Octopus Saving Session

razord

Here's my full calculation if helps people understand:

Session: 01/12/2022 17:00:00 - 18:00:00

[1] Session Period Averages for Qualifying Periods <- This is the average over the preceding 10 working days (excluding days which previously had a saving session) for each of the two 30m periods in the saving session.

17:00: 224.7Wh
17:30: 116.8Wh

[2] In Day Adjustment (Unadjusted Baseline) for Qualifying Periods <- This is the average over the preceding 10 working days (excluding days which previously had a saving session) for each of the 6 periods between E-4 and E-1 hours before the saving session.

13:00: 162.8Wh
13:30: 93.3Wh
14:00: 100.9Wh
14:30: 107.9Wh
15:00: 131Wh
15:30: 128.3Wh

[3] In Day Adjustment (Metered) for Session IDA Periods <- This is my actual usage during the 30m periods on the saving session day at E-4 to E-1 hours before the saving session.

13:00: 798Wh
13:30: 1547Wh
14:00: 573Wh
14:30: 1008Wh
15:00: 936Wh
15:30: 1410Wh

[4] IDA for Session IDA Periods <- This is my actual usage [3], minus the average from non-saving session days [2]

13:00: 635.2Wh
13:30: 1453.7Wh
14:00: 472.1Wh
14:30: 900.1Wh
15:00: 805Wh
15:30: 1281.7Wh

[5] In Day Adjustment on Baseline <- This is an average of the 6 saving session day periods at E-4 to E-1 before the event (Average of [4])

924.633333333Wh

[6] Complete Saving Session Calculation for Periods <- This is the numbers from [1], with the In Day Adjustment [5] added.

17:00: 1149.33333333Wh
17:30: 1041.43333333Wh

Savings, assuming 0w usage for Saving Session <- This is the monetary value for the saving session based on £2.25 per kWh saved.

17:00: £2.59p
17:30: £2.34p
Total: £4.93p (3943 octopoints)

[Deleted User]

Spies said:

Surely the formula will be adjusted as this kind of goes against the aim of the scheme? 

The aim of the scheme is to shift load away from peak times on the day in question.  This does that.  An expensive way of doing it - but cheaper than paying for extra power stations to turn on.

Alnat1

@Spies There probably aren't enough "playing the system" for the formula to get changed.

We've shifted use where we can, cooked at lunch time, used washer/dryer/dishwasher and filled up the 4.8kw battery during the 3 hours but not gone OTT, running the oven with the door open etc.

So far at £20.11 after 4 sessions.

Spies

I ran the dishwasher, washer and dryer before the last session because it needed doing and I came out with the highest 'saving' yet. 

Alnat1

That's what I did on the 1st session (plus filled the battery to 50%) and I got a decent amount.

I realised I had accidently found a way to earn more points and now I squeeze whatever needs doing into those 3 hours but I don't really abuse it. I did wash the washer (90C cleaning cycle) on the 2nd session though 

ChaunceyGardiner

Spies said:

I ran the dishwasher, washer and dryer before the last session because it needed doing and I came out with the highest 'saving' yet. 

I did the same, except I don't have a drier. It seems I should have run my electric shower, portable air conditioner and steam  iron for the full 3 hours.

tripled

On all four sessions we used fairly minimal electricity during the savings period, no oven. We normally do washing etc overnight to take advantage of Octopus Go, so are relatively low users anyway and weren't seeing much of a saving. Before one session we charged the EV and ran the tumble drier... see if you can guess which one! Thanks for the advice on this forum!

Petriix

[Deleted User] said:

Spies said:

Surely the formula will be adjusted as this kind of goes against the aim of the scheme? 

The aim of the scheme is to shift load away from peak times on the day in question.  This does that.  An expensive way of doing it - but cheaper than paying for extra power stations to turn on.

It doesn't though. What it's doing is shifting my usage away from my current off-peak window (starting at 9:30pm on Go Faster) back to the 3 hours ending 1 hour before the session. If anything it's doing the opposite of what was intended. 

The marginal saving from actually reducing my regular usage in the session itself is irrelevant. I used about 20kWh in those 3 hours. While my regular usage averages about 500Wh for the session, I've been credited with reducing my usage by over 6kWh. I could have quadrupled my typical usage in the session and still 'saved' 4kWh.

The formula is obviously flawed. A simple cap on the in day adjustment would fix it, or comparing the whole 24 hours rather than just 3 would greatly reduce the incentive to game it. 

70sbudgie

I believe the trails are at least as much about testing domestic consumer willing to timeshift. It has also shown that the current algorithm encourages gaming of the system. At the end of the trials, there will be plenty of data about how much that gaming cost and the net benefit. If I were designing the trial, I think I would also include longer savings sessions and different timeshift windows.

Personally, until I read this discussion, we timeshifted our usage to after the saving session. Only on the 4th session did I manage to timeshift our usage to earlier. As per the discussion above, the 4th session resulted in much higher savings (75%) than the first (51%).

t0rt0ise

Petriix said:

[Deleted User] said:

Spies said:

Surely the formula will be adjusted as this kind of goes against the aim of the scheme? 

The aim of the scheme is to shift load away from peak times on the day in question.  This does that.  An expensive way of doing it - but cheaper than paying for extra power stations to turn on.

It doesn't though. What it's doing is shifting my usage away from my current off-peak window (starting at 9:30pm on Go Faster) back to the 3 hours ending 1 hour before the session. If anything it's doing the opposite of what was intended. 

The marginal saving from actually reducing my regular usage in the session itself is irrelevant. I used about 20kWh in those 3 hours. While my regular usage averages about 500Wh for the session, I've been credited with reducing my usage by over 6kWh. I could have quadrupled my typical usage in the session and still 'saved' 4kWh.

The formula is obviously flawed. A simple cap on the in day adjustment would fix it, or comparing the whole 24 hours rather than just 3 would greatly reduce the incentive to game it. 

Completely agree. I can't save a lot because I don't use a lot between 5 and 6 normally. But by just putting on a couple of washing loads starting at 1 o'clock instead of in the morning, I get paid. It's ridiculous.