Digital matters does Energy!

This post was first written for the Cardiff u3a Digital Matters group, and is copied here as it possibly has wider interest (??).

Updated 6th September 2024

A further update to comment upon our experience with Intelligent Octopus Flux. The change to the tariff went smoothly enough; the extraction from it to change to another one didn’t go smoothly, although I can’t fault the support from Octopus – just the documentation they had to follow to enable a move off the tariff. After a few weeks on Intelligent Octopus Flux, it became apparent that it might well be a good tariff for the winter (and for anyone not wanting to actively manage their solar and battery), but not necessarily for the summer when our solar power generation was at its optimum level. I won’t go into details – maybe another post sometime – but we moved on to Agile Octopus for Import and Fixed Octopus for Export, which enabled us to take advantage of both “plunge pricing”, and also allowed us to choose when to charge up the battery from the grid, and to what level. [This takes about 2mins each day after 16:00 when the pricing for the following day becomes available using this website – which gives the pricing of electricity from the grid region by region.] In summary, Intelligent Octopus Flux appears to maximise the benefit to Octopus by allowing them to use your battery for off-grid storage, and not enable the maximum charging of your battery. Good for the planet, but not necessarily good for the consumer with an investment in solar panels and battery.

Updated 18th July 2024

This post to accompany the presentation on 11th July could be sub-titled “The data driven house”; but most certainly not “The smart house” – it would be along-time before our early-Edwardian semi could even begin to compete in that category. However, over the last year we have move significantly to reduce our carbon footprint and I believe saved quite a lot of money off our household bills – at the expense it has to be said of a reduction in our capital. Spending the kids Inheritance so-to-speak, but with their full support and encouragement. So here goes …

A brief history of our energy in days gone by.

We’ve tried over the years to switch suppliers and have been with EDF, E-On before a long-stint with British Gas which we switched to when we got our first smart meter, partly on the promise of supplying us with a tool to monitor our energy usage in an app.

However the smart meter they supplied us with was a SMETS-1 one which was soon after our installation replaced in the national rollout by a SMETS-2 version – but not given to existing customers. We were assured that British Gas was working with the regulators to ensure compatibility which would also allow users to switch providers seamlessly – but this never happened. Whilst other suppliers (eg Octopus) have found a way of jury-rigging SMETS-1 meters to work with their smart tariffs, British Gas have done nothing. In fact our experience was even worse because after a period of time (perhaps a couple of years) the app ceased giving usage information to us. We pursued them for at least 18 months but eventually – disgusted with their lack of customer service and inability to respond to enquiries first, and then complaints, we decided we should move suppliers. Family members had already chosen Ovo, and Octopus, and on their experience and after substantial review and research, and also following the recommendation from Which? we chose to switch to Octopus using our existing SMETS-1 meter – with the assurance that we could, and would, be upgraded to the SMETS-2 system in due course. This meant initially we would have no monitoring locally, but we would have access to their excellent website to monitor our usage. We had to take quite a few meter readings during the switch-over period – presumably whilst they got their systems talking to our SMETS-1 meter -but we did the switch and joined their standard Octopus Flexible tariff. 

Around about the same time we got confirmation that we would have to tackle the heating of the kitchen as Jenny had a confirmed diagnosis of a health issue that meant we would have to ensure the house was much warmer than it had been in previous years. [We have been extraordinarily fortunate that last winter must have been one of the mildest on record.] So we (or Jenny to be accurate) set about getting draft excluders, heavier lined curtains, the purchase of Chimney Sheep draft excluders, replacement of double glazing with triple glazing in the main rooms Jenny used, enhancement of the insulation in the space above the kitchen extension and … upgrading of the heating in the kitchen and garden room using Infra-red Panels.

These we researched on the recommendation of a friend who has started progressively to replace all the traditional gas-heated water-filled radiators in their house with IR panels.

We visited Herschel in Bristol. We were hugely impressed at the rapid and effective performance of the panels, the fact they could be mounted on the ceilings, or walls, or standalone, and that some could have pictures or even mirrors on them, and also the low power draw and the fact they could be controlled as smart devices. Herschel provided us with an estimate of the requirement to meet our needs. We asked them to provide details of a local approved installer, who we contacted (TEG) and who then came to do a site visit. They proposed a larger pair of panels than Herschel had suggested and furthermore suggested also fitting an IR unit in the garden room, which has not been used as yet, but it was logical to install it at the same time – future-proofing the back of the house in its heating needs..

