Best Electricity Plan for new EV Owners

MojoMaker

Wondering how much Smart tariffs will creep up as more of the population are converted over to smart meters though.

The take up has been poor so far so maybe these better-sounding tariffs are coming out now to get households to switch over.

tommythecat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700807#Comment_121700807

It would cost just 37c to charge up a 5kw battery on the night rate. And then top it up with solar after morning routine and sell back the surplus at 24c. A no brainer really.

fafy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700889#Comment_121700889

I’d suggest, exporting everything, at 24cent, why use your own power, if you can make 16.5 cent per unit(24-7.5) and charge battery to full, on night rate daily, it depends on your battery size, and the 6am to 2am daytime household consumption, but am looking at, at least a 10kw battery, maybe even 15kw.

tommythecat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121701019#Comment_121701019

That's what I'm saying. Charge it up full at night rate. Then use it for morning routine before solar kicks in. Then charge it back up and sell back the surplus. Then it's full for evening use. That's with 5kw battery. With a larger battery you may not need to top up.

Jakey Rolling

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121701391#Comment_121701391

Out of interest, have you worked out a payback time on the extra cost of the battery and hybrid inverter?

I just recently installed 7.4kWp solar and calculated that the battery wasn't going to pay for itself within 10 years (we'll likely be downsizing by then). Getting 24c atm for the surplus solar so that mitigates the possible savings from using a battery to load-shift. The only reason I would have put in battery would be for convenience to cover grid outages, if the system was setup to auto-switchover. Plus, we have an EV using most of the 2-6 cheap rate on Energia. Bare solar install worked out at €7.5k after grant, expect to see payback within 5 years at current rates.

FWIW, within 5 years we should hopefully see most EVs with V2L / V2G capability. In the meantime, I have a 1kW inverter that I can hook up to the Kona to run the freezer next time the grid is down - beats wheeling out a 4kVA generator, usually in the wind and rain, just to run a 300W intermittent load :-)

tommythecat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121707521#Comment_121707521

We worked out at 4-5 year payback on everything. The battery earns it's money in the winter mornings and evenings where you would be buying in at 37c but instead are getting it for 8c for morning and topping it up for free for the evening routine. So even on a bad winter day you are buying in very little on the big day rate. We are on the energia smart package also.

We have an EV6 which has the v2L which is very handy in case of a power cut!

Bobeagleburger

Just remember when working out payback to work with the lowest rates on the market. Otherwise you're kidding yourself.

Most people over egg their payback period. I've done it myself too.

podge3

Is there some way of analysing the smart meter data instead of Energypal etc?

I've tried opening the HDF file on Excel but it's very difficult to see daily/weekly/monthly usage & export.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712744#Comment_121712744

I found those files difficult to decipher too. The meter itself will tell you how many units were used in each time slot. There's a video on the esbn site explaining what each press of the button shows you, write them down and divide them by the total x100 to give you the percentage of units used in each sector. I'm going to try it tomorrow as I want to see if it's worthwhile going for the energia EV plan.

Jonathan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712744#Comment_121712744

You need to create a pivot table to get that sort of detail with the HDF file.

listermint

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121712744#Comment_121712744

https://www.smartelectricitycalculator.ie/

Try this

podge3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121714777#Comment_121714777

Brilliant, just what I'm looking for, thanks.

drunkmonkey

What's the situation with Yuno Energy, they seem to have the lowest cost at the moment on both 24hr and Day/ Night rate. Thinking of switching.

Reviews are very mixed though.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121716720#Comment_121716720

Have plenty of money in your bank account as they'll take all of it and argue the toss later, much later 😡 I'd steer clear tbh.

drunkmonkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121718272#Comment_121718272

I went through the sign up process but it didn't give me an option to pick the day night tarrif, it was looking for a pre payment of about €113, I've no major issue with that if it's going to save money last bill rocked in at €670 before the government hand out, looking at Yuno would work out way cheaper without any hand out.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121718504#Comment_121718504

You need to have a smart day night meter to get the day night plan. Who are you with at present and what rate are you paying? Yuno aren't that much cheaper than the others after the 1st of March when the price reductions kick in.

drunkmonkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121718956#Comment_121718956

Have a smart metre but not on a smart plan. With Board Gais..

Usage Rate Amount

Standing Charge 23 Days 70.66 c/day €16.25

24 hour Units 598 kWh 44.21 c/kWh €264.38

Discount - Paperless

Billing -3% -€7.93

Discount - Direct

Debit -2% -€5.29

Total Discounts -€13.22

PSO Levy 1 Month 0.00 c/Month €0.00

VAT 9% €24.07

Total including VAT €291.48

Can't see a better price than the Yuno Day/night fixed. I know my current provider have announced discounts but it's still more expensive.

lau1247

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121718995#Comment_121718995

Do you not get any discount from BG? Even the latest on the website have 22% off (I think that is before the 3% for paperless billing). The rate shown on the main page is before the price drop coming in on the 1st March,

drunkmonkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719016#Comment_121719016

No not getting any other discount, am I calculating it correct, if I was getting the discount it would be down to 25.41 in March.

