Most households are paying significantly more for energy than they need to. Not because they’re wasteful — but because they don’t have the tools to take advantage of how energy pricing actually works. SecondSyt can change that. In our own home, smart energy management has cut our costs by around 30%.
The Octopus Agile tariff — and why it matters
The Octopus Agile electricity tariff changes price every 30 minutes, tracking the wholesale cost of electricity on the national grid. At peak times it’s more expensive. At quiet times — typically overnight or on windy days — it can be extraordinarily cheap. And occasionally, when the grid has more electricity than it needs, the price goes negative: the energy company actually pays you to use electricity.
Most people never benefit from this because they can’t act on it quickly enough. SecondSyt sets up your home to act on it automatically — running the dishwasher, heating water, warming rooms, and charging your electric vehicle at exactly the right moments, without you having to think about it.
What we can connect and automate
- Smart radiator valves — heat rooms when energy is cheap, scale back when it’s expensive
- Immersion heater — heat your water cylinder during cheap or negative-price periods
- Dishwasher, washing machine and other appliances via smart plugs
- Electric vehicle charging — scheduled around price forecasts
- Smart sockets and switches for heaters and other high-draw devices
Real savings from a real home
In our own Cotswolds home, combining the Octopus Agile tariff with Home Assistant automation has reduced our energy costs by around 30%. That covers:
- Heating oil costs — reduced by scheduling radiators around cheap electricity periods
- Electricity bills — by shifting usage to low or negative-price windows
- EV charging — by timing charges around the price forecast rather than plugging in and hoping
These are real figures from our own setup, not marketing estimates. Your savings will depend on your usage patterns and tariff, but the opportunity is substantial for most households.
Three things that make this work
The right tariff
Octopus Agile gives you access to half-hourly wholesale electricity prices. We’ll advise on whether it’s right for your household and help you understand how to read the pricing patterns.
The right automation
Home Assistant pulls in your Agile price data and uses it to make decisions automatically — turning devices on when prices are cheap, off when they’re not. You set the rules once; the system does the work.
One interface for everything
Whatever make or model your smart devices are, Home Assistant brings them into a single app. Control your heating, sockets, appliances and EV charging from one place — at home or remotely.
Electric vehicles — charge smarter
If you have an EV, your charging habits are likely costing you more than they need to. By looking at the Agile price forecast and scheduling charges around the cheapest windows — including negative-price periods when you’re essentially being paid to charge — the savings can be significant. We can set this up to work around your driving patterns so your car is always ready when you need it, at the lowest possible cost.
Is this right for your home?
You’ll benefit most if you have…
- Electric heating, an immersion heater or a heat pump
- An electric vehicle
- A dishwasher, washing machine or other flexible appliances
- A willingness to shift some usage away from peak hours
What you get
- A system tailored to your home and usage patterns
- Devices that work together — regardless of brand
- Remote control and monitoring from your phone
- Honest advice on whether Agile is right for you — it isn’t always
- Ongoing support if something needs adjusting
Curious what you could save?
Tell me a bit about your home — heating type, whether you have an EV, which appliances you use most — and I’ll give you an honest picture of what smart energy management could do for your bills.