DFS works by sending an email notification containing the start and end times of an event. To take part, an I’m taking part button in the email message needs to be clicked.
I have just received my first of these emails so I don’t know if the format will be sufficiently stable to reliably extract the necessary data for automation. This notification was received at 12:13 on 17 January 2024 for an event on the same day between 17:30 and 18:30.
Has anyone tried anything like this with Ecotricity? Do other suppliers support DFS?
Considering the size of Ecotrocity I suspect you might be the first. If that is the case you have a few options. You could change to another supplier than supports the DFS. We’re on Octopus and they support DFS. There is a great Octopus integration on HACS that has had rapid and continuous updates and you can easily trigger automations for the start/end of events.
Alternatively you can register with companies who are part of the DFS scheme who aren’t your energy supplier who will still pay you for saving money. I’ve used Equiwatt for a while and you can easily trigger automations based on their webhook. I quite like Equiwatt because they run lower paying events all year, not just over the winter.
Thanks for the reply. I am not aware of an Ecotricity API. Notifications by email are a lot less convenient!
Not sure why you have to opt in for each session individually rather than signing up for all of them. If you are away from home and out of email contact then you will miss out on any reward even if your energy usage is low.
The Octopus integration on HACS could be a useful source of ideas. Thanks for pointing me to it.