Robster59
Tour Rookie
Pretty much. You can choose how frequently you send the information over to the supplier and it can be used to monitor consumption for the deals above. But I'm not aware of anything else.
Smart Meter
- Thread starter Robster59
- Start date
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
The last bit is important to me.
The electricity meter sends readings to OVO every half and hour and they can monitor my times of usage.
I drive an electric car and if I charge at the times they say I can they charge less than 10p per kw for the usage in that time. I also get a rebate on my bill for reducing my usage between 4 and 7pm.
ColchesterFC
Journeyman Pro
Just received an email with free electricity between 11am and 2pm tomorrow. Very handy as we've been away for the week so will have a load of washing to do when we get home tomorrow. That'll be the washing machine and tumble dryer on for three hours.
williamalex1
Money List Winner
We're with Octopus on a fixed tariff and don't get any free offers, should we change to a variable/tracker?
ATM we're being careful and only using about £5 a day in total for both gas and electricity.
The good news is we just received our yearly heating allowance of £250 each yippee.
ATM we're being careful and only using about £5 a day in total for both gas and electricity.
The good news is we just received our yearly heating allowance of £250 each yippee.
Last edited:
D
Deleted member 21784
Guest
We're with Octopus on a fixed tariff and don't get any free offers, should we change to a variable/tracker?
ATM we're being careful and only using about £5 a day in total for both gas and electricity.
The good news is we just received our yearly heating allowance of £250 each yippee.
Few questions
1 do you have a smart meter
2 what's your fixed rates
3 have you opted in for their savings
rulefan
Tour Winner
Flexible Octopus
Unit rates
Electricity: 26.52p per kWhGas: 6.82p per kWh
Standing charges
Electricity: 53.96p per dayGas: 27.47p per day
Loyal Octopus 12M Fixed
Tariff cost breakdown
Electricity| Daily standing charge | 53.96p /day | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit rate | 29.81p /kWh | |
| Early exit fee (For changing tariff or supplier) |
|
Gas| Early exit fee (For changing tariff or supplier) | |
|---|---|
| Daily standing charge | 27.47p /day |
| Unit rate | 7.43p /kWh |
RichA
Well-known member
I'm not a tin hat type person and don't believe there is a conspiracy, however...
Who is benefiting overall from the multi-billion pound rollout of "free" smart meters for all? Surely a large dip sample would provide the data that electricity generators need to know what the demands are, rather than needing to know everyone's exact usage. There are other parts of our national infrastructure in greater need of that investment.
I don't have a smart meter and don't feel the need. I know how much energy I use in a year and don't need to know my usage at any given split second.
Who is benefiting overall from the multi-billion pound rollout of "free" smart meters for all? Surely a large dip sample would provide the data that electricity generators need to know what the demands are, rather than needing to know everyone's exact usage. There are other parts of our national infrastructure in greater need of that investment.
I don't have a smart meter and don't feel the need. I know how much energy I use in a year and don't need to know my usage at any given split second.
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
Have you actually received it or was it just a letter telling you how much you will get?The good news is we just received our yearly heating allowance of £250 each yippee.
I got my letter last week but do not expect to get the payment until December.
rulefan
Tour Winner
I had a free meter installed by First Utility. I couldn't be bothered with their persistence. Only took an hour or so. Only advantage(?) was I didn't have to go into the garage to read the meters. Then they went bust and I was switched to Octopus but the smart meter couldn't talk to them. New meter fitted but it stopped talking after a month. All sorted pretty quickly. All sorts of stats on the standalone display but nothing particularly interesting or useful. Again only real benefit is not having to take readings. But I did get some free or low cost times of day.
However, rather oddly, if I submit a gas reading I can theoretically win prizes
No doubt at sometime they will start introducing differential pricing (ie putting prices up at certain times of the day)
Neilds
Assistant Pro
To the people who have smart meters, how many of you keep looking at the display and adjust your habits accordingly? Or is the display in the sideboard/drawer/etc and you just use the smart meter to send the readings?
Not got one so interested to see how they are used
Not got one so interested to see how they are used
rulefan
Tour Winner
Just used it for a few days out of curiosity. Not looked at it for months.
D-S
Well-known member
Never looked at the display but the upside is that I never have to submit readings. They (formerly Bulb now Octopus) supply a lot of information and graphs but it is easy to tell whether your own lights are on and if the radiators are on. For me it’s been worth it to avoid the faff of submitting readings with no downside.
williamalex1
Money List Winner
1 Yes
2 elect 47.91, gas 11.96.
3 can't see that option.
Elect standing charge 57.17p
Gas standing charge 26.16
D
Deleted member 21784
Guest
The point is grid balancing , managing surplus and encouraging load shifting
Simple example. Octopus agile tracks the wholesale rate. Pay a lot for energy in the peaks (5-7 pm sort of time) and cheaper other times
When they have lots of excess energy IE wind farms rather than shut them off because our poor grid is so badly maintained it can't cope with the excess they encourage people to use the excess by plunge pricing. Free, or in some cases pay you to use
Some home batteries can be programmed to track the wholesale and charge when cheap and discharge when it's worth more
Smart meters are a vital part of getting the grid as green as possible
D
Deleted member 21784
Guest
Tbh that fix prices are terrible you could actually get a better fix price now than that, is their an early exit charge?
It's on the app
williamalex1
Money List Winner
Just a letter saying it should be in my account by November or December .
williamalex1
Money List Winner
I'll pass that on to the wife, she's the administrator. There's no early exit charge.Tbh that fix prices are terrible you could actually get a better fix price now than that, is their an early exit charge?
It's on the app
View attachment 50174
larmen
Head Pro
It takes up a precious kitchen socket, and sometimes I notice it is orange instead of green but I don’t do anything about it.
Saying that, we are defrosting the freezer this weekend because we both noticed it being on more often in recent weeks.
I do check the usage on the octopus app quite regularly.
I would check for the first few weeks and yes, we did adjust some behaviour. You learn what the big offenders are, kettle, iron, drier, and manage them better. For example, previously I'd put more water in the kettle than necessary, boil it early so it reduced my wait for when i actually needed it 10 minutes later. Now I put in the amount of water I actually need and only switch it on when I actually need it. Little things but in the world of electricity, big improvements.
Once you understand the big users, you adjust. Now, I don't look at it at all, in fact it is turned away from view as it catches your eye too often and it becomes annoying. So, it helped in the beginning certainly.
D
Deleted member 21784
Guest
I don't have an IHD, however my Tesla app for the powerwall gives live usage
So right now 41% battery left. (13.5kw battery) that most likely will see us through until 0030 when the electric becomes 9p a unit again ..
Few days we don't make it but mostly we do.. put as much on as we can (dishwasher, heat pump tumble, second load of wash on eco setting) in those hours plus the actual Charging or the powerwall. If I need the car charged it goes there aswell
Good solar days cover the rest, some better than others and the rubbish days just pay the 31p per unit for the difference
