My supplier told me my meter was out of calibration.
I called them, and said I didn't want one and in any case they probably won't work around here. Poor mobile signal.
tap.. tap.. tap..
"Oh yes, we have had some failed installs in your area. Goodbye".
Hang on I said, what about the calibration?
"Oh, that doesn't matter".
So they lied.
Andy
Mobile phones work pretty well in metal lifts, so your faraday cage might take more effort than you think.
Not really.
I live in a faraday cage. It's crap for mobiles
Not exactly. But it did involve doing something new that looked like a good idea and which hadn't been adequately stress-tested first. A bit like our A bit like the idea of letting almost anybody into the UK energy market, it working out fine when everything is optimal but then it all falls to pieces and thirty or more companies go bust all because a war breaks out in Europe.
As I recall, the Texas Power Company (if that is what it was called ) was set up to provide electricity to consumers across the whole state. I don't think there were any competitors. The premis was that they would buy energy at the best prices on the spot market and sell it at a variable price which would always be based on the best price they could buy for on the day. So far so good. Then there was a period of unseasonal extreme weather which pushed the demand sky-high and the spot market went crazy. Megawatt-hours of electricity were changing hands for tens of thousands of dollars and the cost bore down directly onto the consumer.
Like I say, not exactly smart metering (nor a particularly smart way to run a business) but something new for which all the possible outcomes had not really been thought through and prepared for.
Absolutely! If it weren't for early adopters very little would get done. I tend to be someone who sits on the sidelines and watches how it all works out for the early adopters before having a go at something new myself. Belt and Braces and a length of string in my pocket, that's me.
Nick snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.ca
They didn't lie. They have just put you on the blacklist.
It's peak-shaving, ie when wholesale prices are $$$ it pays to pay customers $$ not to use a peak unit.
I made about twenty quid, for the record. I simply bumped up the heating an hour before and then dropped the temps by a couple of degrees during the peak hour (the house smooths out the difference so it's not noticeable). I discovered Octopus have an API that gives future times of operation, so if they do it again next year I'll write a script to automate that. You do have to opt-in to each session, though, so it's not completely set-and-forget.
It still works out a lot less than the wholesale pricing during periods of supply tightness. It is likely that in the first iteration the energy company skimmed off too much for themselves.
Theo
That's mostly incorrect. Texas is a competitive energy market (remember Enron?). Because Texas is Texas, they are a separate grid (ERCOT) that doesn't connect to other grids, because that would allow those pesky Feds to regulate interstate commerce, and they couldn't let a Democrat in DC interfere with Texan internal affairs (ruled by Republicans since xxx BC).
So there is a competitive energy market a bit like the UK's. One of the energy providers called Griddy offered a tariff that tracked wholesale prices. Which was all fine, and people switched because they were cheaper. But then the cold spell froze up the gas wells, a lot of generation was knocked offline, and couldn't import from anywhere because Texas. Cue wholesale prices of $9000/MWh ($9/kWh), which Griddy was force to pass on to their customers.
Those customers were indeed stuffed. But that was the tariff they signed up to. Customers of other suppliers (who hedge their energy) were not affected
- at least they weren't paying that price for their energy, they might still have had local blackouts.
Octopus Agile, which is the nearest the UK gets to Griddy, has a price cap. So the unit cost will never go above that. At the time it was 35p/kWh, I'm not sure what the current figure is. Had the Texas situation occurred in the UK, customers would have paid 35p/kWh rather than their usual 15ish p/kWh, but the sky wouldn't have fallen.
This is how the market is designed. Some people buy shares, which offer spicy returns but can go to zero. Other people save safely in a bank account at 0.1%. The market allows you to choose. It is made very clear that shares can go down as well as up, and the same goes for dynamic energy tariffs. It's your decision at the end of the day. If you don't want to play the game you can stick with your 0.1% if you want, and if that's what's best for you then no problems.
Theo
Octopus have just announced a scheme which is the reverse. When there's excess solar energy in the local grid, during hour or two periods electricity usage will be free (if you opt in). This helps to balance the grid.
https://octopus.energy/power-ups/ Currently certain areas in the East of England only due to UKPN being the pilot DNO, the full list of postcodes:
Theo
AIUI you save by using less energy during the specified period, compared to your own "normal" for that period?
So in order for you to save again from another round of the scheme, you'd have to reset your usage to be during peak ties again, so it's hardly encouraging a permanent change to non-peak usage ...
Yes, based on an average over the last two weeks or so.
Indeed, although I think you can still use it on a tariff that incentivises off peak usage by other means (ie if peak is 'expensive' you don't want to use it 13 days so you can get a discount on the 14th). And you don't get enough notice to shape your prior 'normal' period to make the session look favourable.
Theo
HMG is paying suppliers to install smartmeters. Make of that what you will. With our money of course.
no it's not, and there lies another one in the basket of many troubles.
Another one: Supplier way overcharges, customer spots it & complains. Supplier accepts zero responsibility Customer goes to ombudsman Meanwhile supplier changes supply to higher rate prepay, resulting in excessive charges & repeated power loss. Supplier refuses to reinstate credit metering
Really for the customer it's almost all downsides.
Let me reword part of that.
Some people put money in a bank account where it is safe from everything but inflation.
Inflation in Turkey was 47% in July; last October it was 85%. Anybody who had money in a bank over there has lost half of it to inflation in the last year or so.
We've only lost a tenth. All these mortgage holders they go on about in the news are screaming about the repayments - but inflation means the capital just shrank by over 10%.
Andy
They lied by saying that my meter had to be replaced because it was out of calibration.
Andy
I do chuckle that when the sun is blazing, all those spare electrons from my solar panels exit our house, and I'm paid by Octopus 15p a unit as they exit, they go up to the top of the pole, and straight back down into our neighbour's house where she is charged 30p a unit by Octopus for them.
(Actually, she's probably on a different phase, but let's not let that spoil the effect)
Sling an extension over the fence and sell them direct at 20p a unit. ;-)
Tim
Problem is that the peak load is when people get home from work in the evening, and start cooking. In the winter they turn their heating on too, and it's dark then. Soon it'll be trying to charge cars too. Also overnight...
If I had aircon I think I'd want solar panels. They work just when I would need the power.
But I think you know this.
Andy
You might also find AirCon usefull as a supplemental heat source as almost all current types are heat pumps that can heat and cool.
When heating they are very efficient, but because electricity is expensive, they may sill be dearer than gas.
Dave
Cars are not such a problem, as they can have the charge set to be delayed until the low demand period, after everyone has gone to bed.
Cooking is more of a problem. A family want to cook and eat their meal at peak time - especially if they have young children that go to bed at
7pm or so.They are also likely to want to wash and dry clothes (such as dirty school uniform) that is needed the next day - and don't want to be dealing with it later on, when it is time for them to relax until bed.
That should be a good combination.
Except that there may not be a low demand period when millions are charging electric cars.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.