Smart Tariff Automation with Intelligent Octopus Go

3 comments started 2025-09-25 last 2025-09-26
Cards - Smart Tariffs (Octopus)Cloud Portal
T
#1 tphilbo

I noticed on the portal that there's now an option to integrate with your smart Tariff provider and enable automation, which is great!

I'm on intelligent octopus go and was wondering how to configure the settings for the battery to automatically charge when an intelligent slot is enabled during the day? Has anyone done this yet?

G
#2 geoffreycoan

tphilbo I don’t think the card is that intelligent. It will program your inverter based on the fixed period rates, but the iGo extra slots can change multiple times a day and when you plug your car in - all based on supply and demand that Octopus are managing.

You would need something like Home Assistant and Predbat to fully take account of iGo slots and charging your battery.

D
#3 DD

tphilbo I did have my (custom) automations charge the house battery when car charging was scheduled, but I got stung a couple of times when the schedule changed at the last minute. AFAIK Octopus don't implement the part of the protocol where they can push updates to the schedule, so you have to poll.
Now my automation waits until the car actually starts charging before doing anything. I can't remember if I let it run until the end of the half-hour, or stop as soon as the car stops charging.
(Over the summer, my priority was to ensure I wasn't actively exporting while the car was charging - I rarely bothered actually charging home battery for the few extra pennies it would earn. But in winter, grabbing any cheap power while its available will probably save some peak-rate import.)