Hi, sorry to resurrect this post from 2019... but in the current context it can become more relevant than ever. (Historical notes for the future: in autumn 2021, there was a general price hike for energy in the whole of Europe -UK included-, about +20% in six months. It may hopefully go down, but for the sake of it, let's check if we can be smart with energy and reduce carbon yada yada yada....) 2 good points were asked in the comment: * Spiney Norman asked about the grandmother who don't get all the intricacies of smart metering: it's a good question, but I think that we are starting to see an iPhone-esque advancement to smart energy use (including a push by Apple itself) making it more easy to use. * JohnU pointed to the crux of the problem: without battery, smart tariff are of no use. Considering the battery cost, smart tariff are of no use. As the blog owner (@edent) said he already had the batteries and the solar panels, so he pushed aside the argument. But, I think the problem is still valid: the batteries are there for a few year, making the cost spread in time. Let's say the cost is £1000, spread on 10 years: that makes £100 per year. My question is: these £60 of economy, could you stretch them to the tipping £100 point, or is it completely impossible? For this, I think we need a simpler installation and interface, and some automation to get everything working together. ALCS is a good start, smart heaters and thermostat a must-need. Automatically knowing when the rates are going up or down is the basic point. But this (car charger, smart heating,...) adds a cost to the system. As a user (and a power one), do you think the whole thing could become economically sustainable? And by the way, how do you know when are the peak hours? (side note: I'm so curious to know if the historical note I put at the start will become a glitch in the larger history -energy prices staying reasonable- or a non-concern -free energy! low prices!- or a joke in a future context -energy crisis becoming a major post-apocalyptic problem-; time will tell for sure, but I'm curious.) [by the way, mechanically, at the time of writing, the £60 are already £72 -20% price hike-)