View of kitchen triple glazed windows with IR Panel (1100W) in ceiling

The installer mentioned that he could provide good pricing on Solar panels and batteries and VAT-free panels if done as one installation. [It also has to be added that he was able to get the panels at discount from Herschel, so although the units could be installed by any competent electrician (or even me!) the purchase of the units was cheaper than if we had ordered direct.] We had experience soft-pressure from the family to “do something green” – so went for it realising that we could never recover the installation costs in our lifetime but we could reduce our usage costs which were heading towards £3,600 (British Gas) in our old Edwardian house and likely to go higher.

At this time I also researched whether an air source heat pump might be a good idea but determined that given the generally poor insulation of our old house, such a solution would not be a great idea, but that a gradual replacement (as my friend was doing) of replacing radiators with IR panels when a room was being decorated was the better way to go.

The installation of the IR panels, the solar panels and the battery was very professional and they followed my preference for siting of cable routing and units so that it was very difficult to see what had been done. The after-sales support, warranty and documentation they provided was excellent, and it’s comforting to know that Craig is just a WhatsApp call away and can monitor our system and make changes as necessary.

Enphase solar panels (5) on top roof
Solar panels on kitchen extension (4) – solar panels on side (top) roof not shown (2)
GivEnergy All-in-One Battery using micro-inverters (13.5kWh capacity)
GivEnergy Gateway connecting Battery to Grid and to Household supply

When we had committed to the installation I also started pressuring Octopus to provide us with a SMETS-2 meter so that we could benefit from Smart Tariffs. They responded in a reasonable time (I suppose given the backlog of their work), but after continual pressure, the electric and gas meters were replaced, and we had new meters and the mini-hub – which allows the meters to communicate with the app on the smart phone/tablet – in place by late-October following a September installation of the solar panels and battery. Now the fun could really start!

Replacement SMETS-2 gas meter from Octopus
Octopus mini-hub to connect smart meters to Home network for monitoring locally.
Choice of tariff

Octopus has many, many tariffs. It would be impossible to go through them here, but be advised that if you have an EV (electric vehicle), or a heat pump, there are tariffs for you. They also provide tools to help you decide which tariff is the right one for you. We however were only interested in those that worked best with our solar panels and battery. The obvious one for us to start with was Octopus Flux. This had the benefit of allowing us to charge our battery up to its maximum for a very low rate between 02:00 and 05:00 and enable us to discharge from the batter gradually through the day whilst with the management of the GivEnergy battery we could ensure that there was a full battery for the hours of 16:00 to 19:00. It also ensured that the battery was full when we most wanted heat from the IR panels so we set them to kick-in at 04:00 in the morning and with scheduled time periods arranged for them to be on (subject to the temperature not exceeding the threshold) when we needed them on.

Herschel Plugin WiFi Thermostat and Govee smart temperature device to check thermostat
Monitoring, reduction in monthly direct debit

I started an intensive monitoring of our electricity usage, changing the various settings possible on the GivEnergy Dashboard 

The dashboard control for the inverter and battery
Screenshot of what is happening to your GivEnergy Battery on the web dashboard

I won’t detail the experiments and changes I tried. Suffice to say it educated me about how the system could work and what I needed to consider to get optimum benefit from the system/installation. I was also very soon able to reduce the monthly direct debit that we were paying to Octopus from the initial figure they suggested (when on the standard Flexible tariff – which in itself was less than the £300 that BG had wanted from us) to now £200 a month – and we’re over £600 in credit at the moment. So an immediate 33% reduction in our energy costs – but it could be more!!!

Octopus Flux pays you when your system exports to the grid. The payment you get is less than the amount you’re paying for the import of power into the household. Last year Octopus introduced a tariff that was the same for import and export, which meant that charging the battery at a fixed time no longer was necessary and that you could get a higher payback for export during the grid high-demand period of 16:00 to 19:00. So it seemed a tariff I should try out.

Change of tariff to Intelligent Octopus Flux

We’ve been on this tariff now since May and I have had some issues with understanding how exactly it works, but essentially you’re letting your battery be controlled by Octopus and become part of the National Grid. I don’t have any difficulties with that after learning that the grid is just one huge battery effectively and that the cable that feeds your house doesn’t effectively belong to anyone except the National Grid (or its surrogates). However I’m having a dialogue with them currently on the range of battery charging/discharging they’re deploying and whether it’s too narrow. When I was on Octopus Flux I was charging the battery to 100% between 02:00 and 05:00, or something less if there was a lot of sun expected in the day, and discharging down to as low as 4%. Currently Intelligent Octopus Flux appears to be only operating in a range of 55% to 77%. I’m asking them why??

