Help wanted - what to do next

AndrewR

First off apologies if I'm going over old ground but I've looked through a large number of the posts in this forum and am getting myself more confused the more I read.

During lock down I bought an EV but ESBN were not install night meters due to Covid so I was charging at full rate. I've moved supplier to get the best rate and have just had a smart meter installed to take advantage of the lower night rate for charging.

I had solar PV installed (6kw) in early March with a battery pack and have been consuming a fair % of the electricity generated internally with (c. 36 - 40%) and a slightly lower amount exported to the grid (sprint & summer months I know).

I'm working from home at the moment with everyone else out at school(s) so even on an overcast day like today the battery is 100% full and I've exported 45% of my generation so the FIT is appealing. I do put on as many devices as possible during the day but there's only so much washing you can do! Am reluctant to be reliant on night time rates for heavy duty devices like my dishwasher and washing machine due to them being potential fire hazards.

So my question is what to do next?

1. Switch to Day and Night rates - will I lose the potential for FIT? The Solar and EV batteries can be charged during the night to take advantage of lower rates which I think will likely outweight the FIT benefit. I don't charge the EV every night but when it does charge the grid consumption spikes
2. Any benefit to expanding my battery capacity? I think not currently as I can't even use my current generation during the day but a bigger battery would give me more storage for use during peak evening hours when everyone is back in the house
3. Is is possible to claim back for the energy export to the grid from when the NC6 form was submitted - I presumed I couldn't until I had a smart meter installed to accurately measure the export volume

TIA,

Andrew

Chancer20

Hi,

Sorry no one has commented so far. I am not a guru by any stretch, but I have read up a lot on the various subjects. The following is just IMHO.

1 - Yes switch to a Day/Night rate for Smart Meters? For example Electric Ireland have a night rate at 9.16c. This way you get paid for your actual export and get various "Insights" on your usage that might help you reorganise your usage.

2 - Batteries are becoming less popular since the FIT came in at as much as 20c. With your EV, you will have less to export. Go for a MyEnergi Zappi which can be set to only charge your car when there is surplus power from your solar array and from your overnight low rate. It's always better to consume "live" if you can, there are losses in all types of export be that to the grid or to a battery. This is all more relevant in winter when there is significantly less power from your array. (If you have a hot water cylinder and immersion, you could got for the MyEnergi Eddi too.)

3 - You do not need to have a Smart Meter to get paid for exported power from Feb this year. You will be getting what's called "Deemed Export" off your old meter up to the point your Smart Meter went in when you will get actual export.

BTW, I hope you don't mind me saying I think you are worrying too much about washing machines and dishwashers on overnight due to fire hazards, the actual chances of a fire is very very low, and if you have decent interconnected fire or heat alarms installed in the rooms housing the appliances, you will have fair warning if the worst happens.

bullit_dodger

Yeah, the fire risk of machines at night comes up regularly enough. It's good to be concerned about stuff, as fires do happen but in reality, statistically they are pretty safe. If you want the stats on it yourself here you go.

fire-statistics-data-tables-fire0605-211021.xlsx (live.com)

it's for England, but it's not so much the numbers, but the relative absolute values to each other which is interesting. E.g. 245 fires due to dish washers in the UK in a 10 year period. Ok, that sounds bad right? until you look at 342 fires due to fridges. that's right nearly 50% higher chance of a fire on your fridge than a dish washer. You don't plug out your fridge when you go to bed, do you? But statistically there's more chance of a fire on the fridge than a dishwasher. Nahh, people generally "over concern" on that one I think.

In reality, a well-maintained device these days be it fridge/washing machine/etc are light years better than they were in the 70's-80's, pretty safe.

paulbok

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119583025#Comment_119583025

Had a call out last year from a tumble drier repair man and asked him about the chances of fires. He said that of the few that he's ever heard of with driers, they were all attributed to either blocked filters / a build up of lint or down to cig lighters in pockets that overheat when drying. circuit boards can burn out, but have very little combustible materials to spread if the drier is properly maintained.

Though as the odds of a fire are very low, they are still not 0, I have smoke detectors in any room with such heavy electrical devices, and appropriate extinguisher and/or fire blankets in those rooms.

My biggest problem with load shifting is there is no delay function on my dishwasher, so can only leave it until last person goes to bed, usually before night rates kick in.

Ubbquittious

The night rate is close enough now to what the day rate was a couple of years ago. So not that bloody cheap, I wouldn't be putting in any special effort to try and use it

slave1

Depends on what tariff you are on, night rate three times cheaper for me

DC999

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119583748#Comment_119583748

Hey. Get a smart plug. Turn dishwasher on for a few seconds. Then off on the smart plug and have a recurring schedule each night so it turns on again. Then it comes on at that time.

Works on our dishwasher and washing machine and both hold the settings from when it 'went to sleep'.

bullit_dodger

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119583748#Comment_119583748

Ohh yeah 100% agree with you mate, that while they aren't the fire hazards they were in the 70's, the chance is still "non-zero".

No, my point was more that people make an issue out of the dish washer or something else being the death of them, murdering them in their sleep....but in reality, a fridge is more likely to catch file and they are totally fine leaving the fridge on. It always seems funny to me the psychology that it's ok for the fridge to be on (probably cause it's cold and that means that it won't catch fire - lol) but other devices are a no go and yet the stats point to a different story.

Yeah, I've a decent delay on both the washing machine and dish washer - works well for loading it at say 7pm and then letting it kick on. Least in Winter it's a 11pm swap over.....

silver_sky

What size is your current battery?

paulbok

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119585228#Comment_119585228

Won't work on mine, once power goes it resets to off.