A good old fashioned one - in the garden, by the front gate - although they still say they cannot get into the house to read it... I am resisting smart meters
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I get why people do (hold off installing them). But they open up some newer tariffs, especially when you export too, or import at a cheaper time.
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Thank you. I assume i can see realtime my usage, subject to a minor Cloud delay? Again subject to supplier, which for me is Shell. Do different providers have different apps or is there an App for the meter?
Cheees
Jb
No cloud delay, they come with a little display which talks directly to the meters via direct wireless and updates every 10sec, you can turn the kettle on and watch it show the 2kw usage in real time.
re the solar panel discussion, i went on an install course last year. For roof mount you really have to have a be in the right part of the country, have a ridge line that goes east west for max exposure and very little in the way if shading. Getting solar figures for anything 45 degrees or more off east west seems to be a challenge for the industry so possibly means it aint worth it? And winter, when you need it most, will see a massive drop. Unless you can use the charge as it is made or are on old feed in tariffs or have an electric vehicle plugged in whilst charging - payback will be much much longer.
That is good news. Wireless not great in that area of the building thoiugh, i can see me having to get some of these now - been putting it off for a while: -
Access Point U6 Mesh - Ubiquiti Store
Sleek, indoor/outdoor WiFi 6 AP with 6 spatial streams designed for mesh applications.
eu.store.ui.com
I have put them in for others and they are great, one network and sign in acorss the whole house.
JB
Yeah the range is a bit crap I had to move my energy display pretty much other side of the garage wall to the meters lol. But have it connected to the internet as well so can view the readings in a app so don’t actually really need to see it directly.That is good news. Wireless not great in that area of the building thoiugh, i can see me having to get some of these now - been putting it off for a while: -
Access Point U6 Mesh - Ubiquiti Store
Sleek, indoor/outdoor WiFi 6 AP with 6 spatial streams designed for mesh applications.
I have put them in for others and they are great, one network and sign in acorss the whole house.
JB
The issue with any of these real-time readings is they give you the whole house and most of us have a lot of items, that vary in what they consume and when. It becomes a bit of guess work to know how much something uses.
A few of us have Emporia Energy systems to monitor circuits and they give more accurate information. https://www.emporiaenergy.com
A few of us have Emporia Energy systems to monitor circuits and they give more accurate information. https://www.emporiaenergy.com
I view my solar system over the year, import less in summer but rely on the grid more in winter. You still get a good few days this time of year.
Octopus have told me that my Tesla Energy Tariff will end in April. They are introducing another scheme for all Solar and Storage customers with 3 different time slots for import and export. Technically, you could buy for lower than you can sell if you buy off peak and sell at peak. But the cheap rate unit cost is still £0.20….
Octopus have told me that my Tesla Energy Tariff will end in April. They are introducing another scheme for all Solar and Storage customers with 3 different time slots for import and export. Technically, you could buy for lower than you can sell if you buy off peak and sell at peak. But the cheap rate unit cost is still £0.20….
Yeah when I first got it installed I spent days turning everything off and going around and turning things on to get a good idea what draws the most current etc.. But it's pretty much common sense anything with a heater will be power hungry ie washing machine, tumble, dish washer, oven, hob, toaster, kettle, storage heaters, electric clothes dryers, electric shower etc... Another silent killer in our house are the tv's they draw an awful lot of power! really need to replace with much more efficient ones at some point.
Iv not heard of this new scheme have you got a link?
OP
OP
Deleted member 2463
the other thing to watch out about monitoring is that you now have idiots who never want to see usage from the grid go too high, so they are sitting in the freezing cold with jumpers jackets and blankets on. I get why they are doing that but holy **** that isn't what being at home is supposed to be about.
Octopus Flux
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
octopus.energy
I need to work out the figures for flux and look at their other tariffs. I don’t want to get to consumed with day trading energy and my wife will want a simple way to know when to put the washing machine on.
UK distribution panels are much smaller than US and it was a tight fit to get the sensors in. Especially as the far left was the only way out I could get the wires and that side has the solar breaker so was already heavy populated with sensors.
