Octopus Tracker

Telegraph_Sam

There must be parallels to Savings Sessions showing that the more complicated the mechanics, the more likely they are to fail - as far as non-MSE-experts are concerned - in their objective. I've got just a notion that when gut feel tells me that a SS is about due, maximize my consumption generally to create a favourable base line for calculating subsequent savings. This could be a case of unintended consequences for overall consumption purposes. I suspect that  there are very few in the general Octopus community that could or might want to approach the exercise with the same dedication and expertise as demonstrated by Masonic & friends

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

There must be parallels to Savings Sessions showing that the more complicated the mechanics, the more likely they are to fail - as far as non-MSE-experts are concerned - in their objective. I've got just a notion that when gut feel tells me that a SS is about due, maximize my consumption generally to create a favourable base line for calculating subsequent savings. This could be a case of unintended consequences for overall consumption purposes. I suspect that  there are very few in the general Octopus community that could or might want to approach the exercise with the same dedication and expertise as demonstrated by Masonic & friends

I've not taken any action at all on non-Saving Session days, but here is a chart of my half-hourly consumption for yesterday, typical of my weekday consumption in winter. It illustrates very well why I have been able to benefit more than you from the sessions so far.

It is only by virtue of the fact I am on the Tracker tariff that I am using energy in this way. The big peak in the morning is when I take an electric shower, then put the dehumidifier on for a couple of hours on a timer while I head off to work. The second peak is when I get home and heat up my living room to my favoured minimum temperature of 14C, cook my evening meal etc. There is no expertise in any of this. It is a normal routine. It is quite refreshing to be able to do this as opposed to load shifting away from the 4-7pm period when I was previously on Agile, or running 6 kW worth of electric heating for an hour or two up to 6:30am to benefit from the cheap rate of Go Faster (and before that E7). Most days I don't even think about the timing of my usage.

If I wanted to do so, I could probably compress more of that usage in the evening into the 5:30-6:30pm slot most likely to impact a Saving Session, but I would probably end up using more and heating the house to a higher temperature. During November I was able to reduce my overall consumption by 30% compared to the previous year. I am aiming to do the same for the rest of the winter months as even on Tracker I am paying more than double the average unit price compared to last year. Hence the purchase of warmer indoor clothes and drop in temperature from 18C to 14C.

So while I am happy to confess to understanding the mechanics of the sessions to sufficient detail to be able to extract every last penny possible from them, I have not applied this knowledge in my own case. I have turned over a new leaf since last year

masonic

Wow, looks like electricity will be a little under 17p tomorrow in my region. Cheapest day in over a month.

SJMALBA

masonic said:

Wow, looks like electricity will be a little under 17p tomorrow in my region. Cheapest day in over a month.

16.78p/kWh for me - presumably, some will be under 16p?

masonic

SJMALBA said:

masonic said:

Wow, looks like electricity will be a little under 17p tomorrow in my region. Cheapest day in over a month.

16.78p/kWh for me - presumably, some will be under 16p?

A couple of regions will be 15.6p (Yorkshire and London)

Slinky

16.023 in East

Telegraph_Sam

masonic said:

I've not taken any action at all on non-Saving Session days, but here is a chart of my half-hourly consumption for yesterday, typical of my weekday consumption in winter. It illustrates very well why I have been able to benefit more than you from the sessions so far.

It is only by virtue of the fact I am on the Tracker tariff that I am using energy in this way. The big peak in the morning is when I take an electric shower, then put the dehumidifier on for a couple of hours on a timer while I head off to work. The second peak is when I get home and heat up my living room to my favoured minimum temperature of 14C, cook my evening meal etc. There is no expertise in any of this. It is a normal routine. It is quite refreshing to be able to do this as opposed to load shifting away from the 4-7pm period when I was previously on Agile, or running 6 kW worth of electric heating for an hour or two up to 6:30am to benefit from the cheap rate of Go Faster (and before that E7). Most days I don't even think about the timing of my usage.

