Octopus Saving Session

_Sam_

double_dutchy said:

Obviously it will depend on your specific circumstances, but I'm retired so I'm generally at home (especially in January) during the 3 hour period. I'm trying to be creative - we nearly always have washing/drying to do - or I can do a towel wash or wash our pets blankets/beds. Today I used the automatic cooker cleaner for 2 hours and similar for our microwave. I also turned on our electric fire which will reduce our gas use. I'm hoping for a big payout for today's session!

It also makes sense to "save" certain tasks for the saving sessions, like self-cleaning the oven and washing machine, both have to run at a very high temperature for couple of hours to clean itself so perfect for the adjustment period.

Mstty

ballisticbrian said:

I've earned £3.63 across 6 sessions. I hear what you are all saying about the same day adjustments, but I don't have an electric car to charge or any high use items like washing to do at the drop of a hat. I do on the other hand have two little ones who need feeding in that saving window and aquariums and TV and internet fridge, that are running and I don't wish to stop. So unless you can convince me that I need to WASTE electric in that adjustment period, I don't know what else I can do?

It maybe takes a different kind of person to want to wave in these energy shift days. Also circumstances of timing come into it and various other reasons.

There will be some that it will be too much effort, time, planning and others that thrive on the shifting of everything possible. The thrill of the result and to see how close they have estimated their earnings.

However before you dismiss it do try shifting a couple of daily tasks to the in day adjustment period and you may be surprised on your earnings for that session.

masonic

ballisticbrian said:

I've earned £3.63 across 6 sessions. I hear what you are all saying about the same day adjustments, but I don't have an electric car to charge or any high use items like washing to do at the drop of a hat. I do on the other hand have two little ones who need feeding in that saving window and aquariums and TV and internet fridge, that are running and I don't wish to stop. So unless you can convince me that I need to WASTE electric in that adjustment period, I don't know what else I can do?

Not everyone is going to be able to benefit to the same degree. I have an electric only household with no storage heaters, so have simply been able to shift around the times I warm up my house to benefit from the in-day adjustment. I get cheap energy in the early morning, but in the afternoon I have to pay peak rates on non SS days. It's quite surprising what a difference warming the fabric of the house up over a couple of days has made - with no heating overnight, bedroom temperature this morning is a toasty 15C compared with 9C on Sunday night (overnight low outside was -1C vs -3C).

ballisticbrian

Thank you all for the tips.

masonic said:

It's quite surprising what a difference warming the fabric of the house up over a couple of days has made

... I think you have an A or AAA insulation efficiency rating.

Mstty

CanNeverThinkOfAUsername said:

Together, Octopus customers have saved 804MWh of electricity so far in Saving Sessions. That’s enough energy saved to watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy 1,112,905 times, saving around 190,712kg of CO2 emissions.

How much extra power and CO2 did Octopus customers consume/create in the in day adjustment 3 hour period 😜

Gotta love a half the story stat.

macman

Mstty said:

CanNeverThinkOfAUsername said:

Together, Octopus customers have saved 804MWh of electricity so far in Saving Sessions. That’s enough energy saved to watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy 1,112,905 times, saving around 190,712kg of CO2 emissions.

How much extra power and CO2 did Octopus customers consume/create in the in day adjustment 3 hour period 😜

Gotta love a half the story stat.

Hopefully, none.They just moved that potential usage out of the peak load period. The CO2 emissions simply happened a few hours earlier than they otherwise would have done anyway.
The only exceptions would be on things like lighting or TV during the actual 1.5hr session, but these are a relatively small part of total usage anyway.

markin

Mstty said:

CanNeverThinkOfAUsername said:

Together, Octopus customers have saved 804MWh of electricity so far in Saving Sessions. That’s enough energy saved to watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy 1,112,905 times, saving around 190,712kg of CO2 emissions.

How much extra power and CO2 did Octopus customers consume/create in the in day adjustment 3 hour period 😜

Gotta love a half the story stat.

I would say maybe not a lot if they already have a coal/gas plant idling (when its at its dirtiest) at the ready for the peak, Or it was imported from France, Or it was wind that couldn't cover the peak but was spare in the hrs before.

Cirrus1

There’s been a lot of coverage in the press about these saving sessions and I decided to give it a go yesterday.
I had a look at my readings and can see there was very little change.

Does this only work if you are on a single rate electricity tariff? I’m on an EV tariff, so subsequently have a “cheap” off-peak period and a very expensive peak period. All energy hungry appliances and car charging happens during the off-peak (midnight onwards) so 20-30kWh is already taken out of the equation. That leaves a few led bulbs and the base load for the saving session. This hardly amounts to kWh!
I don’t understand how these saving seasons work for people on EV tariffs. What can be shifted to off-peak has already been done so due to the high peak rate. Are these sessions primarily for people on low fixed tariffs, variable single rate?

Ryan_Holden

Echoing the sentiments of many, these are basically worthless to me. Seems unfair to reward people who use more and not reward people who are already running lean.

TheGardener

Ryan_Holden said:

Echoing the sentiments of many, these are basically worthless to me. Seems unfair to reward people who use more and not reward people who are already running lean.

Can't speak for anyone else but I didn't use 'more' I just planned around doing things I would normally do in the early evening and did them mid-afternoon instead. It wasn't hard to delay using the dishwasher after tea the day before and put it on early afternoon the day after - same goes for the washing machine. As I WFH I was able to have my shower at lunchtime instead of early morning - for me it was just moving times - not using 'more' .