FAQ

Is Powerlake for Me?

The more that you can choose when to use energy, the more likely it is that you will benefit from our services in combination with a wholesale electricity plan. Make sure that enough of your electricity demands can be made flexible before starting, that way you’ll know whether you can take advantage of low prices and avoid high prices. We can control your hot water system, pool pump and EV charger, which together contribute a significant portion of typical household usage. Households with home batteries and good insulation are even more likely to benefit from wholesale rates as they can be more selective about when they buy (and sell) energy.

If you are an electricity retailer, you can use Powerlake to improve your exposure to spot prices and reduce your reliance on traditional hedging mechanisms. Contact us to discuss how a value-oriented flexible demand solution might work for you.

Is Powerlake good for the environment?

Yes. Renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuel energy because nobody has to buy fuel. We also can’t control when it’s produced, which means it has a habit of flooding the market with supply and driving prices down. By using cheaper energy with Powerlake, you will use more renewable energy and contribute less carbon emissions. This helps to solve climate change and avoids the need to manufacture so many batteries.

How much does Powerlake cost?

We offer a range of prices depending on your level of commitment.

• 12 months at $2.00 per device per month (billed yearly)
• 6 months at $2.50 per device per month (billed every 6 months)
• 3 months at $3.00 per device per month (billed every 3 months)
• 1 month at $ $3.99 per device per month (billed monthly)

This gives you the ability to trial our service for a month for the price of a coffee, while offering compelling value in exchange for greater commitment. We guarantee that you will save more by using our service than you could spend on any of our plans. If not, we’ll be happy to provide you with a full refund.

Do I need solar to benefit from Powerlake?

No. In many places there is already enough solar energy entering the grid. What we need to do is start using it. Only then should we think about adding more solar.

Do I need a home battery to use Powerlake?

No. Think of your hot water system, EV charger and pool pump as batteries. They don’t need to use energy at any specific time, which is why they can use energy at the cheapest times, or at least avoid the most expensive.

What hardware does Powerlake support?

For very little money we can control any standard wall outlet, and for a bit more we can control entire circuits. If there’s something you’d like us to add, please let us know.

• Official: Wattwatchers 6M+3SW
• Unofficial: TP-Link Kasa KP115 (recommended) & KP105
• Unofficial: TP-Link Tapo P110 (recommended) & P100

We’re in negotiations with TP-Link to make integration official.

TP-Link smart plugs are a low cost option which enable the control of any device that receives power from a standard 240v power outlet. The Wattwatchers 6M+3SW can monitor and control entire circuits such as dedicated hot water, EV charger and pool pump circuits, but must be installed by a licensed electrician.

What is a device?

“Device” is a term we use for anything we can monitor as well as turn on or off remotely and securely over the internet. A device could be an appliance or other electrical load.

What devices can Powerlake control?

Powerlake is most useful for hot water systems, EV chargers and pool pumps. It can also be used to:

• charge portable power stations, powerbanks and laptops with the cheapest electricity
• turn off other non-critical circuits during extreme price events to save a lot of money every once in a while
• turn on large loads any time the price goes negative to generate revenue.

Does Powerlake need a hub?

No. Powerlake controls devices via the internet without the need for a hub.

Does Powerlake use much internet?

No. Powerlake uses a very small amount of data to tell devices when they should turn on or off. It also monitors them (if supported) to find out how much energy they are using at a five minute resolution.

Troubleshooting

Quick Tip: When looking at device settings, remember to tap/mouse over the units of each setting to understand what they are doing.

My Hot Water is COLD!

Boost it. Hit boost and run it for 6 or more hours. This should be very rare, but still possible under unusually high usage.

If this happens frequently, please contact us and we’ll get to the bottom of it. Otherwise turn off “Auto DRT” and set the “Daily Run Time” to 6 or 8 hours per day. Also set the “Horizon” to 1 day. This is also recommended if your hot water usage is sporadically intense, such as in the case of a holiday home.

If the water is still cold after boosting, there could be something wrong with your hot water system and you should contact us immediately. You could also contact your electricity provider.

The amount of time my device powers on each day is too inconsistent.

Reduce the “Horizon” in the device settings. The horizon setting allows your devices to use different amounts of energy on different days to access cheaper energy. Some days are cheaper than others, but some things just need to run more consistently, and that’s fine!

My device is turning on and off too much / frequently

There are two settings which can help you, and they’re both under “advanced”. Firstly, when the price is on the borderline of being an attractive buy, small fluctuations can make the device want to turn on or off. To prevent this, increase the ‘Response Time’. This will make sure the device waits longer to see whether the market is heading in the right direction before turning on or off.

The next setting to look at is the “Spike Threshold”. This is the number of cents that the price has to change before the device ignores the “Response Time”. This setting is intended to prevent you from paying sudden high prices, and to enable you to snap up sudden low prices. What you define as a big jump is up to you.

My Device is consistently on for too long (with Auto DRT enabled)

If your device doesn’t support energy monitoring, you won’t see the Auto DRT option and should try reducing the Daily Run Time (DRT).

Try adjusting the minimum DRT and/or Target Margin settings down. If the device uses energy for less than 12 hours per day on average, the minimum DRT setting will have more of an effect. Updates to Auto DRT settings can take up to five minutes to be reflected in the current DRT setting.