Octopus Mini help wanted please

Err yes !

It gets configured via the app including password.

Yes

In Youtube just search for Octopus Mini for more videos.

Possibly

I would expect that (when un-configured) the Mini shows up as its own temporary SSID, their app connects from your phone direct to the Mini, then the app gives your WiFi credentials to the Mini, which shuts down the temporary SSID and tunnels through your internet connection back to Octopus Towers ... standard IoT stuff.

It is sometime since I set ours up but that is pretty well what I recall doing.

As Andy said, pretty standard stuff. When you set up ‘smart plugs’ etc this is typically how they work - either a temporary SSID ( from a Wi-Fi network hub in the unit) or a Bluetooth link to your phone. They do need to be close, typically within a metre or so at this stage.

Once the mini is set up, you can access it, or more exactly the data, from anywhere. Our Mini is about 6 m from the Smart Meter. The Smart Meter is in one of those wall mounted boxes on the outside wall of an integral double garage. The Mini is in a convenient spot, inside the garage, on the opposite wall.

I also have a ‘remote display’.

The Remote display is too crude to help if you want to do any real checking of energy use.

While I don’t check our usage for economy reasons, I do tinker out of interest. The Mini can, for example, show things like:

When we travel, we run a dehumidifier which turns off when full. I can see by the reduction in power consumption when it is full.

In the winter, I run a small heater in our motorhome on the drive. It is controlled via a Smart Temperature sensor and Smart plug. I can see from the power consumption when the heater switches on / off.

Obviously, I can see more ‘dramatic’ loads like our hybrid charging ( it is programmed to do so during the Economy 7 hours), the dishwasher turning on ( E7 again), and a real killer, when we run the oven self clean cycle.