with deConz and the deConz integration on HA. I have tried to pair my smart meter but have no way of doing this. I tried turning off and on the ihd device to see if this triggers something but no luck.
I have the one that OVO supplied which is the Aclara SGM1412-B. The meter does have the zigbee logo, but I’ve no idea how to pair it with my conbee stick.
Any help or success stories would be great! OVO doesn’t have a live API so this is probably my only option to get live usage as far as I know
I looked at this a while back and found this, so seems not:
### Security
Security has been considered very carefully for Smart Meters. The communications network is not part of the internet, it is a closed network only accessible to parties with the right security keys and physical connections. Additionally there is no central database containing customers’ information, the information is only stored on the Smart Meters and sent through DCC onto Suppliers and other parties who have a right to that data and where the customer has given them permission. The customer information inside messages is encrypted and only the receiving party can look at the data, the DCC cannot view the data. The parties receiving the data undergo a rigorous security assessment at the beginning and then have regular security audits.
Timmo this is what you need, its not dependent on supplier.
To confirm what Holdestmade said, you cannot and will not ever be able to connect to the Zigbee network (HAN) if tour smart meter. Firstly its its own Zigbee coordinator, you only have one coordinator in a zigbee network, this would be your conbee. Secondly, the Data and Communications Company (DCC) who manage and control access to the UK smart meter infrastructure only allow authorized 3rd parties access to the network, as you can imagine there is immense scope for all sorts of fuckery here!
Hildebrand, who make the Glow hub as per my link, are authorised to access the DCC network. When you buy the glow hub, you have to explicitly allow Hildebrand access to your meter and its data via a couple of mechanisms they will explain. Once they have access they can pull the data from your meter via the Glow Hub and pipe it back to you via REST API or direct MQTT feed (very cool).
Josh
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Ahh, cool.
Wish there was a way of hacking the IHD they provide by flashing a firmware or something so we can access this data. Apparently it sends mqtt data via WiFi but getting this data is probably impossible.
Be nice if OVO fixed their API to get live data instead of yesterday’s data which isn’t great but at least it’s something I guess
I beleive the delayed access to data is to do with the DCC and not the energy provider in this case, this is why the hildebrand system requires and onsite device, the Glow Hub. The hub is not directly accessible, it just grabs the immediate meter data and send it to Hildebrand who make it immediately available back to you. They also offer a comparable free service that works in the same way as OVA’s API with delayed access to your data, could be useful for those with other suppliers who dont provide this directly but dont want to spaff £60 quid on the hub?
One of the biggest questions is why do you want the data ?
The data from the Hildebrand unit by MQTT is as instantaneous as your internet connection allows, so probably ~200ms delayed at maximum.
If you need anything better than that then you’re best bet will be additional metering using something with MODBUS or a similar protocol.