A place to post links and discussions around the UK's energy production, National Grid, energy consumption, and green energy news.
See https://grid.iamkate.com/ for the UK's current energy production and sources.
Created 23/07/23
I'm on an electricity tariff with dynamic pricing. The last week has been pretty rough in fairness, but generally it's really rewarding on most days and sometimes, on days like this, it's amazing.
Based on my past calculations, whenever the cost is below ~20p, I'm paying less for heating than I would with a gas boiler. Where the cost of energy is negative, I'm essentially getting paid to use surplus energy.
Which app is that and why is 22:30 not blue?
It's Home Assistant. If you're not familiar, it's an insanely powerful open-source platform for self-hosting your smart home. It can handle heating, lighting, security, charging, presence, all sorts. I highly recommend it if you have any smart home kit at all. But it is a bit of a rabbit hole.
The data you see there is being automatically imported from Octopus and Home Assistant uses it to calculate the best time to run the heaters; it even takes the weather forecast into account to make sure that the walls are warmed through so the heaters don't need to run when energy is expensive.
The 22:30 is highlighted because it's the cheapest rate for the period.
Home Assistant eh? Thanks! 🙏
I too would like to know the app.
And I think it is blue.... but really blue!
Getting towards violet.
Do you have a home battery and/or EV? I'm wondering how much advantage can you take from those prices.
No, but I live in a flat in an old building with thick walls that hold onto heat well. I'll be toasty throughout the next 24-36 hours and it won't cost me a penny.
Obviously if I had an EV it'd be even better.
I wish I had electricity prices that low. I love in an area that has some of the highest electricity rates in the US. In the summer months it averages to $0.55/kWh. It's much lower now with winter rates, but still looking around $0.40/kWh.
In fairness, most people here pay about 24p/kWh which is about 32¢/kWh and on my tariff sometimes prices will peak at 45p (about 55¢) so we're not too far behind!
