How to getthe best out of Octopus Flux

Oh Ed not again. · 16 Jan 2024 at 19:32

2.4.2.6 To be eligible for this tariff, you must meet the eligibility criteria described in section 2.4.7 below, and agree to download the Octopus Energy app and register your battery on the app. We will need to have control access to your battery throughout this contract for you to remain eligible for this tariff. If at any time you do not have an active authorisation for integration with a supported battery and you have not had such active authorisation for a period of more than 30 days, you will no longer be eligible for this tariff and we will switch you to one of our fairly priced standard tariffs and you will be billed according to your usage under that tariff.

Booooooo.

Ron-ski · 16 Jan 2024 at 19:52

Switch to standard Flux, rather than intelligent, problem solved.

200sols · 16 Jan 2024 at 19:53

Intelligent flux looks like a winner over regular flux only from roughly April to September. In winter it's a loser.

Oh Ed not again. · 16 Jan 2024 at 20:18

Ron-ski said:
Switch to standard Flux, rather than intelligent, problem solved.

They're going to love me at Octopus HQ.

Oh Ed not again. · 18 Jan 2024 at 16:53

Migrated over (back?) to "Simple" Octopus Flux this morning.

Set my charging schedule to Solar + Grid, with a Grid schedule of 2-5am. That side of the house I'm happy with. Woo.

Now, the discharging. Of course GivEnergy don't make this easy. Yeah you can have two discharge schedules (via the Remote Control function in the Web UI), but you can't say whether is Home Demand or Full Export.

My thinking was Full Export 4-7pm at peak time, and then Home Demand 7-2am. Is that the most efficient way to discharge?

Is it then just a case of having Home Assistant change the discharge mode at 7pm @HungryHippos ? Or are you doing it a different way?

200sols · 18 Jan 2024 at 17:29

randal said:
Migrated over (back?) to "Simple" Octopus Flux this morning.

Set my charging schedule to Solar + Grid, with a Grid schedule of 2-5am. That side of the house I'm happy with. Woo.

Now, the discharging. Of course GivEnergy don't make this easy. Yeah you can have two discharge schedules (via the Remote Control function in the Web UI), but you can't say whether is Home Demand or Full Export.

My thinking was Full Export 4-7pm at peak time, and then Home Demand 7-2am. Is that the most efficient way to discharge?

Is it then just a case of having Home Assistant change the discharge mode at 7pm @HungryHippos ? Or are you doing it a different way?

Dynamic mode outside of any forced export for me.

I use octopus r&d with agile maybe it also integrates with flux, not sure.

Oh Ed not again. · 18 Jan 2024 at 17:35

200sols said:
Dynamic mode outside of any forced export for me.

I use octopus r&d with agile maybe it also integrates with flux, not sure.

I'd rather have control at this point.

1) so I know I'm getting max export rates
2) I'm a control freak, and don't trust GivEnergy yet lol.

200sols · 18 Jan 2024 at 17:38

randal said:
I'd rather have control at this point.

1) so I know I'm getting max export rates
2) I'm a control freak, and don't trust GivEnergy yet lol.

It is control, more control than the givenergy app. You can set import and export for every 30 minute interval of a single day and replicate it for how ever many days you want.

Oh Ed not again. · 18 Jan 2024 at 17:40

200sols said:
It is control, more control than the givenergy app. You can set import and export for every 30 minute interval of a single day and replicate it for how ever many days you want.

What's this on? GivTCP? Because if so, yup that sounds ideal.

200sols · 18 Jan 2024 at 17:45

randal said:
What's this on? GivTCP? Because if so, yup that sounds ideal.

No it's octopus offering, although as said not sure on flux integration.

Octopus Energy R&D labs

Octopus Energy R&D labs front-end project

smart-energy.octopushome.net

Also an app on the app store.

HungryHippos · 18 Jan 2024 at 20:31

randal said:
Is it then just a case of having Home Assistant change the discharge mode at 7pm @HungryHippos ? Or are you doing it a different way?

General control is done via Givenergy local plugin with Home Assistant. I think Giv TCP is able to do similar things.

Charge mode always enabled and set just to import on off-peak regardless. If day = sunny then no problem, will export excess, if day = not sunny, then no problem as battery is as full as it can be.

For export I used I would trigger export after 16:00, but only if I had more than a certain percent of battery. This may vary for you.

For stopping export, I would disable it and switch eco mode back on once battery hit a certain SOC % to hold enough battery to reach the cheap off-peak rate again.

Enabling export mode also turns off eco mode, so you must trigger something to switch the mode back and set eco back to on.

Home Assistant may not be able to reach inverter, so each of these can be configured with conditions to trigger changes only if certain scenarios are met.

Oh Ed not again. · 19 Jan 2024 at 00:06

HungryHippos said:
General control is done via Givenergy local plugin with Home Assistant. I think Giv TCP is able to do similar things.

Charge mode always enabled and set just to import on off-peak regardless. If day = sunny then no problem, will export excess, if day = not sunny, then no problem as battery is as full as it can be.

For export I used I would trigger export after 16:00, but only if I had more than a certain percent of battery. This may vary for you.

For stopping export, I would disable it and switch eco mode back on once battery hit a certain SOC % to hold enough battery to reach the cheap off-peak rate again.

Enabling export mode also turns off eco mode, so you must trigger something to switch the mode back and set eco back to on.

Home Assistant may not be able to reach inverter, so each of these can be configured with conditions to trigger changes only if certain scenarios are met.

Nice, makes sense.

I've got GivTCP 2.4.3 installed now, I can see everything I need to read/configure so I can do everything from HA along with notifications - which is the one thing I really wanted. Keep it honest!

Will set some automation rules up and report back.

Ron-ski · 15 Feb 2024 at 15:45

Just had an email from Octopus.

Hi,

My name is Alex, and I look after all things related to EV charging at Octopus. I noticed your home’s energy patterns look uncannily like that of a typical electric car owner. So, it got me wondering, do you drive an Electric Vehicle?

Nice to see them being proactive, but perhaps they don't won't to pay me so much once the sun comes out more :cry:

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 15 Feb 2024 at 16:27

Thats interesting
I wonder if they are doing the same in reverse
IE trying to spot those on tariffs like Go that also do not match a typical Ev user

john_smith · 15 Feb 2024 at 16:30

hummm. I wonder what the context behind that is.

Ron-ski · 15 Feb 2024 at 19:24

Basically suggesting I switch to IOG if I have an electric car, which I don't.

Pickers · 9 Mar 2024 at 16:15

So is go better than flux or visa versa??

reef · 12 Mar 2024 at 12:13

Has anyone had their updated Flux prices yet?

It seems likely the export rate outside of the 4-7pm period will drop below the 15p rate of the standard outgoing fixed. In summer unless you charge up at 2-5am and export or force discharge lots during the peak period then it seems it wouldn't make as much sense to be on Flux now?

200sols · 12 Mar 2024 at 12:29

reef said:
Has anyone had their updated Flux prices yet?

It seems likely the export rate outside of the 4-7pm period will drop below the 15p rate of the standard outgoing fixed. In summer unless you charge up at 2-5am and export or force discharge lots during the peak period then it seems it wouldn't make as much sense to be on Flux now?

The standard rate could also drop.

Minato · 12 Mar 2024 at 12:52

I've just switched to Octopus and had a smart meter installed for my electricity.

Emailed them to go onto the Tracker price as I'm assuming that's still the cheapest? Our annual usage is approx 22,000 kWh day and 16,000 kWh night.