Octopus Octoplus free summer energy sessions don't forget to sign up

tim_p

tim_p said:

Not seen anything to indicate it’s OK to go ahead later (not planning on though anyway). I’d have expected something to say ‘fill your boots for an hour’ 

Just got my confirmation email and it literally does say ‘fill your boots’ !

greenbee

ecraig said:

tim_p said:

Had the email but unsure what to do. Battery will likely be getting near to fully charged by then (dull morning forecast here) Water will be hot too. Could top up the car but using any extra juice will totally screw up my years old app records of usage!  Since getting a smart meter installed in early March we’ve used a grand total of 44kWh which I could potentially increase by 25%. 

Export the battery from 12-1, then import from 1 till 2. 

This is what I'm doing. And I have the washing machine lined up to go on, a towel rail to heat up, and as I stopped the hot water diverter earlier I'm hoping that will use a bit of the solar and allow for some import. I guess it just takes practice to make the most of it. 

Netexporter

I still haven't received a confirmation email. They're cutting it a bit fine!

badger09

tim_p said:

tim_p said:

Not seen anything to indicate it’s OK to go ahead later (not planning on though anyway). I’d have expected something to say ‘fill your boots for an hour’ 

Just got my confirmation email and it literally does say ‘fill your boots’ !

Me too. Phew

debitcardmayhem

Got my email @ 1211. I exported for 1 hour anyway between 1200 and 1259. Methinks it was not long enough , dishwasher and washing on, bad news is panels belting out 4kW going to have a few coffees 😎

glennevis

Netexporter said:

glennevis said:

I can't see how Agile users could benefit from this event. The rules state that free energy is determined by calculating usage during 1-2 pm for the last 10 days and subtracting the average from today's usage.

There were two days recently when Agile price was negative at these times. Anyone who took advantage of that would find their average consumption calculation for this event significantly skewed.

It's the average kWh, not what you paid for it, that counts. Similar to the winter saving sessions.

Correct. I didn't say it was about the cost, consumption is in kW. Do the maths (rounded the figures):

Say I used 10kW between 1-2pm on Friday last week when Agile tariff was negative. That is 10kWh. My normal usage from 1-2pm during the other 9 days was zero due to solar panels. Octopus calculate the average consumption in that one hour for the past 10 days which averages out at 10/10=1kW, i e. 1kWh.

So today from 1-2pm I would have to pay for the first kWh and the rest would be free. Instead I am ignoring the 'free energy' and consuming 0W as I usually do this time of day.

debitcardmayhem

Well I used .97kWh 1300-1400 according my mini, so that was .96 over ave over 10 days. Battery fully charged at 1339, and exported 1.47kwh that hour.  Good experiment anyway, 

greenbee

debitcardmayhem said:

Got my email @ 1211. I exported for 1 hour anyway between 1200 and 1259. Methinks it was not long enough , dishwasher and washing on, bad news is panels belting out 4kW going to have a few coffees 😎

I could have done with exporting for longer beforehand, as the sun was out here too. We added hoovering, putting the electric towel rail on, and using the hairdryer into the mix on top of the DW and WM. I don't think my usage will have been that high, but next time I plan to wash all the winter coats on a cool wash and then tumble dry them! 

I've now got a nice full battery (ready to export 50% at peak rate), a clean house (and hair!), the hot water is reheating and the panels are exporting as the house is using all of 0.1kW.

born_again

tim_p said:

tim_p said:

Not seen anything to indicate it’s OK to go ahead later (not planning on though anyway). I’d have expected something to say ‘fill your boots for an hour’ 

Just got my confirmation email and it literally does say ‘fill your boots’ !

I got one that says that, but it is for signing up. Not confirming I had already signed up. Which came in after I had signed up.
So have they just totally messed up?

We don't like wasting power. So, while the summer sun lasts and there's plenty of green energy, we're giving you the chance to fill your boots with Free Electricity in hour-long sessions starting tomorrow. Yep, you heard us right.

Sign up for Free Electricity

Our first Free Electricity session is Thursday 15 August from 1-2pm. To take part, all you need to do is sign up before 1pm tomorrow, then get ready to power up. If you're reading this email, you're definitely eligible.   Free Electricity... what's the catch? During these super-green sessions, all the electricity you'd normally use will cost the same. Any extra power you use won't cost a thing. That means you can go to town on all those electricity-hungry household tasks, knowing you won't clock up a big bill afterwards. Just make sure you do so safely.

How does it work? 1. Sign up by tapping the button above. 2. We'll email you the day before the session to tell you when it starts. 3. When the time comes, make every minute count. In other words, stick the vacuum on, run the heat pump or tackle that mountain of laundry. 4. We'll credit your energy account within 14 days for the value of extra electricity you used.

How will I know how much free electricity I use? After the session ends, we'll email you within seven days to confirm how much free extra electricity you shifted in the hour.   What if my smart meter doesn't work? As long as you're in Octoplus, you can still take part in Free Electricity. If we don't receive your smart readings, we'll credit you the value for the average extra power used by all Octoplus members after each session.   When will I be credited for the extra electricity? We'll credit your energy account within 14 days for the value of extra electricity you used and you'll see this added to your balance.   Any questions, head to our Free Electricity FAQs. You can find the terms and conditions here.

Love and power, Pete Miller Head of Customer Experience

NedS

MP1995 said:

As it turnes out for Agile users, that's the cheapest part of the day and where I would load shift anyway. Will see what the results say in 7 days times.

Luckily for us it is raining heavily, so no solar meaning we were drawing heavily from the grid. Normally our usage would have been close to zero due to solar generation and no battery. The misses baked a cake, so it's a win all round