Alexa, balance the grid....

mmmmikey

More plunge pricing tomorrow so I've just told Alexa to make the most of it. Thought I'd post this here as it may be of interest and shows what you can do with smart technology and a little bit of thought.

If all goes well, other than make sure the various heaters are switched on at the wall, having delegated everything else to Alexa, that's all I'll have to do. I'll leave Alexa to liaise with the various other computers involved and take care of things for me.

She'll start by telling Smartthings to turning off the water heating with immediate effect. No point in using solar energy I can sell this afternoon or electricity I have to pay for overnight if I can be paid to heat the water tomorrow. The thermal store is plenty big enough for a long, hot shower tonight.

She'll also activate "plunge pricing" by setting a switch on the Smartthings hub, and send me a notification reminding me to switch the heaters on at the wall.

When the Agile price falls below zero, an IFTTT integration will tell the Smartthings hub and it will switch on the immersion and room heaters. Likewise, as the prices rises above zero Smartthings will turn off the heaters again, and the cycle will continue until 16:00 tomorrow afternoon.

Alexa will keep an eye on things for me and monitor the Agile price independently, turning a few lights on green when the price is below zero. This in turn allows me to make sure all is OK - if the lights are green I know the heaters should be on.

If all goes well, I'll have proved the principle (and the house wiring - could be drawing up to about 70A at peak). The same routines could just as well be used when the prices fall below any threshold to keep the house warm in winter.

Anyone else using smart technology along these lines? Thoughts?

[Deleted User]

Smart meters are as accurate as any other meter. Forget smart meters and think Smart Grid. Here is one reason to get a smart meter: