Intelligent Octopus

[TooLateForAName]

How are people setting up to run the rest of the house stuff when the cheap rate is active?
looking to get a battery system and have it charge at the cheap rate.

Is there an api? Or use a ct on the charger cables?

[Road2Ruin]

TooLateForAName said:

How are people setting up to run the rest of the house stuff when the cheap rate is active?
looking to get a battery system and have it charge at the cheap rate.

Is there an api? Or use a ct on the charger cables?

My battery had an app and I schedule it to charge on the app during cheap hours. Everything else, washing machine TD, dishwasher, etc, I just put on a delayed start on the machine itself. My last bill was an average of 7.91p pkwh.

[Dave Hedgehog]

TooLateForAName said:

How are people setting up to run the rest of the house stuff when the cheap rate is active?
looking to get a battery system and have it charge at the cheap rate.

Is there an api? Or use a ct on the charger cables?

any half decent battery system will have a timer function

dishwasher, washing machine, dryer all have timer programs built in.

I installed a 7 day timer to run the Immersion heater, it just replaces the manual on/off switch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Timeguard-FST24-Timeswitc...

60% of our elect bill is in cheap rate now

[TooLateForAName]

Dave Hedgehog said:

any half decent battery system will have a timer function

dishwasher, washing machine, dryer all have timer programs built in.

I installed a 7 day timer to run the Immersion heater, it just replaces the manual on/off switch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Timeguard-FST24-Timeswitc...

60% of our elect bill is in cheap rate now

Sorry, I wasn't clear. If on intelligent, then the cheap rate isn't just the fixed time. I'd like to take advantage of all the cheap rate.

Just starting to look at this properly. Smart meter installed at the start of the year but never worked. finally got around to making up a couple of dipole antenna and now I have a working smart meter I'm starting to look at battery stuff and whatever else I can optimise

[TheDeuce]

TooLateForAName said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

any half decent battery system will have a timer function

dishwasher, washing machine, dryer all have timer programs built in.

I installed a 7 day timer to run the Immersion heater, it just replaces the manual on/off switch

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Timeguard-FST24-Timeswitc...

60% of our elect bill is in cheap rate now

Sorry, I wasn't clear. If on intelligent, then the cheap rate isn't just the fixed time. I'd like to take advantage of all the cheap rate.

Just starting to look at this properly. Smart meter installed at the start of the year but never worked. finally got around to making up a couple of dipole antenna and now I have a working smart meter I'm starting to look at battery stuff and whatever else I can optimise

A current monitoring relay ahead of the power supply to the charger could be used to complete a circuit to a smart switch and via google/alexa you then switch another relay on the battery circuit to begin charging - unless the home battery app can itself take a cue from google/alexa?

This isn't complicated stuff, or expensive - but the exact solution would depend on the hardware, how the battery can be triggered to charge manually, what home automation platform (if any) you already use etc.

But once you have the current monitoring relay feeding into a home automation platform, that very useful trigger could be used to stop/start just about anything.

[phil4]

When you plug in in the evening, IOG will give you it's planned slots.
If they're outside the normal 23:30 - 05:30, then use the app to change your batteries charge slots. Takes couple of minutes if that.

If you really want to automate it, then Home Assistant is your best bet. Assuming you bought the right battery system, you should be able to spot and charge in any extra slots. Octopus's API will tell it when the charge slots are, you just need to get battery API in and sorted.

[MrTrilby]

TooLateForAName said:

Sorry, I wasn't clear. If on intelligent, then the cheap rate isn't just the fixed time. I'd like to take advantage of all the cheap rate.

Just starting to look at this properly. Smart meter installed at the start of the year but never worked. finally got around to making up a couple of dipole antenna and now I have a working smart meter I'm starting to look at battery stuff and whatever else I can optimise

If you’re techie enough to install HomeAssistant, there is an Octopus plug in for that to identify what the current rate you’re paying, and when you have the cheap charging periods. Dead easy then to set up an automation to switch other stuff on (like an immersion heater / underfloor heating)

Octopus do have an API so you might also be able to use stuff like IFTTT instead.

[ucb]

Does anyone have experience of IO with a ProjectEV Apex charger?
It's not listed on the Octopus website and all the ProjectEV chargers are listed as incompatible

I'm getting an EV this week, and had a quote for an electrician install of a charger(as it's a workplace grant)and he's quoted for the ProjectEV as their usual model and a Zappi.
I've said that I would be thinking about a solar and battery install at some point in the future so some degree of compatibility would be useful.

Does the type of charger matter that much? Is it mainly a question of how IO can automate charging through a compatible unit to make it easier to charge at cheaper rates?

[SpidersWeb]

ucb said:

Does the type of charger matter that much?

IO is either automated through the car or the charger. If neither the car nor the charger is capable of being automated then you can't have IO.