I thought Octopus Flux was going to be a rehash of their old Agile tariff where you used to get alerts about prices and got paid to use electric some times but looks like its not.
But those export rates look really attractive if your eligible for export.
EDIT: Also looking at the FAQ it almost looks like DIY systems are eligible for the export rates as it just says you need Smart Meter/Solar/G98 Certificate all of which I have so Ive emailed them to clarify.
One flaw with the Emporia energy monitor Ive found that is a bit annoying is that the smaller current clamps only report/display the power in a single direction.
Not sure how best to explain this but my solar and battery is on my garage some comes into the consumer unit on the same connection as the garage power, Ive configured the clamp to be solar so it shows the power from the garage cable as generation, which isnt normally a problem during summer as excess solar will go directly into the battery and not hit the consumer unit and most stuff in the garage will use the solar generation and battery with still some going back to the consumer unit to cover the house power, the issue comes when its winter or if I use more power in the garage that the solar is producing and the battery inverter can produce, and this point I start pulling power into the garage but the emporia still shows its a generation.
So if you an example you had a battery storage on its own circuit in the consumer unit and put a clamp on it when charging the battery at say 1Kw it would show you using 1KW of power, but then if you discharge the battery at 1KW it would show you USING 1KW again, so I know it reports how much power is being used in both directions but the app will only show it in a single direction no matter what way it is flowing.
I know other people have reported this to Emporia and I though they might have fixed it recently when I noticed there was an option to mark the circuit as battery but again it still only shows all in and out as being a single direction, if that makes sense.
Another good thing about it though is if you use Home Assistant there is an integration that can bring the information in.
But those export rates look really attractive if your eligible for export.
EDIT: Also looking at the FAQ it almost looks like DIY systems are eligible for the export rates as it just says you need Smart Meter/Solar/G98 Certificate all of which I have so Ive emailed them to clarify.
One flaw with the Emporia energy monitor Ive found that is a bit annoying is that the smaller current clamps only report/display the power in a single direction.
Not sure how best to explain this but my solar and battery is on my garage some comes into the consumer unit on the same connection as the garage power, Ive configured the clamp to be solar so it shows the power from the garage cable as generation, which isnt normally a problem during summer as excess solar will go directly into the battery and not hit the consumer unit and most stuff in the garage will use the solar generation and battery with still some going back to the consumer unit to cover the house power, the issue comes when its winter or if I use more power in the garage that the solar is producing and the battery inverter can produce, and this point I start pulling power into the garage but the emporia still shows its a generation.
So if you an example you had a battery storage on its own circuit in the consumer unit and put a clamp on it when charging the battery at say 1Kw it would show you using 1KW of power, but then if you discharge the battery at 1KW it would show you USING 1KW again, so I know it reports how much power is being used in both directions but the app will only show it in a single direction no matter what way it is flowing.
I know other people have reported this to Emporia and I though they might have fixed it recently when I noticed there was an option to mark the circuit as battery but again it still only shows all in and out as being a single direction, if that makes sense.
Another good thing about it though is if you use Home Assistant there is an integration that can bring the information in.
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Nice idea, was going to comment that there just is not enough room in normal domestic Dis boards. Certainly not in mine.Octopus Flux
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
I need to work out the figures for flux and look at their other tariffs. I don’t want to get to consumed with day trading energy and my wife will want a simple way to know when to put the washing machine on.
UK distribution panels are much smaller than US and it was a tight fit to get the sensors in. Especially as the far left was the only way out I could get the wires and that side has the solar breaker so was already heavy populated with sensors.
View attachment 193471
Following on from @Fantazia2.
The larger clamps are for dual feed US systems and I found they aggregated both feeds which meant I couldn’t get the app to monitor battery charge and discharge separately either, it aggravated to the main import and export.
There are good api’s and you can get the data into your own database and then run Grafana on it to do your own dashboards. I got something going but it always seemed to need a tweak and I stopped being that obsessed.
The larger clamps are for dual feed US systems and I found they aggregated both feeds which meant I couldn’t get the app to monitor battery charge and discharge separately either, it aggravated to the main import and export.