The upshot of this is that if you’re prepared to be an active battery monitor, it might be worthwhile to be on Octopus Flux, if you’re passive (or just want to save the planet), then Intelligent Octopus Flux is the one for you. I suspect a combination is best for us with Octopus Flux in the winter 6 months, and Intelligent Octopus Flux in the summer 6 months. Especially if I can combine it with smart monitoring for the winter months. Watch this space!!

For completeness, the screens from the various apps I’m using …

The apps I use in the Home
The control screen for the IR panels
The settings screen for the IR panels
Govee smart temperature and humidity
Govee dashboard
GivEnergy app Dashboard
GivEnergy app power consumption screen
GivEnergy app power graph
GivEnergy app customising options
Enphase app solar panel power production
Enphase app – power production graph
Octopus app – recording power usage
Update – 18th July 2024

In the meeting I mentioned that we were having some outstanding issues in respect of the Tariff we had decided to move on to – this was a move from Octopus Flux (import and export) to Intelligent Octopus Flux. This move just didn’t work for us. We had to give up control of our battery to Octopus and it began to emerge that they were manipulating the settings to maximise operational benefits for themselves. We might have got some small financial benefit over standard tariffs, but not really very significant ones.

We’ve now changed to Agile Octopus for Import and Octopus Fixed (12m) for Export. As we don’t really want to export energy, but maximise the use of our battery, this makes much more sense. The very low Import rates on Agile we can utilise to charge our battery – something which wasn’t happening the way we’d wanted it to on the other tariffs.

So hopefully a closed chapter – I’ll of course update you on any subsequent developments.

The apps I use …

Unfortunately I’m not able to provide much insight into all platforms – Android and Apple, smartphone, tablet, laptop and desktop, MacOS and Windows – I can only show examples from the Apple world – iOS, iPadOS and MacOS. There are devices that increasingly are getting to be very good at monitoring what you’re doing, where you are, and alerting others to potential difficulties you might be in. Again, I’m unable to offer much advice and information on these – I do look at the Apple Watch and wonder whether I should buy one, but so far have resisted the temptation.

So I’ll write in generalities, hopefully give pointers to as wide a range of possibilities as I can, but please realise … it’s an impossible task to cover all bases.

Going one stage further, I could have talked about other smart devices – home hubs, SmartTVs, etc., but again that would extend the scope further than we can handle in a short presentation.

I will focus on accessing services that I think you may find useful; I hope you will find some of the information helpful. I’m not that confident of being able to sharpen your bodies or minds, but hopefully at least you’ll have a few props for our collective failing memories!!

However … a starting-point (or two)

How many of you talk to your photo when you’re not making a phone-call?

I suspect not many of you. Speech-to-text has come a long way since I first encountered it and now wherever you see a microphone icon you can press it and talk to your message app; or to your Notes or Reminders apps; or to your word-processor; etc. Give it a try, it’s easier to edit the mistakes made in the transcription, than it is to correct the annoying fat finger problems, or the incorrect auto-mistake corrections!

Then there’s the voice assistants. How many of you talk to your TV; your music system; your home heating system; your lights – you get the picture! I find them confusing and don’t replace using the Remote Controls, but perhaps you’ll have better luck. You should however try and standardise on one system whether it’s Siri, Alexa, Hey Google when selecting a new consumer good – if you possibly can.

Browsing and searching the internet (the web)

On iOS I now tend to use Safari (iPhone or iPad) to make full use of bookmarking and Tab Groups which are amazing for storing similar sites in a separate browser window. Otherwise Brave or Safari (on Laptop). The search engines I use (not Google) are DuckDuckGo (on iOS), or Ecosia.

A Note about Paying for Software

Why should you expect to get everything for free? There are a lot of very good free programmes about, but I’m continually surprised at how many people expect that all the software they use should be free. I’ve written another article on this subject which you might find interesting.

Security and Privacy

Password Manager – I have migrated away from using LastPass for holding passwords and accounts to using Apple’s Keychain and Password approach. If I wasn’t an Apple user I would probably use Google’s Password Manager, and if I worked on Windows, Apple and Android machines I would probably use 1Password nowadays. I still have LastPass running as a backstop to Keychain as not all the accounts seemed to migrate over to the Apple offering. So LastPass is the archive, and I refer to it running as an app on the desktop, or mobile device when I find credentials are missing.