Some cars have been compatible with IO and then the manufacturer has changed things so they are no longer compatible, or other cars such as Kia / Hyundai that are theoretically compatible are notoriously unreliable.

So if you have a car that is compatible and (crystal ball) will remain compatible, then for IO, the type of charger makes no difference. However if you want to be certain of future compatibility (car stopping being compatible or changing for a new car) then the charger does make a difference.

ucb said:

I would be thinking about a solar and battery install at some point in the future

And that throws in a whole new set of complexities.

[dmsims]

Zappi

ucb said:

Does anyone have experience of IO with a ProjectEV Apex charger?
It's not listed on the Octopus website and all the ProjectEV chargers are listed as incompatible

I'm getting an EV this week, and had a quote for an electrician install of a charger(as it's a workplace grant)and he's quoted for the ProjectEV as their usual model and a Zappi.
I've said that I would be thinking about a solar and battery install at some point in the future so some degree of compatibility would be useful.

Does the type of charger matter that much? Is it mainly a question of how IO can automate charging through a compatible unit to make it easier to charge at cheaper rates?

[ucb]

Thanks for the replies.
The Zappi does seem a more robust solution
I've contacted Octopus for advice too but I don't expect them to state anything about the Apex.

Edited by ucb on Tuesday 9th April 13:34

[wassap]

A quick question about charging a second EV on octopus if i may.

Ive currently got a bmw 330e PHEV setup on IO. This is normally charged from a podpoint solo 7kw it all plays nice! Ive got a Enyaq EV coming to test for 4/5 days, which i will need to charge up.

Question is, can I just plug it in to the pod point and set a charging timer in the car to the 11.30 to 5.30 window? or does the 330e need to plugged in for me to get the cheap rate charging?

[ucb]

https://octopus.energy/smart/intelligent-octopus-g...

Just put the car and.charger into the compatibility search.
Seems a positive result
I thought the point was that IO controls the charging provided the car is plugged in

[wassap]

Thing is, im only having the car for a few days, i wont be having any sort of account on the car (its a demonstrator). As far as i know, you cant put 2 cars on IO? im loathed to remove the 330e from the account 'cos it just works when i plug it in everyday!

[Road2Ruin]

wassap said:

A quick question about charging a second EV on octopus if i may.

Ive currently got a bmw 330e PHEV setup on IO. This is normally charged from a podpoint solo 7kw it all plays nice! Ive got a Enyaq EV coming to test for 4/5 days, which i will need to charge up.

Question is, can I just plug it in to the pod point and set a charging timer in the car to the 11.30 to 5.30 window? or does the 330e need to plugged in for me to get the cheap rate charging?

Yes.

[newlad]

Intelligent Octopus Go is still evading me.

The car/charger have been accepted and I've been moved to Octopus Flux Export/Import and Flexible Octopus for gas. The former will set the charging times but it's 14.8p between 2 - 5am and 24.7p between 5.00 - 1600. When I click on the link to get IOG, I either get the propeller twirling forever or the failed to load link message. The so called help by email is taking 3-4 days to respond and nothing they have suggested has worked.

I've tried installing the Octopus app on a different device, gone through the whole procedure but to no avail.

Any ideas gratefully received.

[karma mechanic]

newlad said:

Intelligent Octopus Go is still evading me.

The car/charger have been accepted and I've been moved to Octopus Flux Export/Import and Flexible Octopus for gas. The former will set the charging times but it's 14.8p between 2 - 5am and 24.7p between 5.00 - 1600. When I click on the link to get IOG, I either get the propeller twirling forever or the failed to load link message. The so called help by email is taking 3-4 days to respond and nothing they have suggested has worked.

I've tried installing the Octopus app on a different device, gone through the whole procedure but to no avail.

Any ideas gratefully received.

I've used Twitter direct messages in the past to contact them, usually a prompt response. 'Octopus Energy' on there.

[Dashnine]

newlad said:

Intelligent Octopus Go is still evading me.

The car/charger have been accepted and I've been moved to Octopus Flux Export/Import and Flexible Octopus for gas. The former will set the charging times but it's 14.8p between 2 - 5am and 24.7p between 5.00 - 1600. When I click on the link to get IOG, I either get the propeller twirling forever or the failed to load link message. The so called help by email is taking 3-4 days to respond and nothing they have suggested has worked.

I've tried installing the Octopus app on a different device, gone through the whole procedure but to no avail.

Any ideas gratefully received.

Surely if you’ve moved off Intelligent, you won’t get the benefit of it? Intelligent for cheap rate charging or Flux for Import / Export, you can’t have both?

[Road2Ruin]

I had to call them. The cancelled the original 'stalled' sign up and then I did it again. It worked second time.

[2fast748]

I'm sick of trying to sign up to Intelligent Go. I've mssaged them and got zero useful info from them. The last advice was sign up via the website - it just gives you a QR code to download the app.

Has anybody got anywhere signing up with the Volkswagen app & podpoint charger?