Best Electricity Plan for new EV Owners

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194683#Comment_121194683

I'm guessing you've instant heat showers and no hot water tank?

Waking at 6am would definitely not be worth it 😕

eagerv

I don't see Energia's day/night meter rate any longer?

graememk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194767#Comment_121194767

It's been hidden for a long time.

You only see it if you put in your mprn

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194708#Comment_121194708

We've both types of shower, one electric and one pumped, and I never even thought of the immersion 🤦‍♂️ have barely used it in 10 years 😂

Might be worth looking at it again when they install my smart day night meter, I doubt Energia would charge you for moving from a new contract to a new 12 month one.

Would just mean I'd have to plug in the Ioniq 5 evey 3 days rather than every 6 days roughly.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194806#Comment_121194806

Well there's no hurry at least, the new Smart meters can operate the D/N tariff so you won't be forced to change to a smart plan yet

If you're on the Flogas plan then it might be worth just sitting on it for the year and seeing where things go

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194817#Comment_121194817

No I just renewed with Energia 16 days ago when my previous EV plan finished.

We'd 65% of our usage at night rate. Two EVs charged weekly (probably 80-100 units between them on normal driving), half the showers (I need one to wake up 😂) and the dishwasher everyday. Used just under 9,000 units last year. My dishwasher would fall outside this new plan though because it doesn't have a timer.

eagerv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194879#Comment_121194879

I don't think the Energia smart drive would work for us at the moment. Easier having a full 9 hours at reduced rate seeing we are 90% night usage with 2 cars, home night office etc.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194937#Comment_121194937

My night rate is 18c so I'd drop 10c a unit off that. Even assuming I went back to 55% night usage I'd be better off taking it.

I was really hoping the FloGas BWG plan came back.

UnhappyCustomer

Long post this one. What's the best electricity plan at the minute for EV Owners? Does it matter if the owner has solar panels?

What's the criteria you use to look for a new tariff?

Redlim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194879#Comment_121194879

Just a side note on the dishwasher. Have you tried using it with a smart plug on a schedule?

My dishwasher doesn't have an inbuilt timer either but I have it plugged into a smart plug. That way I can start the wash at any stage in the evening, then immediately cut the power using the smart plug. Then have the schedule on the smart plug set up to resume the wash at around 7am.

Not all dishwashers will remember to resume at the point it was stopped, but definitely worth a try if you have a smart plug lying around to test it on.

eagerv

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194976#Comment_121194976

I am on same rate, could possibly save a little with the Energia Smart Drive, but I think we will hold off for the moment.

TitianGerm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195014#Comment_121195014

I'm pretty sure you have to push the button to start the dishwasher but something I'll double check.

UnhappyCustomer

I'm keen to discover the best plan for those who own an EV but also have solar panels.

What is the best tariff having in consideration times for:

• solar panels use
• batteries use
• EV charge

Also, what provider is paying more for selling back to the grid?

I've seen so far:

Pinergy

Energia

SSE

Any other suggestions?

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121194997#Comment_121194997

Main criteria is what kind of meter you have. If you have an activated smart meter then you can only go on smart plans

If you have a day and night meter then you can get night rate plans

Have you a battery with the solar? If so it can make sense to charge the battery at the cheaper night rate and then supplement it with solar during the day

So I'd say the second criteria is finding the cheapest night rate

You need to be careful about your daytime usage as the day rates are way more expensive. Look at what you can shift to night rate, and try to figure out how much your EV is likely to add to your consumption

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195314#Comment_121195314

Don't you need smart meter to be able to sell back to the grid?

Anyways, I have a smart meter so I would be able to get a night rate but the problem is what you mentioned. My PVs cover me during the day but now that the winter is coming (and the longer nights) the peak rate would probably shaft me.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195360#Comment_121195360

If you have a Day/Night meter you get deemed export, although apparently that's ending soon because they'll have replaced all the old meters with smart meters (yeah right 😏)

Have you batteries with your panels? If so then one of the Smart EV tariffs might be worth looking into.

If not you might just need to take the peak rate on the chin, use the slow cooker during the day and do the laundry and dishes outside peak times

I've noticed a lot of the smart tariffs are getting rid of the peak rate and are averaging it through the day. The Energia Smart Drive plan for example has 4 hours of cheap electricity during the night and is the same rate the other 20 hours

Doesn't make it cheaper overall, in fact probably more expensive if you're able to avoid the peak rate

But I guess it stops you having a heart attack when someone boils the kettle the evening. Instead you get a sort of slow burn of stress every time you see importing electricity

Redlim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195036#Comment_121195036

I have to use the buttons to select which cycle at the start also, but don't need to do anything when the smart plug comes back on as it remembers where it stopped and just continues from there. Worth a try, you can test it in the space of a few seconds by starting a wash, then powering it off and on again.

Sorry for the off topic posts!