I must give them a call tomorrow, they wouldn't do anything for me the last time I called about 2mts ago.

lau1247

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719057#Comment_121719057

I didn't see the Direct Debit discount mention from the website (You can ask when you call). With 3% paperless discount you should get the below.

You can check it here: https://www.bordgaisenergy.ie/home/our-tariffs

drunkmonkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719066#Comment_121719066

Cheers I'll call them tomorrow, even with the 22% discount Yuno is still looking cheaper this is what I'm coming with on the board gais website from March.

Unit Rate - 22% Discount

Day Rate

30.74 Inc VAT

28.2 Ex VAT

Night Rate

15.21 Inc VAT

13.95 Ex VAT

Night rate is cheaper but day rate more expensive.

Let's see what they come up with..

lau1247

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719096#Comment_121719096

Have you a day and night meter? Because if you have only the 24hr meter it would be irrelevant to compare day and night rate

You should get 25% discount minimum, no? As you say BG is cheaper during the night but more expensive during the day however you should take into account the Standing Charge is lower also with BG.

Bord Gais

Yuno

drunkmonkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719142#Comment_121719142

I've a smart meter, can that just be enabled for day/night?

Received a letter from electric Ireland saying they're coming to put in a new smart meter but we only had one installed by them about a year ago, must be some kind of error.

lau1247

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719161#Comment_121719161

If you have a 24hr meter before you got the smart meter, the smart meter you have is almost certainly 24hr smart meter. As far as I know it is not considered a day/night meter (which is a different type).

The confusion arise because the 24hr smart meter have plans that somewhat mimic day and night functions. The below screenshot is from Electric Ireland with Smart meter plan for example.

You can get a straight up 24hr rate, you can also get a Day/Night/Peak, you can also get Day/Night/Night Boost.

I planned to get my 24hr smart meter change too to Day and night. I have the request put in and all done but due to my EV charger install issue (incorrect wiring by installer) where new cert was needed, I was waiting for Safe Electric auditor to come out [frustration part is no date was given] so have been stuck in a limbo since August/September last year. Once I have that cert I can get ESBN to change out the meter (with payment of course).

With 24hr Smart meter mimicking day and night function, at the end of the day you just need to work out whether you can get most things done during those 2-3 hours window. Both types are quite close and would work well if you have solar/battery/EV set up, load as much as possible during night, use none during the day.

As for the new letter for meter replacement, I'd assumed it is an error if you already have one.

drunkmonkey

Ah right, I assumed the smart meter would do traditional day/night. Probably need to change the meter then, none of the smart plans are appealing right now.

I wired the EV charger myself, the electrican only came out and done the connection to the board, that proably needs a cert if it's something that's required. No sure it meets the specs as I put the isolator inside the garage door as to have a neat looking job outside.

CoBo55

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719430#Comment_121719430

BG won't request a D/N meter for you they'll say it can't be done blah blah. Those rates you're on are dreadful I'd be ringing them first thing Monday morning you should be in the 20's unit rate now. Flogas will request a D/N meter for you, I honestly don't see the value in the day night plans anymore especially when you factor in the higher standing charges.

Bobeagleburger

D/N plans arent good value anymore.

5c or 8c (soon to be 7.5c) with Pinergy/ Energia smart plans is the only way to go. 3 and 4 hour EV window respectively.

Use any hungry electricity items during that period. If a person has solar batteries, even better.

Energia standing charge for the above plan is €230 or so.

I'm not sure do these plans come up in Bonkers etc searches.

Yuno seems to be heavily linked to those searches and it's terrible value.

Personally I'd avoid those search sites and do my own research.

joe1303l

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719604#Comment_121719604

It’s completely dependent on use case. 3 - 4 hr window is of little use if you need to fully charge a large EV battery. Other benefit with a 9 hr night window is it covers early morning electric showers, heating ,cooking etc.

drunkmonkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719738#Comment_121719738

Yea I'll need a 11hrs for a full charge, can't see that happening every night but I will flatten it once a week at least. 3/4hr top up might not hurt the rest of the week but I had a look at those energia smart plans, they seem very expensive as the bulk of our power is during the day as 2 people working from home then kids pile in at 5...

lau1247

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121719430#Comment_121719430

ESBN will follow their manual and Safe Electric bulletin guidelines. You just need to check if yours are ok.

In my case I had to get it recertified because they came out once already and the ESBN technician said the wiring was a mess. So had to get the EV charger installer to fix it to match.

Isolator need to be at the bottom right of the meter box as far as I know