There are good api’s and you can get the data into your own database and then run Grafana on it to do your own dashboards. I got something going but it always seemed to need a tweak and I stopped being that obsessed.
Had some nice sunny days recently and really starting to see the benefits of the second 5.8kw battery. We can have oven / hob going for hours and not completely kill it like we did before which is nice. So I think this summer hopefully starting mid march/my we should be completely off grid again
Be nice to see that PV curve hitting 4.8/5kw again peak
Be nice to see that PV curve hitting 4.8/5kw again peak
True but some people have no choice, if you cant afford the electric / gas prices, what other option have you got then just turn it off and freeze ya ass off
Yeah, I would say the term idiot doesn’t take in all the reasons someone would rather not spend money.
Plus, I come from a family of people who didn’t use much heating. I was shocked at how warm my wife needed rooms to be comfortable and I then walk about in a t-shirt.
Plus, I come from a family of people who didn’t use much heating. I was shocked at how warm my wife needed rooms to be comfortable and I then walk about in a t-shirt.
Russ, i may have missed it, if so please do PM me, what is your setup and how much did it cost please? I was going to do the battery storage course as well, others have also mentioned the silly off peak tariffs you can use to charge the battery at night and supplement higher cost during the day time. I have still not rulled it out completely, just wish the house was angled more to the South...Damn you roast dinner!
Bat only got to 50% charge today as sun was a bit poo in the afternoon, if got to 100% would of been fine
View attachment 193565
Have you run a simulation to see what you could generate from the angle you have?
As this shows, my main bank is not perfect south, the pitch is 39.2 at 163.9.
Panel 1.1.8 is effected by a large chimney stack south west of it that causes a shadow.
There are tall trees to the East too.
Then the other side has three panels effected by dormers, roof ridges and the setting sun angle. However, they all generate an amount, just not perfect for all available hours.
As this shows, my main bank is not perfect south, the pitch is 39.2 at 163.9.
Panel 1.1.8 is effected by a large chimney stack south west of it that causes a shadow.
There are tall trees to the East too.
Then the other side has three panels effected by dormers, roof ridges and the setting sun angle. However, they all generate an amount, just not perfect for all available hours.
so you have some north facing panels 1.1.1 - 1.1.4? What software do yo use to simulate, i was just going by the UK lon lat sun tables etc.
1 to 8 are all south 163.9, not true south 180.
Home | Solar Panel Calculator
www.pvfitcalculator.energysavingtrust.org.uk
sorry i see now. Mine are all East West facing. I can't seem to get tabulated figures for it so will check out the simulator you mentioned lower down.
OP
OP
Deleted member 2463
the flux rate is disappointing in my view and the market is doing nothing to encourage off peak usage properly. There is no way in hell its costing the same at 2am to generate than it is at 18:00 yet thats how the flux rate is designed, probably because octopus can't get anything better from the generators. I'm in the process of upgrading my battery and then I'm going to check how long it takes to charge it fully from the grid and if I get enough sun to charge it through the day so that I don't need an evening special rate. In the winter it will be better but even this week I've had a good few days off grid.
I suspect part of this is that it's not in their interest to do so. Historically it was difficult/impossible to change output from power stations depending on the time of day - e.g. it wasn't feasible to let the fires go out in a coal-fired plant, then re-light them the next morning, so they just left them burning - then the (not really needed) electricity being generated was sold on the cheap (economy-7 type tariff) or went straight to a giant earth-rod if no one used it. More modern power stations have more flexibility - they can reduce overall generation at night by completely turning off certain generators. So the huge excess of night-time electricity we saw 40 years ago doesn't exist to sell on the cheap any more. Generating at night would therefore now cost them more - they would need to pay night-shift rates to more people to operate more generators than they do today. They are better off financiually not doing that, and letting everyone pay full price during the day instead.
One thing that might force them to generate more at night is if they run out of day-time capacity - which seems now quite likely. I think 'the market' will still need regulation and some form of financial-incentives from the government before that change happens, though.