Real Life Example in a UK Home
Wonder Watt is potentially the answer to charging an EV using the Intelligent Octopus Go tariff with our GivEnergy Inverter. This post reviews 5 months of testing Wonder Watt with Octopus Flux, ahead of our EV delivery.
Now that GivEnergy has entered administration their is risk to their Cloud Portal. I have also now tried out Monitor for Android and included this in the write up.
On 7th April 2026 GivEnergy gave notice of intention to appoint an administrator.
What does this mean for:
GivEnergy users?
UK Government and major industry players?
Potential solar/battery system purchasers?
The 1st full year with solar power and a working smart meter…
…how does energy consumption compare to previous years?
Should we switch the heating off when we go out? Should we turn the heating off in unused rooms? A sneak preview of early data and not what I had expected.
This year both the Honeywell smart heating system and the GivEnergy inverter/battery had issues – how was the customer support?
Solar power with battery storage – return on investment calculation from the first 12 months of operation with a working smart meter and the Octopus Flux tariff.
In summer 2023 we had the weather compensation addon installed on our Ideal Logic+ S30 system boiler.
What does weather compensation do for a gas boiler and how easy is it to install?
My big question with installing solar power was “do the finances add up or would we be better putting our money into the building society?”
It turns out that it is not easy to answer the question; this post shows my 1st bash after the 1st 12 months since installation.
With one year in operation, how has the system performed?
Includes a few useful points for someone specifying a new system.
My first estimate of the real Return on Investment (ROI) for my solar and battery system…
…would I be better investing in the stock market via my SIPP or an ISA?
How did the system perform over the 1st 6 months…
…good and bad in here.
I attempt to answer the question: “Is battery technology ready for the mainstream user or is it just for enthusiasts?”
Am I just lucky? Did my smart meter spring into life due to some alignment with the technology gods on that Friday afternoon in September in a garage in Blackburn?
This post is my attempt at wider lessons to be learnt.
