Octopus Energy Saving Sessions

[Stranger Dings]

Does anyone know how the Octopus ”Power Hour” energy saving sessions are actually calculated?

I’ve taken part in all of them, but the results just seem totally random.

I’ve had sessions where we’ve switched off as much as we can and gone out, only to be told that we didn’t manage to save anything.

Some sessions, we’ve made very small savings, Including one where virtually everything was switched off and the whole family was in another country.

One session I forgot it was happening despite signing up, only to be told I’d managed to save 93% of my normal usage and be credited with over £16 off!

I’ll continue to sign up for them and don’t really do it expecting to save much as we are already quite energy efficient. It all just seems so random.

 

[ACarneiro]

You might get away with walking around Shrewsbury with a badge that says "I am in the Top 1%" but I don't recommend you wear it in Telford!

Why would I go to Telford?

 

[yessuz]

AWWWWW. I love this dick measurement contest

 

[PITA]

Why would I go to Telford?

To feel like a 99%'er

 

[PITA]

AWWWWW. I love this dick measurement contest

Is she measuring her dick, or his?

I get so confused nowadays...

 

[Jason71]

To feel like a 99%'er

You are in the West Midlands. Shouldn't be too hard to find yourself one.
Drop the drawbridge for a couple of hours and some will probably find their way to you.

 

[Jason71]

Why would I go to Telford?

To use our superchargers.

 

[ACarneiro]

To use our superchargers.

Touché

 

[Pink Duck]

Another 1%er - plus I even got the last The 1% Club one percent question after a few seconds while tipsy having finishing a bottle of Pinot Grigio…

https://twitter.com/x/status/1793194975405957546

 

[Whyone]

....

Not sure if I'm going to install a 3rd Powerwall yet... but it could get interesting

You say 'interesting'?!?!?!?

 

[yessuz]

Is she measuring her dick, or his?

I get so confused nowadays...

They / Theirs I think

 

[The_Kilt]

That’s some serious saving a lot of you 1%ers made. How did you manage that though? I presume its all based on your previous usage? during the saving sessions we used a lot less as we used the battery and also exported at the same time but when compared with what we normally use at the same time, it was negligible as we are normally running off the battery anyway.

 

[yessuz]

That’s some serious saving a lot of you 1%ers made. How did you manage that though? I presume its all based on your previous usage? during the saving sessions we used a lot less as we used the battery and also exported at the same time but when compared with what we normally use at the same time, it was negligible as we are normally running off the battery anyway.

This achieved by setting Solar batteries to force export to grid... ;D

 

[The_Kilt]

This achieved by setting Solar batteries to force export to grid... ;D

I did that a few times but never showed any "negative" supply just showed the delta between what we used to use the night before (say 1kwh) and 0kwh after the saving session. i know it exported as i get paid on a monthly basis and track it through my inverter app and Octopus app.

Maybe i need to be more ruthless with it next time!

 

[yessuz]

I did that a few times but never showed any "negative" supply just showed the delta between what we used to use the night before (say 1kwh) and 0kwh after the saving session. i know it exported as i get paid on a monthly basis and track it through my inverter app and Octopus app.

Maybe i need to be more ruthless with it next time!

it was forced export.

For example: if previously consumption was ~0 kwh (in my case, as living off the batteries when sun is not shining) and during the specific session I would force export, meaning that at that time I would be dumping power from batteries at 3 kw, then for 1 hr it would how usage of -3 kwh

 

[Redbaron73]

This achieved by setting Solar batteries to force export to grid... ;D

This only works if you have an export tariff. I dont so i dont bother forcing export. This means i measure very small.
Oh well.

 

[The_Kilt]

it was forced export.

For example: if previously consumption was ~0 kwh (in my case, as living off the batteries when sun is not shining) and during the specific session I would force export, meaning that at that time I would be dumping power from batteries at 3 kw, then for 1 hr it would how usage of -3 kwh

Yup this is same as what i do towards the end of every day when we have excess power in the batteries, i dump it back into the grid before the 1130 cheaper rate. I did the same during the saving sessions. However we have a max export of 2.5kw so over a 30 mins saving session it wouldnt be a massive amount, but still better than nothing. I will dig deeper into it and maybe raise with octopus as i should have seen a negative.

 

[phil4]

1% here too.

Basically run normally off batteries, so 0kWh baseline use, then force export during the savings session. Saved 117.91kWh apparently.

 

[thewishy]

That’s some serious saving a lot of you 1%ers made. How did you manage that though? I presume its all based on your previous usage?

I have Solar and Battery which is setup for export. For an assumed 1hr session, My "normal" over 10 days was probably 1kwh as the battery frequently runs out by that point and we cook. I charge overnight at 7.5p on intelligent Octopus.

When the DFS notification comes out, home assistant holds the battery at a level which gives me enough to discharge throughout the savings session. That means I use grid power during the day and then home assistant automates dumping the battery for me during the window. So we're looking at a 1kWh baseline vs 3kWh export. Get paid on 4kWh

There are other actions home assistant takes to reduce usage, such as powering down the boiling water tap for a bit (4l tank of boiling water will keep me in tea for an hour), ramping up then shutting down the heating (ASPH/AC Unit for some rooms, the rest on a gas boiler which still uses 200w). Generally we tried to avoid cooking during the session, but it wasn't a strict rule.

So, largely automated, good way of bringing forward the payback on the system. I'll do a little more like power down servers if it's a live event and £4/kWh

 

[yessuz]

This only works if you have an export tariff. I dont so i dont bother forcing export. This means i measure very small.
Oh well.

umm.. why you don't have export tariff? do you have solar system?

 

[yessuz]

Yup this is same as what i do towards the end of every day when we have excess power in the batteries, i dump it back into the grid before the 1130 cheaper rate. I did the same during the saving sessions. However we have a max export of 2.5kw so over a 30 mins saving session it wouldnt be a massive amount, but still better than nothing. I will dig deeper into it and maybe raise with octopus as i should have seen a negative.

well, have in mind that during saving session, every kwh is paid like 1.25 or some times 3 gbp.

so if you had like 2 kwh exported and saving session rate is 3 gbp, this would result in 3 gbp of credit. In same way, you would have to export 20 kwh at 15p to get same result...