If I wanted to do so, I could probably compress more of that usage in the evening into the 5:30-6:30pm slot most likely to impact a Saving Session, but I would probably end up using more and heating the house to a higher temperature. During November I was able to reduce my overall consumption by 30% compared to the previous year. I am aiming to do the same for the rest of the winter months as even on Tracker I am paying more than double the average unit price compared to last year. Hence the purchase of warmer indoor clothes and drop in temperature from 18C to 14C.

So while I am happy to confess to understanding the mechanics of the sessions to sufficient detail to be able to extract every last penny possible from them, I have not applied this knowledge in my own case. I have turned over a new leaf since last year

That seems to be the conclusion for many of us on Tracker: There are limited - if any - rewards for varying one's consumption pattern from normal within the course of a particular day (as opposed to from one day to another). There is however a gamble in trying to outguess the Savings Sessions system and rig one's consumption pattern 10 (?) days in advance. But in my case I think that the modest rewards from SS don't compensate for the mental acrobatics that are required to improve my chances.

Griffindog

Telegraph_Sam said:

masonic said:

I've not taken any action at all on non-Saving Session days, but here is a chart of my half-hourly consumption for yesterday, typical of my weekday consumption in winter. It illustrates very well why I have been able to benefit more than you from the sessions so far.

It is only by virtue of the fact I am on the Tracker tariff that I am using energy in this way. The big peak in the morning is when I take an electric shower, then put the dehumidifier on for a couple of hours on a timer while I head off to work. The second peak is when I get home and heat up my living room to my favoured minimum temperature of 14C, cook my evening meal etc. There is no expertise in any of this. It is a normal routine. It is quite refreshing to be able to do this as opposed to load shifting away from the 4-7pm period when I was previously on Agile, or running 6 kW worth of electric heating for an hour or two up to 6:30am to benefit from the cheap rate of Go Faster (and before that E7). Most days I don't even think about the timing of my usage.

If I wanted to do so, I could probably compress more of that usage in the evening into the 5:30-6:30pm slot most likely to impact a Saving Session, but I would probably end up using more and heating the house to a higher temperature. During November I was able to reduce my overall consumption by 30% compared to the previous year. I am aiming to do the same for the rest of the winter months as even on Tracker I am paying more than double the average unit price compared to last year. Hence the purchase of warmer indoor clothes and drop in temperature from 18C to 14C.

So while I am happy to confess to understanding the mechanics of the sessions to sufficient detail to be able to extract every last penny possible from them, I have not applied this knowledge in my own case. I have turned over a new leaf since last year

That seems to be the conclusion for many of us on Tracker: There are limited - if any - rewards for varying one's consumption pattern from normal within the course of a particular day (as opposed to from one day to another). There is however a gamble in trying to outguess the Savings Sessions system and rig one's consumption pattern 10 (?) days in advance. But in my case I think that the modest rewards from SS don't compensate for the mental acrobatics that are required to improve my chances.

If you can cook tea and put the washing machine and dishwasher on between 5 and 6 most days it should boost your average so that you can do those things at other times when there’s a saver session. I’ve made £10 so far by making tea a bit later. It’s no hardship.

However, on a plus note, electricity in Yorkshire will be 15.62p tomorrow. I must get the Christmas cakes done (a bit late but we’ve been busy).

northernstar007

thats what im starting to do, washing machine tomorrow at 4.30pm to increase my usage at the peak time, but its a bit noisy and the spurs v newcastle match is on at the sametime
being a toon fan it might be a good thing atm

masonic

northernstar007 said:

thats what im starting to do, washing machine tomorrow at 4.30pm to increase my usage at the peak time, but its a bit noisy and the spurs v newcastle match is on at the sametime
being a toon fan it might be a good thing atm

This won't have any impact on Saving Sessions that fall on a weekday. I think the chances of a weekend event are quite slim.