Octopus Home Mini

BeerSavesMoney

The Home Mini is a device capable of providing super granular dataof your electricity usage.

Smart meters log a reading every 30 minutes, but the Home Mini provides a reading roughly every 10 seconds and can also show real-time energy consumption in your home.

It should be a big upgrade from the clunky In-Home Displays that usually go hand-in-hand with smart-meters, and your help and feedback in testing this device will help make it truly great.

https://octopus.energy/octopus-home-mini-faq/

Has anyone got one of these yet?

I noticed the home mini being discussed on Twitter and managed to get signed up to the trial. I’ve been informed today that one is on its way to me, it’ll be interesting to see more up to date usage data!

Im still uncertain if it’ll work for me as I live in a flat and the smart meter is in a locked cupboard, luckily only a few meters away from my door so hopefully it can connect.

Certainly an interesting concept!

[Deleted User]

So it's a smart meter in-home display but without a screen and with a different name.

What are they claiming that makes it any better than the tens of other devices that do the same job?  Because it can display on your phone?

BeerSavesMoney

@[Deleted User] I guess it also provides them and the user with more data in real time. I’m always up for trying new things so I’ll see how it goes!

[Deleted User]

BeerSavesMoney said:

@[Deleted User] I guess it also provides them and the user with more data in real time. I’m always up for trying new things so I’ll see how it goes!

But the IHD is real time, as are alternatives such as the OWL that I was using in about 2007.  I guess having access to the recorded data will be nice, rather than using smart plugs, but then you lose the control function that the plugs can offer.

It will be interesting to see what it actually does - at this point it looks more gimmick and less gadget to me.

DingerUK

I had one of these arrive recently. Anyone else using one?

Swipe

DingerUK said:

I had one of these arrive recently. Anyone else using one?

Any good?

marlot

I have one.  It's interesting.  Shows electricity usage but not gas.  Updates every 10 seconds or so.

Quite useful during a saving session as I go around the house turning things off.

I doubt it'll get much use though - the IHD is much more convenient.

focusonskill

Also got one recently.
The most useful thing about it is the ability to see the usage data on the same day instead of having to wait until the next day for data to show up.

Petriix

Surely the biggest benefit is that you can see live usage on the app? You can see what's happening from anywhere and respond to any issues. The IHD is fine if you happen to be standing next to it, otherwise it's useless. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Petriix said:

Surely the biggest benefit is that you can see live usage on the app? You can see what's happening from anywhere and respond to any issues. The IHD is fine if you happen to be standing next to it, otherwise it's useless. 

Is it live as in real-time, or slightly delayed?  Does it gives any benefit over existing apps like Bright?  (Genuine questions, we don't have a smart meter yet so I really have no idea.  The Home mini is the sort of thing I'd be interested in if it's available whenever we do get a smart meter.)

BeerSavesMoney

@Spoonie_Turtle - I notice around a 10-20 second delay between turning on a a kettle for example and this being reflected on the app. 

You can view data in the last 5 minutes at 10 second intervals or 30 minutes at 1 minute intervals, there’s also live usage shown which updates every 10 seconds or so. 

Actually helpful for me as I’m renting an apartment at the moment. I don’t have an IHD and the electric meter is in a communal cupboard, luckily I’m close to this cupboard and the Octopus Home Mini was able to be setup and connect to the meter without needing to gain access to the meter.