How it works

When we come home in the evening and start cooking, washing and charging our electric car, we need a lot of energy from the grid in a short period of time, resulting in what is known as peak consumption. The monthly highest peak helps form the basis of your bill for that month.

Where possible, FlexiO will try to keep this peak as low as possible through smart charging or battery usage. But in some cases, it can be more economical to actually increase the peak slightly, such as by charging your electric car when electricity is cheapest.

This happens completely automatically without you having to do anything and leads to savings on your energy bill. But it is important to keep in mind that FlexiO cannot always guarantee that the monthly peak will remain minimal: for example, if you want to charge quickly while also cooking and washing, FlexiO will know that this is not possible without increasing the monthly peak and will adjust its strategy accordingly.

Want more information on the capacity tariff? Read this article.

When you use FlexiO to control your battery and combine it with a dynamic contract, the system will use your battery based on energy prices. This means your battery may go through more charging cycles per year.

But FlexiO is only going to (dis)charge your battery when it also provides a financial benefit to you. Rather than focusing on battery life, the system focuses on the financial benefits of using the battery versus cost.

These costs are determined by comparing the so-called ‘degradation cost’ of the battery with the financial benefits of the extra charge cycles. If the benefits outweigh the costs, FlexiO will use the battery. If not, the battery remains unused to avoid unnecessary wear and tear.

FlexiO uses smart algorithms that take into account your consumption pattern, weather forecasts and electricity prices. The system will always make the best choice based on the available data.

However, reality may differ from the predictions. On the other hand, FlexiO offers you 100% peace of mind. Once your profile is set up, everything is taken care of automatically without you having to adjust your daily routines or invest extra time.

No, this is not necessary thanks to smart control via the battery. The greatest advantage is that you don’t have to change your habits. You can use your electrical appliances whenever you want because FlexiO ensures that the energy you consume is always at the cheapest rate possible.

We are currently developing this functionality and hope to offer it in the future.

By reserving all or part of your battery for grid balancing, you contribute to grid stability by ensuring that supply always matches demand. For this service, you will be charged a fee from the party commissioning this action.

Dynamic balancing means that the amount of power sent from the charging station to your vehicle is continuously adjusted to ensure that the total power drawn (from both the building and charging station) never exceeds the maximum available power from the electrical cabinet. This prevents the main fuse from blowing and leaving you without power.

This form of balancing is always integrated in FlexiO. When FlexiO controls your charging station, you no longer need any other type of balancing.

Your savings are shown monthly by calculating the difference between your current energy bill with FlexiO and the estimated cost you would have with a standard variable rate without an energy system. The standard variable rate is based on wholesale rates and network tariffs and taxes without additional margins. This means that the savings will be higher in reality.

The savings are broken down into several components. These are shown when you move your cursor over the total savings.

• Solar panels: This shows your savings from reduced energy consumption and returning any energy surplus back to the grid.

• Energy rate: Shows the difference between your current energy rate and a standard variable rate. This component is relevant because FlexiO gives you the security of safely using a dynamic energy rate.

• Battery: Shows the savings you can expect by increasing your self-consumption, reducing peak consumption and efficiently spreading your energy consumption by using your home battery.

• Electric Vehicle (EV): The savings achieved by smart charging your electric vehicle.

The savings do not always match expectations. Why is that?

• Solar panels and battery: Low or even negative values may indicate a technical problem or configuration error. This needs further examination.

  • A special case is a ‘retrofit’ situation. If your solar panels were installed before the battery was added and a separate converter is used for the solar panels, Smart Home Control may not have all the necessary data from your solar panel system. In that case, the actual savings may be higher than reported.

• Energy rate: A negative value may indicate that there may be more economical energy rates available than your current rate. A positive value indicates that your current rate is more economical than the standard variable rate. Make sure your energy rate is set correctly on the platform to ensure accurate calculations. Important: the right energy rate in the platform is important here.

• Electric Vehicle (EV): The amount of savings depends considerably on how often you charge, which mode you charge in and your current energy rate. For example, if you choose constant charging, no smart control is possible and the savings may be lower.