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Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by joglynne (Post 36138759)

I have been with Octopus for several years and have been very satisfied by the way they operate. I even gave in and had them install the dreaded smart meters, the website details they display have been a great help in my efforts to bring down our useage over the last few months.

The smart meters themselves have been hidden away by John since I became errrrrr 'mildly' obsessed working out energy/appliance useage figures. The spreadsheet I created was impressive though. :D

Haha, I definitely don't want a Smart Meter and Bulb asked me if they should stop asking.

I wouldn't benefit from one my usage would be the same.

Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ (Post 36138760)

Haha, I definitely don't want a Smart Meter and Bulb asked me if they should stop asking.

I wouldn't benefit from one my usage would be the same.

We were struggling to read our meters, I was no longer up to potholing and John crawling under the stairs and my having to call in help to pull him out when he managed to get stuck finally convinced me that I had to give in and get the dang things changed. :D

Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by joglynne (Post 36138762)

This sounds like something out of Laurel and Hardy! :D

Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnoopZ (Post 36138763)

This sounds like something out of Laurel and Hardy! :D

More like sketch by Little and Large. :D

---------- Post added at 11:30 ---------- Previous post was at 11:14 ----------

Just added to the Octopus site for Bulb customers.

https://octopus.energy/bulb/

Re: The energy crisis

Nothing on Bulb site yet.

Edit

Just got the email.

Re: The energy crisis

Selfish side of me does not know how I feel about this. Octopus have been quite good and stable I just hope that does not change taking on this number of extra customers. Would have liked to have seen my WHD sorted before hahaha

Re: The energy crisis

I wasnt uncertain before this announcement, now I am. :)

Re: The energy crisis

Octopus started a rewards program for not using much electricity at peak hours, on "saving day", that will be specified the day before. There will be at most 12 "saving days" in the month The rewards are based on the consumption difference between "saving" and "non saving" days.

So the strategy will be, to put the dishwasher /washing machine etc, on at peak times on non-saving days, in order to maximize the difference..

Absolutely stupid!

Also they offered advice:

1. Switch off the lights
.
.
.
.
6 Switch the TV off. Read a book.

In the bloody dark?

Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ms NTL (Post 36138849)

When the idea was announced, I wondered how they were going to assess it.
It's at least 12 "saving sessions" and you have to sign up for each one.
Link

Quote:

There'll be at least 12 Saving Sessions this winter (but likely many more), and they'll be between one and four hours long.
Based on the grid’s performance in previous years, we’re expecting around 1 or 2 Sessions per week (so around 25 in total) lasting up to 4 hours each.

Ovo's plan works differently and you can increase your usage outside of peak hours to take advantage.
Ovo Power Move

Quote:

We have analysed customer data to determine that between 4pm - 7pm is when demand on the energy grid is highest. (Did you know that the average household uses 19% of their daily total usage during these hours?) At these times of peak demand, there’s less renewable energy to go round, and so dirtier carbon-heavy power fills the gap.
Running from 1st November 2022 - 31st March 2023, the trial rewards our customers for moving non-essential energy use to times when the grid is greener and less congested. We’re looking for participants to cut their average consumption during the peak hours to less than 12.5%.

Quote:

The trial rewards customers up to £100 in total for moving non-essential energy use to times when the grid is (on average) greener and less congested.

Re: The energy crisis

Pretty sure these plans/offers require you to have a smart meter.

Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by Paul (Post 36138856)

Pretty sure these plans/offers require you to have a smart meter.

How else are they going to know your hourly usage?
This is the bit that might catch people out.

Quote:

When we say ‘connected’, we mean we need to be getting regular half-hourly readings from your meter – specifically, we need to have received 80% of readings in the last 20 days.

People might have set their smart meters up for daily readings instead.

Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by nomadking (Post 36138860)

How else are they going to know your hourly usage?
This is the bit that might catch people out.
People might have set their smart meters up for daily readings instead.

I wasn't aware that customers could amend how often they report back with readings!

Re: The energy crisis

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 36138882)

I wasn't aware that customers could amend how often they report back with readings!

Octopus: half-hourly, Daily, monthly.

I am not sure that the transmission is encrypted, there are security concerns about it.

Re: The energy crisis

Security concerns about meter readings ?

Go on, enlighten me as to what those security concerns are.

Re: The energy crisis

A couple of cyber security companies said there could be problems, but no specifics, whilst GCHQ’s Cyber Security section thinks otherwise…

A bit of research (looking at Company House accounts) show that each of the first two companies quoted in the first article have two employees…

The third quote, from a reasonably sized company (160 employees in the U.K.) says

Quote:

Chris Oakley is vice president of technical services at the cybersecurity firm Nettitude. He says: 'Occasionally, smart meters have a glitch, resulting in customers receiving erroneous bills. These issues usually get sorted out quickly, but it demonstrates that these meters are vulnerable.'

Not sure how a "glitch" shows a vulnerability?

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...-burglars.html

https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/...etering-system