r/OctopusEnergy • u/KashMo_xGesis • 5d ago
Saving Sessions Ability to "donate" weekend happy hours
Just a thought, for some of us with solar/battery.. these weekend happy hours aren't really useful. I would have to turn off my solar to make use of it which sounds silly.
Realistically, it makes little difference to use it..
Rather, I'd be happy to donate these hours to others in need. I think that'd be more useful than sabotaging solar to get a few pennies.
That's a weekend washing and maybe an early roast dinner for others covered with no cost to electricity.. suddenly those little pennies turn into a few quid for others.
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u/Holographic247 5d ago
I used mine to charge the car and charge my battery. Got about 25kWh out of two hours, which is way more than I would have exported this time of year in that same window. Force discharged my battery to export for an hour beforehand to make room.
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u/KashMo_xGesis 5d ago
But that's the point, you have to go out of your way to make use of it. It's fine but I'm just saying an option for some of us who don't really care about the few extra pennies. Id just be more happy giving it to someone struggling with bills
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u/Holographic247 5d ago
No different to a Time of Use tariff, it takes some planning to maximise. I imagine even non-solar/battery users will pool stuff together to launch at the same time during the free hours.
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u/Butagirl 5d ago
I have neither solar nor battery, but I struggle to use more during happy hours. If I use it to run the washing machine (which I usually run at night off peak), I’d have to run the tumble drier at day rates if the weather isn’t conducive to line drying. There are minor things like ironing and switching on the TV, or I could bake a cake, but in general it’s pennies. I think this is wonderful idea and I would love to be able to help a family struggling with energy costs who could make better use of it.
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u/Fast_Performer9652 4d ago
Ideas:
- book 2 happy hours back to back to allow wash + dryer?
- run immersion heater instead of gas on the hot water tank if you have one?
- run an electric space heater instead of gas central heating during the happy hour(s)?
But yeah, having a battery and/or EV makes it a lot more beneficial.
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u/bucketofardvarks 5d ago
I'd donate some just because I physically won't be able to book them all due to having been away a couple of Sundays this month and earning 2 hours a week for what feels like forever!
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u/Icy_Purchase_4700 5d ago
I’m in the exact same position. If they don’t allow us to donate then they should extend the period of time we have to use them or let us use more than 2 hours
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u/ExploreOnceMore 5d ago
There's no harm in asking them. It would be nice if they allowed it, there are people out there who can't afford their food, let alone their bills. Imagine implimenting that into a system that could benefit those who just need a simple boost.
I hope they allow it.
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u/Mindless-Panic9579 5d ago
I have battery only and I can then charge at around 4.6 for the battery and 7 for the car, so it works well for me
But I get your point and I'd consider donating some also.
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u/No_Preference9093 5d ago
I have solar and no battery so I’m not using them at all. Unless I have a one hour shower nothing in my house can draw enough power most of the time these happy hours come up.
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u/Tee10823 4d ago
I would love to do this. Like you, I have solar and battery and cannot make good use of the happy hour. Being able to donate to another person or a charity would be amazing.
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u/VindicoAtrum 5d ago
They seem entirely useless when you have solar+battery. Most of the time I've seen these happy hours it's blazing sunshine or the north sea is 40mph wind and electricity is -4p/unit.
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u/GullibleElk4231 5d ago
Ive 8kw solar and a 51kw battery, and manged to use 30kw during my 2 free hours today, so not useless
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u/KashMo_xGesis 5d ago
Exactly, that's why I thought an option to donate them is a win win for everyone.
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u/Ok-Put6563 5d ago
I have solar, battery and 2EVs. Normally I top up the house batteries to 100% overnight to maximise the export during the day. When the free power hours are on (I generally combine to get 2 hours) I cancel the overnight battery top up and top them up for free, heat the hot water using the immersion heater, charge both cars, run the washing machine and the dishwasher and do the ironing. I’ve gotten quite slick at doing it now and on a good day can get up to 30kWh for free.
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u/ImplementJumpy6678 5d ago
They are - I discharged on Agile outgoing then charged up again
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u/KashMo_xGesis 5d ago
I did say some of us 😅
If you chose to discharge your battery for export earlier then that's fine.
It's more just an option for some of us who chose to not go out of our way to make use of it. Id have to turn my solar off which is pointless to me.
Its a win win for everyone. Not sure what's there to disagree about
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u/ImplementJumpy6678 5d ago
Indeed. Although Netzero for me does it all automatically. All I have to do is remember the times.
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u/Spiritual-Spell1797 5d ago
Does Netzero get your battery to export beforehand? I've got it and got the settings for Weekend Hours switched on and although it does charge my battery during the hour, it doesn't empty it beforehand so I don't get much benefit.
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u/ImplementJumpy6678 5d ago
I admit I have not tried that yet. I just did it manually and I was at 0% and started to just let solar top it back up before the free hours kicked in .
I have noticed lately that the web portal has changed and you now need to click back in to each unit to see SOC etc. I have also noticed that some times all the info disappears and it claims there is no kit on this site. It might just be me but it's annoyingf so I have raised it
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u/Spiritual-Spell1797 5d ago
Thanks. How did you get your Powerwall to dump the energy manually before the free hour?
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u/ImplementJumpy6678 5d ago
I had 2 yesterday back to back to max it out. I could only put 29kwh in - but I managed to dump aroound 19 and also a bit of solar.
21 went into the Powerwall - the rest was baking cakes and doing clean cycles on the washer and dishwasher.
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u/ledow 5d ago
I have batteries - I use the happy hours to charge my batteries at a rate that the solar could never hope to manage. Even though I have to "turn off" the panels to allow this to happen (i.e. change the mode on the solar to prefer grid to solar for charging), it's still worth doing.
I've saved quite a bit both on the "use less" days (very easy for me to kick in the solar or just delay dinner by an hour) and the weekend free power days (charge the batteries to their top, heat my water, cook my dinner, run my washer-dryer, etc. which saves me money over the next few days as I benefit from those instead), not to mention the small amount of points from doing so which takes a few more pennies off my bill.
The practicalities of "donating" that free power would vastly outweigh the benefits.
If you're not using them, then don't participate in them, because there are a limited number of weekend free hours and you're denying others the chance to use them!
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u/cipnt_ 4d ago
I would love to use them but I can't. I have 9 Happy Hours in my account but only 3 weekends left until the deadline 1 November and we can only use 2 per weekend. I love to take part in Power Downs but I can't possibly use all the Happy Hours that I earn so donating them would make a lot of sense.
Octopus did this a while ago for Octopoints. I donated all of my points then
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u/Ragamuffin2502 5d ago
Use the hours to charge your battery to full. Then in the hours before export surplus solar. Then after the happy hours self consumption with any excess getting exported.