Green tech & greener living

Missed part 1? Follow the link below: Having planned the entire route using ABRP (plus a few manual tweaks) I used Google Maps to familiarise myself with the actual location of each of the stops, and placed the little man on the map so that I had a mental image of the final steps. This helped a lot as we approached each stop. I also created a “co-pilot” information sheet so that my wife could identify certain landmarks as we came closer to the destination. I highly recommend getting an Emovis Tag, also known as Bip-and-Drive. You need the VIA-T tag for Spain. This allows you to pass through the motorway toll gates without having to faff around with credit cards, which can be particularly tricky since our UK cars having the steering wheel on the other side, and the payment machine is on the passenger side. It’s quite amusing when you approach the toll gates, and some speedy Gonzales passes you in an attempt to get through the gates first, only to find that your Bip-and-Drive device auto

 My wife and I usually fly down to the south of Spain, but this year we decided to have an adventure and take our EV on the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao. Although it is also possible to go from Portsmouth to Santander, this would have added an extra hour of driving to the journey. Our EV is a Kia Niro EV3 (MY23) with a 64.8kWh battery pack, and a maximum DC charging speed of 80kW.Our Kia Niro EV3 To see how simple (or otherwise) the journey would be, I used ABRP (A Better Road Planner) to get some suggestions for charging stops, and also to find out how long it would take from Bilbao to our hotel in the south. It was immediately obvious that we would need to stay in one hotel on the way down, and (because of the Brittany Ferries sailing times) two hotels on the way back up to Bilbao. Some newer EVs have a much faster charging speed, but in reality the Niro is in the Goldilocks zone where the time to charge more or less matches the time required for a rest break. The charge speed is

Updated on 03/07/26 by Chris_OVO How to log in to the new OVO Charge app: ​We’re excited to announce that our new OVO Charge app has officially been released to users following a successful trial hosted here on the Forum. If you're downloading the app for the first time, you must create a new account when you sign in. Please note that you can't use your previous credentials. Download the OVO Charge app from the App Store or Google Play. The first time you open the app, you’ll be prompted to register. You can manually enter your information or use the quicker "Continue with Apple" or "Continue with Google" options to autofill your details. Once registered, you’ll have access to the OVO Charge app and the OVO public charging network.​  Once you’ve completed this step, you can use the toggle at the top of the screen to select "Home." This’ll let you link your OVO account. After signing in, press the "Home" toggle button at the top of the screen, as shown below. This’ll let you link your O

Updated on 14/04/26 by Ben_OVO Charge Anytime has evolved - we’ve introducing monthly plans You can now choose a new, easy way of paying for your EV charging. One simple monthly payment, whether you’re smart charging at home, or out and about.* With the introduction of these new Charge Anytime monthly plans will come questions, and we’ve put together this FAQ guide to cover everything you might want to ask or need to know. If there’s anything you’re still unsure of after reading this, you can ask us below or get in touch with the team if you’ve got a more specific issue. What are monthly plans? Charge Anytime monthly plans are our charging products that offer one monthly fee for your home and public charging. Plus other perks depending on which package you choose. Here are more details of the current plans available.  How does a Charge Anytime monthly plan work? Charge Anytime monthly plans offer combined home and public charging for one monthly cost. Each plan has a home mileage allow

Updated on 06/07/26 by Abby_OVO OVO Charge is our one stop app for effortless EV charging. Charge your car at home anytime, day or night. And power up on the road with access to over 50,000 public charging points across the UK. It’s all at your fingertips, in one simple app. With Charge Anytime you can Smart charge your EV at home anytime you like, day or night. It’s cheaper and greener. Add Charge Anytime to any OVO energy tariff for free – it won’t affect your unit rates. Not with OVO? You can check your EV compatibility before you switch.  With Charge Anywhere you can Charge your EV wherever you are, plan your route, and pay - all in one app. Save up to 15% on public charging at over 400,000 chargers across the UK and Europe. Anyone can Charge Anywhere – you don’t even need to be an OVO customer. Sign up for free today.  Charge Anytime  In OVO Charge you can link your EV or charger, set smart schedules for your vehicle and we’ll charge when it's cheapest and greenest so you can get

Updated on 23/06/26 by Abby_OVO We’ve made some great progress with the sign up process for complex / multi-rate smart meter setups (Economy 9, Economy 10 and Domestic Economy). Previously, customers with these types of smart meter supplies were unable to switch to us online, however we’re happy to announce that this is now possible. You can find out more about complex and multi-rate supplies here:   How to sign up online If you have a complex smart metering setup like one of those listed above, you can switch your supply to OVO online here. You’ll first be asked to enter your address and personal details, and then you’ll be able to select which tariff you’d like. You’ll also be able to set up a Direct Debit. Once you’ve started the switch we’ll contact your current supplier to let them know you’re leaving. You can find more information on what to expect when switching to OVO, including how long it takes, in this Forum article:  Thanks, The OVO Forum team

Updated on 24/06/26 by Chris_OVO Smart meters and In-Home Displays (IHDs) - Your topic hub See this list of topics and guides, all to do with smart meters and In Home Displays. Click on the link to open the one you need!  Smart meter topic guides SMETS1 Secure Liberty 100/110 smart meter guide - here SMETS1 Secure Smart Meter Health Check guide - here SMETS1 Aclara smart meter guide - here SMETS2 Aclara smart meter guide - here SMETS2 Smart Meter Health Check guide - here SMETS2 smart meter installation guide - here Remote update of SMETS1 meters guide - here SMETS2 5th port guide - here  Landis+Gyr E470 SMETS 1 or SMETS 2 guide - here How to read a Landis+Gyr E470 smart meter - here How to tell if your Aclara smart meter is S1 or S2 - here How to book a Smart Meter appointment on your online account - here Identifying Smart Meter issues on your online account - here  Are there any disadvantages to getting a Smart Meter - here  In Home Display (IHD) topic guides Troubleshooting issues

 This was supposed to be a short piece. My apologies in advance to the part of your life you won’t get back after you have  read it but it does a condense a lot of thought and research into one article so I think it’s worth reading. To save time you  can skip the boxes.   This is an personal journal of how the use of energy in one household has evolved over the past few years with a  surprising setback but also an unexpected development and future possibilities for getting towards Net Zero. However,  this is not about how a typical migration might happen. This is about an experiment that was kick started out of the chaos  that was the result of Covid and then Russia invading Ukraine and how it influenced my thinking about how to reduce my  costs with very high energy prices.. What is being presented here is more of a journal of what happened over the past  few years to our household and it’s about provoking thoughts and discussions on the various pathways by which Net Zero  may be achi

 ...ContinuedThe diagram is a crude illustration of how the various technologies compare in installation and running costs. The heat pump starts off at a minimum of £500 per year due to the initial cost and that is after the grant. It’s over a £1,000 a year without a grant. The AAHP is standalone, £800 over 10 years. The gas boiler starts off at £4,000 over 15 years but probably 20 as it’s very lightly loaded. It’s only really going to be used on the coldest of days or if the electricity prices are high for some reason. With TRVs (that you can’t use with a heat pump) the gas boiler will only be heating the other rooms in the house as required to balance the heating. You are only asking the AAHP and the gas boiler to do what they do best so the combination is saving both money and gas at the same time. The immersion heater is saving gas on the lowest priced days but it’s capable of storing a certain amount of extra heat (as a  battery) for later use so may save more than is initially es