Associate
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2010
- Posts
- 2,081
Day rate down here for electric is 45.67p
How to getthe best out of Octopus Flux
- Thread starter Ron-ski
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 4 Jul 2006
- Posts
- 1,810
Flux and Variable was 42p but agile is 37p for me
Soldato
Electric on tracker is down to 13.9p tomorrow……Gas down to 4p
Dont i wish it was a sunny solar day lol
Dont i wish it was a sunny solar day lol
I very recently switched to Flux, just to see what it was like, and now gone back to Flexible E7. I have solar and 9.6kw of batteries. The big issue for me was those 3 hours. If it was 7 hours of cheap it would be ok but with 3 hours to charge the batteries, several things were noticeable. 1. The use of the batteries was kicking in far more earlier. 2. Later on, I was getting short on battery storage to meet the peak time use. With the E7, I would get a cost reading on the Smart meter monitor, at worse, of £2.50 at around 9am. That included charging the batteries, the washing machine and the dehumidifier. With Flux, by 9am, it was £4.50. And it got worse, we were starting to have to import from the grid as the batteries got totally discharged. Usually if I manage to get 2kWh generation out of the solar, the batteries would see us through until the next charging cycle.
Summer use it might make sense, but during winter, nah. Not for me. I think you need a very big solar and battery array for it to work. I've only had 2 days (up to now) in December when I've actually exported any solar generation. But even in summer, with the E7 time going onto 8.30am, well everybody is out the house by 8.30. Everything we use is on the cheap rate. And I don't have to worry about peak time usage.
Summer use it might make sense, but during winter, nah. Not for me. I think you need a very big solar and battery array for it to work. I've only had 2 days (up to now) in December when I've actually exported any solar generation. But even in summer, with the E7 time going onto 8.30am, well everybody is out the house by 8.30. Everything we use is on the cheap rate. And I don't have to worry about peak time usage.
What I learned (after my installation) there are three important areas if you want to take full advantage of the likes of Flux, especially during the winter.
Firstly, a battery size that after taking into account losses and DOD is capable of powering your house for 21hrs.
Secondly, an inverter size that can charge your battery from pretty much empty to full within the cheap electricity time window.
Thirdly, ensure you're able to keep your batteries warm/cool enough within the cheap electricity time window to be able to accept a full charge and not throttle.
Firstly, a battery size that after taking into account losses and DOD is capable of powering your house for 21hrs.
Secondly, an inverter size that can charge your battery from pretty much empty to full within the cheap electricity time window.
Thirdly, ensure you're able to keep your batteries warm/cool enough within the cheap electricity time window to be able to accept a full charge and not throttle.
Just catching up on this thread, I'm on Flux and have 29 kWh of batteries, and an 8kW inverter,. Which means I can only charge 24kWh in the three hours, not including losses. That will see us through the day though, and sometimes I even export between 16:00 & 16:30, max I can do in that half hour is 4kWh, but often it's less than that as I limit forced export to 55% SOC, I don't export after 16:30 currently so it doesn't affect the saving seesions.
Currently the only time I end up using the grid outside of off peak is Christmas day, due to lots of cooking and poor solar, or after a saving session. I may even top up a bit prior to a session.
Our electric for the last 27 days is averaging £4.11 a day including standing charge, obviously as the days get longer, and hopefully sunnier that will drop, but currently our gas and electric bill since April is negative.
This time of year, I'd be better off on a different tariff, but don't have an EV and also couldn't be bothered to change tarrifs for 3 or 4 months.
Pretty much an ideal situation you have there imo.
An inverter that can charge your battery with 21 hours of household usage within the cheap window and a battery bank that is slightly over this size.
My second point should probably read "be able to charge your battery from empty to a capacity able to run your house until the next cheap charge window" rather than "to full".
An inverter that can charge your battery with 21 hours of household usage within the cheap window and a battery bank that is slightly over this size.
My second point should probably read "be able to charge your battery from empty to a capacity able to run your house until the next cheap charge window" rather than "to full".
Associate
Have most people swapped on to another tariff now? Not sure whether to move to Tracker for import and Outgoing? for export. Octopus Compare shows that it would have been cheaper over the last few weeks. It might be more expensive to charge the batteries overnight but I guess that would be offset by a cheaper day rate. There’s some usage that the batteries don’t cover as they can’t discharge enough, electric shower etc.
Associate
I'm still on Octopus Go for now until the weather improves/days get longer.
