Hi all first post from me.
I had system fitted just over three months ago now.
Almost 4kw solar.
Giv 9.5 battery.
Gen 3 hybrid inverter.
Anyway as per the title email earlier Ohme are now forcing when they and octopus charge our cars on Intelligent Octopus.
You can't turn it off.
Anyone else had this?
I always use dynamic charging at least once a week.
Slarti Anyway as per the title email earlier Ohme are now forcing when they and octopus charge our cars on Intelligent Octopus.
Doesn't seem unreasonable - IOG gives better prices than standard go because you allow Octopus to control when you charge.
See also
https://community.givenergy.cloud/d/4891-octopus-intelligent-go-warning
Unreasonable because I have permission to do so from Octopus.
I shan't worry I'll switch to EON drive as it's 7 hours each night for 6.9p and export for 16.9p.
You don't get the extra dynamic slots, which I don't use anyway.
Thanks for the reply.
Slarti There's also 'tomato' energy - 5p overnight for 6 hours, plus some daytime reduced slots. And only 40p standing charge.
They don't do export (but maybe that matters less in the winter) - you can still get 12p from Scottish Power as a non-customer.
(I'm quite intrigued as to the nature of the "permission from Octopus"...)
DD
Yes this intrigued me also. I called Octopus and the agent said they have been told nothing of this also.
Thanks for the heads up on tomato.
I paid over a thousand for a charger that's now locked out of my control.
I'm not chasing either of them anyway longer. I'll look and take a decision who to switch out to at the weekend.
That’s the deal with tariff, I don’t see the problem. Plug it in, set when you need it ready by and it will be.
Yes, the Ohme app does this even if you are not on IOG and only use the EV charger stand alone.
I am on Agile and set the Ohme to charge during cheap slots so I want charging to start and end when the slot does but the recent update makes the charger start 5, 6, 7,... 15 minutes into the slot and end before the actual end of the slot.
It is a real pain because I don't get to use the whole Agile slot.
THe Ohme help says you can turn off dynamic charging to stop this but with the latest update, it looks like dynamic charging happens all the time even with it turned off. 🙁
Slarti I have the same set-up and issue as you, ridiculous really! I contacted Ohme, and they don't want to know, instead telling me it's Octopus forcing them to do it - really, some partnership that is?!
This is made worse by the Ohme charger no longer being able to talk to the car, because JLR have changed the API. I work in tech, and none of this washes with me, the eco-system is built with open APIs, so everything's possible, it's just poor design. Really regretting getting the Ohme now!
netg
Hi they have also locked us out of the advanced settings part of the application. (Ohme)
So I can't see the CT clamp load's etc.
Surely they have no right.
The terms of this tariff state we have to do 1 dynamic charge a month. I do two a week.
Appalling really is.
Octopus will lose customers over this. Perhaps they want us to leave anyway?
Well update, Fair play to Ohme they've reached out to me and are working with me on a solution.
The initial no notice change was a shock but fair play they listened.
Posting this in fairness to Ohme. I'll update.
Can you switch off smart charging in the octopus app?
Hi Hook,
No I can't unfortunately, our car doesn't control the charge only the Ohme.
DD thanks for flagging this. I’m considering Tomato as I have an EV and an AIO which carries our daily consumption most days throughout winter even without any solar top-up.
Comparison of “Tomato Lifestyle Fixed TP July 2024-V1-EV” vs Octopus Go(I can’t get the IOGO version as neither car or charger are compatible) suggests it’s cheaper across the board
*13.37p for 09:30 to 11:30 and 22:00 to 00:00 (see image at end)
** can switch export to a different supplier for a “non-customer” tariff eg Scottish Power SmartGen at 12p
This seems like a no brainer for someone in my situation?
Other considerations:
26Left can switch export to a different supplier for a “non-customer” tariff eg Scottish Power SmartGen at 12p
Ah... Just remembered they have rules about how batteries are configured. I think they only pay for genuine solar exports, not battery exports (which could just be recycled grid power).
26Left I did look at Tomato Energy the other day after watching a Dan EV solar video on different EV tariffs https://youtu.be/0A2-3nfZCdo
And then saw Everything Home’s video on Tomato https://youtu.be/AKyaLo-VUXM
I saw Tomato have an Agile tariff as well but nowhere could I find details of what (say) today’s Tomato Agile rates were so I could compare them to Octopus, no details of how you would get the new daily agile prices (API?, email?) and the lack of export were all concerns for me.
Its clear there are other tariffs shaking the market up a bit
26Left how can they tell?
See https://www.scottishpower.co.uk/smart-export-guarantee - about half-way down, there's "How to apply for SEG" with a note that "If you have battery storage you will need to upload a copy of your battery storage schematic diagram"
If you also have a battery storage system, we’ll need an image of the install schematic (or single line diagram) to show that the output from the batteries will not be measured by the export meter. This is due to it being classed as ‘brown energy’, which isn’t eligible for payments in our SEG scheme. The diagram must show where the smart/export meter sits in relation to the renewable installation, battery and grid.
I'm not entirely sure how it's even possible to arrange for the export meter to record only solar, given that there's only one AC connection from the grid, but I guess there must be a way.
(I think generally, SEG payments are only required for power you've generated yourself. Octopus and others are choosing to also pay for battery exports.)
Cross posting my Tomato energy experience from a few days in...
https://community.givenergy.cloud/d/5014-winter-strategy/30