Octopus E7 / Smart Meter

[alan_m]

Octopus explanation

[me9]

Depends on where you are. Nothern Britain uses a dedicated network provided by Arqiva (at about 400MHZ IIRC) and the south via a mobile phone style network. The dividing line is south of the Tees, but north of the Humber.

[Theo]

That's very useful and well worth watching, as it gives a description of what they might do with the Mini or a similar device in future.

I think the strategy of having a Mini-type device in addition to the smart meter makes a lot of sense. The meter is fixed infrastructure that's expensive to replace and might only get upgraded once a decade or even less, while the Mini is a small and cheap bridge to the internet. If they come out with a better Mini device they can just stick one in the post, whereas replacing the meter is a complex process needing an electrician.

For those in dead spots out of DCC coverage, if the Mini is certified as a way of transmitting data for billing purposes then the Mini could be the way for the meter to get connectivity. If the connection fails (eg householder moves and internet is disconnected) then it reverts to being a dumb meter, which billing systems already support.

Theo

[Andy Burns]

Legislation that was sitting dormant, to perform load control of smart devices was enabled last week ...

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

I've requested one, but there is a long waiting list, and it's seems very much an in development item. Maybe soon to be replaced with a 'Mini Pro'. It seems to be a better, more detailed option than the standard IHD, but you would get the IHD anyway.

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Very, very true...

I moved to Octopus Variable in July, only recently did I hear about the Octopus Tracker tariff, investigated, and found I could save a fortune on the Tracker. The tariff can change daily, based on the wholesale cost of each energy, which allows Octopus to pass some of the risk onto the customer. The customer can save upto 30% to 50%, on their Kwh costs, on the tariff, without doing anything special, or having an EV, off-peak, or avoiding use at set times. Really good people to deal with.

If fancies a move to Octopus, here is a referral so we each get £50 off our bills - https://share.octopus.energy/jade-light-417

[Brian]

I have an installation date in mid Feb.

There was an earlier one but it isn’t convenient.

I’m not overly concerned how it works, just curious.

[Brian]

Kent.

[Andy Burns]

An installation date? I'd have thought they'd stick one in the post, you join it to your wifi, pair it to the meters, install the app and job done, no?

[Theo]

My Mini took a couple of months from filling in the form to arriving, so the waiting list wasn't that long. I suppose they're manufacturing them in batches, so maybe they collect enough signups then submit a new order.

They say on new smart meter installs you can opt for a Mini instead of the IHD if you prefer. I think the waiting list for smart meter installs is not enormous (weeks not months), so a quicker route to get one from the beginning.

Theo

[Tim+]

I believe that smart meters use some sort of Zigbee protocol to transfer data to the IHD. It’s the Zigbee signal that the Mini is picking up and forwarding to Octopus.

Tim

[Tim+]

New batch due towards the end of this month I’ve been told. Fingers crossed.

Tim

[alan_m]

I received my mini in late Nov/early Dec last year after waiting 3 weeks after requesting one.

In the link I posted previously

it is stated that there doesn't appear to be a common (implemented) standard for smart metres between manufacturers and octopus are working through all the various options/implementations so that the mini works with them all. I assume there may be a longer delay if you have a meter manufactured by certain companies.

[Brian Gaff]

I have the E7 from EDF, the guy told me that all of the meters used are now exactly the same, and I know it works as the cost per unit changes at the relevant times on the speaking user display they gave me. I think the most problems I have are with the admin not the actual reading, who seem to be beyond recognising that their calculations are wrong during the Government subsidies. I'd suspect all these companies have shall we say operator errors!

As for how its done. It is apparently not 4g, its something very like the emergency services use on a special network. No other details, but somebody somewhere probably knows. Yes I was puzzled by the extra options like Wifi and others on the display window, but they are not active apparently. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Just to be clear here, it is only the rates of all supplied electricity that change with hours. I for example also have an immersion heater on its own timer and it also is taking advantage of the cheaper rate. The storage heaters are also switched, but as these are on a circuit of their own with no manual override, they are controlled by the switch in the meter. Brian

[Max Demian]

When I had E7 the main immersion heater element was switched by the meter like the storage heater. There was a second immersion heating just the top of the tank I could have on at any time. The storage heater also had an element that I could turn on at any time if the bricks ran out of heat.

[Andrew]

This cold snap plus the fact that 6 of our 9 nuclear power stations are said to be shut down because of 'problems' might have frightened them