If you use a password manager, just be aware of FIDO – a standard that most of the industry has adopted to move away from passwords and towards passkeys which incorporates Two Factor Authentication (2FA) and Biometrics – Apple, Google and 1Password have all incorporated FIDO into their software so that you get the benefit of both a password repository and inter-working with systems that use 2FA and biometrics.

Nord VPN – I do use this app when out-and-about to protect my device from hacking in public WiFi spaces. I need to remember to switch it off however when at home, because there the devices are secure behind the router, and also when cellular because many sites do not work off cellular with the VPN running.

Authenticator – it’s on the devices, But I rarely use it. I tend to use my device with a call-back with a six-digit number as my preferred method of 2fa (two factor authentication) when a website is not setup for biometric approval/authentication.

Adblock Plus (Apple) (Google) – probably not so necessary since I use DuckDuckGo and Brave, but I mention it because this one is the best – and I use it with Safari (and Chrome) – it’s different from another one called Adblock!

Now … let’s get onto the Apps!

Organisation

Although I use the Apple apps on my devices, they access Google services – gmail, calendar and contacts, which I tend to use, and prefer – a long-term choice.

Mail – all accounts are linked to Apple mail app. I cannot stress enough how beneficial it is to aggregate multiple email addresses into one app (or client if you’re on a desktop/laptop) – makes tracking and archiving your mail so much easier. I’m now using iCloud mail as my main personal email service.

Calendar – linked to Google Calendar. This enable me to share calendars with other family members and be able to put events into different categories.

Contacts – linked to Gmail. As above. We share one set of contacts between us using Google Contacts but linked to the Apple Contacts app.

Notes (EverNote) – I used to recommend EverNote and there’s nothing wrong with it at all. I think a good note-taking app is essential and just the place to add quick notes, link to audio/voice memos, etc. Apple have improved their app significantly so it’s just more convenient (and cheaper) to use it. I can share a Notes folder using iCloud.

Reminders – I’ve just started using this app as I recognise my memory is not as good as it once might have been. Like Notes, you can share a Reminder list through iCloud.

Information

News – I start the day by reading a couple of newspapers, or at least the headlines – I pay for a couple of subscriptions. I prefer to consume news  for myself rather than that curated for me (eg the Apple News app).

Feedly – Following quick on the heels of the newspaper I look at my RSS Reader. This is an app that presents me with a short abstract of links to websites that I subscribe to using a technology called RSS (Really Simple Syndication). You just provide the app with the URL of the websites you want to follow and you get the latest posts. I may check-in several times a day.

Pocket – If something “pops up” that I want to read later I’ll add it to Pocket which I can read later, even when I’m not connected to the Internet. Think of it as a bookshelf. I may also add a link as a Bookmark in my browser. I’ve recently discovered how much better bookmarking is now in Safari. I can setup Tab Groups – create complete windows of tabs on a specific topic, and have Folders to organise the bookmarks I want to keep.

Flipboard – If there’s something I think might be of value to any of the Cardiff u3a groups I’m involved with, I’ll add it to a Flipboard magazine (or others that I curate) for open or restricted viewing.

Weather – I like the Met Office app I must say, but the Norwegian Met Office app (yR) is also good and the interface is rather different. The Weather & Radar app is another possibility and there’s also another one with a similar name available on the Apple App Store, as well as this one – netweather.tv. Plenty to choose from!

Health

I use MyHealth Online to contact my surgery to obtain Repeat Prescriptions. Currently my practice doesn’t allow me to book appointments, and Wales is behind England in enabling access to your patient record. You should however be able to obtain a complete record of your patient record by requesting it from your GP. It will be provided in the form of a CD.

Of course there are the Health apps supplied with your device Apple and Android – although the latter appears to be just a way of connecting data from other health and fitness apps into one place on your device. Be sure to complete the Emergency Contact details on your phone – ICE (In Case of Emergency).

Sadly, the NHS app in Wales leaves a lot to be desired – nor further comment, but Bridgend leads the way in Wales with with its Trauma and Orthopaedic Care app.

Foodwise – an initiative to help you eat the right food and improve your health.

Everyday & Lifestyle

Here I would highlight the Banking apps – which I would recommend everyone to seriously consider using if they have a recent device which has biometric (ie fingerprint or facial recognition) authentication. The apps are actually more secure than browser-based banking nowadays, but it would always be wise to use VPN software in a public area.

Also the Wallet (Apple and Google) which can hold details of store cards – saving space in your physical wallet or purse, and Pay apps (Apple and Google) which (as well as PayPal) can replace having to remember your card details when paying for goods online.

