I've recently signed upto Octopus flux, timed charging between 2-5am and timed discharge between 4-7pm. It charges OK, but discharges at full tilt to the grid before 4pm. I'm happy to discharge to home before 4pm if I have to but would rather discharge at the time I requested and not when the system decides to. Anyone able to help?
AndyWickes set Eco mode on and Timed Charge only 2am - 5pm, don't use timed discharge. They're the settings I had when I was on Flux and it worked fine. Battery would discharge to meet house load only
I'm probably trying something very similar. I have successfully charged each day between 0200-0400 to 100% and have Eco on (which btw keeps switching off every time settings are changed).
What I want to add to that is a discharge to grid & consumer (i.e. export) at the peak times (1700-1900) running the battery down to a %age I designate to ensure I have battery power until the next recharge (i.e 7 hrs). It seems with the interface we have you cant do that:
Scheduling is very limited unless you go for Home Assistant etc options so to start from something that does work [https://community.givenergy.cloud/d/1472-timed-discharge-and-eco-mode/47](https://)
Each and every one of us will have different usage patterns therefore being more specific is difficult. Trying to read between the lines of your request you could maybe:
1) Make sure ECO is Enabled - Set the 'Timed charge' period as 02:00 to 15:00 which will charge the battery and then hold it for that period' Solar + Grid will power the house.
2) At 15:00 Solar + battery + (grid if needed) will power the house.
3) Set 'Timed Export' to 17:00-19:00 at a 'discharge to% that you find acceptable. Excess over house load is exported.
4) At 19:00 ECO takes over and battery (+grid if needed) runs the house
5) Make sure 'Timed Discharge is Disabled.
When you make any changes do not rush it and always make sure that your get a positive acknowledgement.
I had already tried that with following settings:
My expectation was that:
However on setting these at 1500 with 45% battery (unfortunately not a sunny day for this test) it immediately started charging from the grid which was not expected (Eco mode should have defaulted). I assume this was because the Timed export Discharge was 50% (even though not within the period I set) and it was trying to charge up to that value even though the cutoff limit was still 4%. Clearly not what I expected.
What I do want is to switch to Octopus Flux (not Intelligent Flux as I want to maintain control) and take advantage of the off-peak rate to charge and peak rate to export. The rest of the time I want the Eco function to operate (i.e. priority Solar to consumer, battery, grid minimizing grid import).
Peter-C I had already tried that with following settings:
Sorry... In which case you hadn't done what was suggested., you used your own settings which will not get anywhere close to achieving what you want.
I do realise it isn't what you expect, but it will get you close to what you want as others have discovered. The key is holding the battery charge during as much of the day that you want it held, not the period of your cheap rate. Use 02:00 to 16:00 you can back the 16:00 off if your usage pattern allows it .
Peter-C I get the same Peter, Eco mode turns off and on as it pleases. I change settings and it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.
On a spearate point I updated the firmware yesterday and its now lost my battery so now on Flux getting charged high costs when usage is highest. I have a call into Octopus Solar who will call back in 72 hours...
I'll keep you updated
AndyWickes If you are still in limbo have you tried a 'RESET TO DEFAULTS' in 'My Inverter' > 'Settings'. it kicked my AC3 & Batteries back to normal operation following my update.
Hi,
so I have been trying to get the same sort of set up with my system. I have a cheap tariff from 0200 to 0500 and then a normal rate until a peak tariff at 1600 - 1900. I wanted to charge my battery in the cheap tariff and keep the charge until the peak tariff.
What works for me is this: timed charge from 0200 to 0500 to 80% (so that I have room for any solar generation during the day if I am lucky) then a scheduled discharge from 16:10 to 20:00 for 'Home Demand' with a reserve at 61%.
What this does is charges my battery in the cheap tariff period to 80% and then after that the battery is used down to the 61% reserve during the normal period of the day and at 16:10 I can start using the rest of the battery (61% down to 4% which is my base reserve).
Took a while to figure out what works but this seems OK at the moment.
When I get actual sunlight and get more energy to store in the batteries I might change this so I can actually export to the grid during the peak time too.
Helenmaguire What would be useful is to know is what your system is and where you are entering the settings to achieve it.
Helenmaguire At 16:10, what does the system do? On my system (gen-3 hybrid), that would discharge at a fixed power, regardless of the house load. I assume it automatically disregards the 61% reserve and just discharges down below it. [I've not yet experimented with how the reserve works.] But you're happy to do that because the export rate is relatively good now ?
At 8pm, I assume that it would want to go back to eco mode, but now the battery will be below the 61% reserve, and so the battery pauses (though I'm guessing there's not much left in the battery by now). But importing from the grid only costs about the same as the export rate you were getting during the peak ?