I feel like I should have been sold at least an 8kw inverter and I'm going to look into upgrading. I'm always having to consider the load and trying not to draw more than 5kw when cooking etc.
Last edited:
Associate
Went on to tracker in the end. It’s the December 23 version so not quite as good as the November 22 version. Bit of a saving compared to Flux but not massive.
If you change your inverter, does your connection agreement need amending? I mention this because your current inverter specs and serial number are detailed in the Details of Generating Plant.
Associate
Quite possibly, yes. But I have no idea tbh.
When I asked MyEnergy about upgrading last week, they were saying something about there being a power mismatch with using an 8kw inverter with my 6.45 array.
I also enquired about running 2x5kw inverters too on Monday..
They've said they would have to look into it and get back to me, so I don't know what my options are at this stage.
When I asked MyEnergy about upgrading last week, they were saying something about there being a power mismatch with using an 8kw inverter with my 6.45 array.
I also enquired about running 2x5kw inverters too on Monday..
They've said they would have to look into it and get back to me, so I don't know what my options are at this stage.
Last edited:
You will need to apply for export permission from the DNO, which is referred to as a G99.
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 13,900
Just migrated my tariff over to Flux, and integrated my GivEnergy battery with them.
Trying to get my head around how they're balancing generation with battery charging at the moment, seems to favour exporting over battery charging.
For example currently generating about 2kw, 630w going in to the battery, 347w to the house and 1.1kw going out to the grid.
Trying to get my head around how they're balancing generation with battery charging at the moment, seems to favour exporting over battery charging.
For example currently generating about 2kw, 630w going in to the battery, 347w to the house and 1.1kw going out to the grid.
Associate
- Joined
- 4 Jul 2006
- Posts
- 1,810
Just sign back up to it
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 13,900
Battery charged to 79%, could have been higher if it wasn't spaffing out 2kw to the grid during off peak export tariff times. Oy.
Something tells me breaking the Flux integration and doing the automation via Home Assistant is going to be more profitable.
Soldato
Soldato
It doesn't work properly unless you go onto the standard Flux, the Intelligent Flux tie in will keep on overriding anything you modify.
Standard Flux gives you control of the system but the rates aren't quite the same (less well paying I think but has the benefit of a cheaper off-peak import).
If you're willing to risk it, you could revoke the control from the GE side, it may kick you off the tariff though.
Connected stuff should appear in the account security bit:
https://givenergy.cloud/account-settings/security
Do bear in mind that Octopus aren't necessarily going to want to charge your battery to full for this tariff, they simply want to have enough in the battery to export some at the peak export rate.
Your main goal is avoiding peak pricing here, as long as the system doesn't import from the grid when you have battery available at the peak rate, your grid usage and export units outside of peak time are considered at an equilibrium.
This means in the day when it's sunny it could export 5 kWh at normal rate, and then at night you could import 5 kWh from the grid, the net result here should be no real charge, exported units are simply banking units for consumption later.
Standard Flux gives you control of the system but the rates aren't quite the same (less well paying I think but has the benefit of a cheaper off-peak import).
If you're willing to risk it, you could revoke the control from the GE side, it may kick you off the tariff though.
Connected stuff should appear in the account security bit:
https://givenergy.cloud/account-settings/security
Do bear in mind that Octopus aren't necessarily going to want to charge your battery to full for this tariff, they simply want to have enough in the battery to export some at the peak export rate.
Your main goal is avoiding peak pricing here, as long as the system doesn't import from the grid when you have battery available at the peak rate, your grid usage and export units outside of peak time are considered at an equilibrium.
This means in the day when it's sunny it could export 5 kWh at normal rate, and then at night you could import 5 kWh from the grid, the net result here should be no real charge, exported units are simply banking units for consumption later.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 1 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 13,900
I need to read the Terms and Conditions to see if device integration is a prerequisite for Flux. If not like you say, bin that off and game on.
I'm more than happy to export to the grid at peak times, it just annoys me that it exports at non-peak times when the battery isn't charged.
Similarly the system will burst draw from the grid when theres battery available and good solar generation.
In an ideal world they would do some sort of learning, but it feels like these are baseline parameters applied to every installation. That won't work for me.
I'm more than happy to export to the grid at peak times, it just annoys me that it exports at non-peak times when the battery isn't charged.
Similarly the system will burst draw from the grid when theres battery available and good solar generation.
In an ideal world they would do some sort of learning, but it feels like these are baseline parameters applied to every installation. That won't work for me.