Home control apps, eg Hive, to control the heating

Cardiff Gov app to check on Collection days, in Bridgend you can use this page as a way of getting to services

A calculator app

A unit conversion app

Dragon Taxis app

Voice memo app (very useful to record a consultation with a doctor), or anyone else for that matter.

A QR Reader app which will quickly take you to a webpage for instance.

Various apps too many to mention. Focus on perhaps just using one or two in any category – retail, hotels, etc. …

Amazon – need I say more

Sainsbury’s – a life-saver to do click’n’collect during lockdown

Co-Op – to get the offers once a week.

Public Transport

RealTimeTrains has been recommended to me as a good journey tracker, but it’s not an app as far as I can see.

The Stagecoach app (Google) (Apple) and the Cardiff Bus app are used by Cardiff u3a members. For Bridgend and Porthcawl there’s the First Bus site from which you can download an app.

There’s also Traveline Cymru which enables more complex journeys to be planned. It has an app you can download as well..

Travel

Getting around – Waze – members mentioned this app as a neat way of navigating around a place and avoiding traffic. I haven’t used it in while and I should really give it a go.

A new one, recommended by my daughter – City Mapper – it is both a website, or from that URL, you can download an app for both iOS and Android. It has coverage for a lot of US and European cities (including Cardiff) – https://citymapper.com/cities – and navigates you around selecting the best route from the filters you apply, and the transport mode you want to use. It even tells you how many steps you will have to climb, and where you can pick-up  a hire bike and how many it thinks there should be there.

Planning a trip – A website two Cardiff u3a members have tried out, is Roam Around. It’s an AI pattern recognition site that recovers things you might wish to do on a visit to a place. It may not be up to date however. This is of course in addition to the booking and review sites such as Trip Advisor and Expedia.

Telling someone where you are – A really great service is What 3 Words. If you’re in trouble – you’ve broken down in the car, or fallen down on a walk. If you fire-up that website or you’ve downloaded the app to your phone you can tell the emergency service (or a friend) where you are within 3m by telling them the three words that you will see on your screen. [NB – it doesn’t work without a phone signal].

Mapping

Google Maps – I could use Apple Maps, but I’m now so used to Google’s maps that I probably will not change in the short-term. I find the interface to CarPlay not that easy to follow for either of them to be honest, so tend to use the car’s inbuilt GPS.

OS Maps – my preferred mapping service. A very small charge annually gives you access to all the Ordnance Survey’s maps down to the 1:25000 scale.

Maps Ancient and ModernSide-by-side was recommended by a Cardiff u3a member as a neat way of looking at maps archived at the National Library of Scotland. It’s not an app, but a very useful reference.

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Music – a variety of choices here. I use the Apple Music service (I subscribe to that) rather than Spotify, Amazon, or others.

TV – whole gamut of streaming services: iPlayer, ITVX (subscription – formerly Britbox), NowTV (subscription), Apple TV (subscription), etc.

Members mentioned Shazam as a great little app to inform you what the music playing in the background is, that you can’t identify.

Photography

Lightroom – Adobe has a free camera/editing program but without some of the features of the full paid version (which I have). Worth looking at as an alternative to the camera app on your phone. (Apple) (Google)

Photos/Google Photos – the phone cameras are getting better and better as are the apps that you can use to do edits on your pictures. A really good basic photo-editing app on your phone or tablet is Snapseed – (Apple) (Google).

Flickr – you can publish and share with both Google Photos and Apple iCloud, but Flickr is a good choice if you want to present your creations to friends, family or indeed anyone! (Apple) (Google)

I’m about to trial using Halide for the iPhone, which seems a quite sophisticated but easy to use camera app, which turns your phone into a digital SLR. It has a relatively low-cost annual subscription, or a one-off purchase option with lifetime updates. Watch this space.

Social

Messages – on iOS/iPadOS the messaging goes by a proprietary protocol called iMessage (a Blue message). If the recipient doesn’t have an Apple device or you’re not on WiFi, this defaults to SMS Text messaging (a Green message). [A further explanation of Blue/Green messages with iMessage.]

FaceTime / Zoom – The former is Apple, the latter is what we’ve used over the pandemic. Both nice apps.

Signal – my preferred alternative to WhatsApp. Secure, encrypted end-to-end communication. Open Source. I subscribe to the service to help their running costs. I wondered about using Telegram but I feel that it’s just a bit close to Russia to trust.

What no twitter or Facebook?

twitter – I guess that my use of twitter (or X as it’s called now) will even further decline, as has my use of Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp already. I have obtained a Mastodon account but have not really experimented much with it as yet – it’s another Open Source project, and I do like Open Source!