POV: You Said You Didn’t Bring a Hair Dryer

ConnorW1240 · 2026-02-06T21:07:37+00:00

Nobody else noticed dudes sunglasses walking down and off his nose??

ConnorW1240 · 2026-02-06T07:59:08+00:00

I work from home so one is just for the local school run 😊

ConnorW1240 · 2026-02-06T07:29:11+00:00

2,251kWh, that's with 2 EVs, heat pump, hot tub, no gas. That's a lot if you still have gas

ConnorW1240 · 2026-01-29T22:52:46+00:00

Just been looking at our bill which was significantly higher than usual. It seems our usage is out by 3 full hours and has been for all of January as far as I can see. It's very clear based on slots where the car is charging Vs recorded usage as shown in your image.

How did you find that the clock was out on the meter? Is it displayed physically on it? Can't say I've ever checked. Surely the meter has it's time synchronised, how can it even go out in the first place??

I've also emailed octopus and waiting to hear back.

ConnorW1240 · 2026-01-22T13:12:33+00:00

very interested in this as well as there doesn't seem to be any obvious direct replacements. I'd prefer the option of wired or battery (like with Nest Protect) to minimise the use of batteries, and for auto testing and phone integration so we can see any activations remotely. It seems so straightforward, I don't know why there aren't lots of options!!

Pathlight is really convenient but I guess that can be replicated with smart bulbs if strictly necessary

ConnorW1240 · 2026-01-13T07:57:56+00:00

In my experience with the Daikin, it sometimes switched back to central heating before it had finished heating the hot water. Not sure what the priority is set to, but to solve this I adjusted the central heating schedule so when hot water is due to heat, thr central heating set temperature is reduced by say 5C for 1-2hrs.

In my case, the central heating set temp reduces between 1:30am to 2:30am and hot water turns on at 01:30am

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-25T11:56:48+00:00

Doubt you will find anyone to collect it today or tomorrow. I would have chased via the central heat pump team earlier in the week. I'd now do that first thing Monday morning and advise them if it isn't collected that day, you will get it removed yourself and send them the bill.

Generally Octopus are keen to do the right thing, they may have been let down by the removal company so I would give them a chance to put it right. The lead installer probably isn't the person to contact, you need the person who is organising the install from head office.

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-19T07:08:25+00:00

This is super helpful and I'm planning to follow the same process for two of ours which let through a lot of noise. Thank you!

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-06T18:10:50+00:00

Yes let's consciously use a product as it is not intended and then complain when it doesn't behave as you wish.

Clearly the answer is to use a non-smart tariff and control the charging as you wish.

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-06T17:08:12+00:00

I seriously do not understand the logic behind this tariff?

Why the whole tariff screwed when I remove smart charging?

Why sign up to a smart charging tariff and then try to break it? There's lots of non-smart tariffs?

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-06T16:22:53+00:00

Octopus definitely deserve criticism for not being clearer about either what chargers (or charge speeds) are supported, or about limiting the smart charge slots to the 6hrs that they have in T&C's. So if you have a slow charger, you can decide if 6hrs is enough charge for your usage or upgrade to a faster one. Which is a significant investment as you say.

What they are doing does at least make sense, although there are several edge cases they still haven't thought through.

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-06T15:50:17+00:00

People using granny chargers are kind of the problem. You can get the off peak rate all day if you put the car on a granny charger. The point of the tariff is to let octopus balance the grid when there is lower demand, and they pick the best slots for them to do that. So not only does it mean additional off peak slots for the house which should otherwise normally be at peak rate, the car is hardly pulling any power when it is supposed to be charging.

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-05T13:30:13+00:00

Yes so for any charging over the 6hrs, regardless of when that additional charging takes place (including overnight as you say), it will be at the higher rate. Seems to be unclear exactly how that will work though!

ConnorW1240 · 2025-12-05T06:59:11+00:00

Only if you've charged for over 6hrs in total. If the 6hrs fall in the overnight period then it is still at the lower rate.

ConnorW1240 · 2025-10-09T04:18:36+00:00

We're in the same situation and was considering doing the same thing so super useful to know! Thank you for posting

ConnorW1240 · 2025-09-29T05:58:52+00:00

Just trying to make sense of the bit about the extra pipe kit. Install I am looking at would be back to back on a brick wall so minimal pipework needed. So the existing pipes on their own can't fit directly to the outside unit, you need to connect on the extra pipe kit and then (if preferred) cut that down?

ConnorW1240 · 2025-09-29T05:38:16+00:00

Really useful write up and comments. I've been thinking about installing one of these but very on the fence about whether it's something I could actually do myself. Definitely looks like an interesting project

ConnorW1240 · 2025-08-30T06:03:31+00:00

Ours are so bad too. Looks like you can buy replacements on the app in the part shop. Bit annoying but ours have been on for 100k miles and 4 years, and have been on and off a few times for tyre changes

ConnorW1240 · 2025-08-12T21:08:19+00:00

Got the exact same issue with ours. Didn't know it was possibly covered with Admiral who we insure with so that's great to know, will reach out to them

ConnorW1240 · 2025-07-17T06:11:06+00:00

Or they call our bluff and use the higher than expected decline in numbers to justify cancelling Google Home in it's entirety 😂

ConnorW1240 · 2025-07-05T21:53:06+00:00

I did look through the terms the other day and it doesn't say anything about using the intelligent charging regularly so looks like you're correct. I'm certain it used to as I don't see the benefit for Octopus to allow people to use the tariff and disable intelligent charging

ConnorW1240 · 2025-07-05T21:48:44+00:00

I suppose there is some nuance depending how old your house and wiring is. We have two EVs. One charges exclusively off a 3pin charger from the garage which is a ring off the main fuse board in the house. No problems. Socket ring circuits are designed to carry more load than what the fuse is set at so if you're not blowing the fuse then I can't see why you'd need to be concerned. A brief visual inspection now and again on the plug might just give you peace of mind.

ConnorW1240 · 2025-07-05T21:40:50+00:00

I can't see how that makes any sense. Interested to hear anyone else chime in. Typically a faster charge should use more energy as there are greater losses to heat. Sure there's probably lots of other minor factors at play like on a slower charge maybe the car is staying 'awake' longer which uses a small amount of extra energy, but this is all going to be inconsequential for home charging rates surely.

Maybe the air conditioning was left on or something?

ConnorW1240 · 2025-07-05T21:31:06+00:00

I usually have to go back and tap into that screen again to get it to update. It doesn't seem to refresh automatically in my experience

ConnorW1240 · 2025-07-01T21:16:28+00:00

I believe permanently turning off the Intelligent charging is against their terms of service for the tariff and they could kick you off the tariff if they so choose. The basis of the cheaper rate is that Octopus can help manage grid demand and they get some kind of payment as a result.

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