Back on-topic - I renewed with Energia today with a 20% discount off their standard rates. Used the trick mentioned in one of the other threads to initiate a switch to another provider and then wait for Energia retention team to call back with the extra 5% discount as well as €50 credit.

Rates are 36.1c day and 17.32 and backdated to the end of previous contact.

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195395#Comment_121195395

I don't have batteries but I could install them if I find the right trick solar/battery/right tariff.

I suppose you could see if the peak rate works when you start the contract at the beginning of the summer that you are getting still good solar energy during the peak time but starting that in October...

The problem with those 4 hours of cheap electricity is that it wouldn't be enough time to charge your car I suppose

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195483#Comment_121195483

Well you can get 28kWh in that time which should be 150km. As long as you're doing less than that every day then you'll eventually recover all your range

If you don't have batteries yet then I wouldn't necessarily jump on the Smart EV tariffs, you need to grab your excel sheet and figure out the payback on a battery and if it's worthwhile

My instinct is that it is, but it's also a big enough expense after buying solar panels and an EV that you'd want to be sure

Snopake

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121195403#Comment_121195403

Could you elaborate on what you did to get the extra 5%, or just link to the other post? I signed up for the 15% discount on renewal but am within the 14 day cooling off period

ELM327

Something to note on the new RM108 daynight smart meters

https://www.esbnetworks.ie/existing-connections/meters-and-readings/smart-meter-upgrade/smart-meter-upgrade-faqs

There is no change to the timing of the night period on the new smart meter.  

 

The hours are: 

 

Winter - between 11pm-8am (late October to late March) 

 

Summer - between 12am-9am (late March to late October). 

Redlim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121196717#Comment_121196717

I was out of contract with Energia and they offered 15% discount if I renewed with them. But instead of taking up that offer I initiated a switch to another provider. The following day Energia called me back with the better 20% discount offer as well as the €50 credit.

UnhappyCustomer

Energia Smart Drive has 36.61 c/kWh normal rate and 8.15 c/kWh from 2am to 6am with a cap of 1000kWh every 2 months (I suppose per bill).

Pinergy on the other hand has a normal rate of 41.39 and a reduced one of 5.45 but just from 2am to 5am (without cap as long as I can see)

Both give an export rate of 25 c/kWh

With solar panels you can gather energy during the day and fill the battery, use the battery (as much as you can) from sunset to 2am and then use the reduced rate.

I know the Energia reduced rate is higher than the Pinergy reduced rate but that extra hour is key and the normal rate is not as high (which you will likely use more than the reduced)

That's my 2 cents. Welcome any additional thoughts

Miscreant

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200285#Comment_121200285

The export rate is a quarter of a cent (.25 c/kWh)? Hardly worth your while exporting anything at that rate of return.

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200309#Comment_121200309

It's 25c/kWh, I assume it was a typo

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200285#Comment_121200285

A few users over on the renewables forum are using the Pinergy plan to fill their batteries overnight and then dump almost all their generated solar to the grid during the day

The idea seems to be that you're selling at a higher price than consuming so making money

This only really works if your battery is big enough to last the whole day, and if you can charge it fully during the 3 hours window

Comer1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200326#Comment_121200326

I don't understand how you can get enough electricity in the three hours to fill the battery and perhaps an EV as well.

ELM327

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200553#Comment_121200553

If you can pull 5kW for 3 hours thats 15kWh. A lot of forum members here would have more than one inverter so could charge at10kW or even 15kW for the 3 hours.

I dont, and am restricted to 100A (5kW) battery charging plus the remainder (10kW) can go to charging EVs, of which we have 3.

This is why the 3 hours would be too short for me. I'd need at least 4, but would prefer to remain at the current mcc02 9 hour slots.

aleesi

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200562#Comment_121200562

The other limitation is the Grid. A 1phase connection will typically allow for 65A (AC) or 14.9kW that in reality is more like 12-13kW and would also depend on your own house wiring. So realistically speaking you could charge a battery at 5kW for 3h (15kWh, enough for most houses) and an EV at 7.5kW for 3h (22.5kWh -> adding 100-150km/day at best). So in summary you need 20kWh house battery + your EV, making sure ESB is able to supply with 12kW or more and an inverter able to charge at 100A (DC, or 5kW).

I think Energia's 1000 units cap every two months (500 per month) is a no go for many. A normal house would take 250-300 units / month alone, if you add immersion or HP that could easily get to 600-800units per month. There is no room to charge an EV with that cap.

UnhappyCustomer

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200309#Comment_121200309

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200315#Comment_121200315

It was a typo, thanks.

You can see here Pinergy export rates (exc VAT so not sure if it is actually 25 or less)

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121200326#Comment_121200326

That's a good point... I suppose depending on the size of the battery, would the battery last the whole day? If it is big enough and doesn't drain it completely, the following charges could fit within those 3 hours and , it could be an absolute feast during the summer...