Guides
Agile with a battery
A battery makes Agile more flexible, but degradation and export strategies are outside V1.
Short answer
A battery can make Agile more useful because you can shift when imported electricity is used, but V1 does not model battery wear or export strategies. The practical use case is simple: charge when import is cheaper, then avoid the expensive evening period if that spread is wide enough. The real edge comes from the size and consistency of the cheap block, not one unusually cheap half-hour.
If you want live context while reading, check the dashboard, test a real run in the appliance timer, set a trigger in alerts, or compare the same day across regions.
Cheap charging windows
Longer cheap windows matter more for batteries than isolated low slots. The whole charge window needs to work, because most batteries need a sustained period to fill meaningfully. A jagged price shape with one low slot and several expensive ones around it is usually less useful than a stable 3 to 4 hour block. Use the dashboard and Agile detail view to judge the shape, not just the low point.
Peak avoidance
One of the clearest benefits is avoiding expensive evening imports by charging earlier when prices are lower. This matters most when the evening peak is materially above the earlier import price. If the spread is narrow, the value of cycling the battery is less obvious. The useful comparison is cheap charge versus avoided peak import, not cheap charge in isolation.
Limits of V1
Battery degradation, round-trip efficiency, and export economics are not included in these simple comparisons. That means the tool can help identify candidate windows, but not prove a full arbitrage strategy. For V1, that is the right level of honesty. You should still sanity-check whether the avoided peak cost outweighs battery losses and wear.
Example
Charging cheaply only matters if peak avoidance outweighs losses and degradation. For example, moving 10kWh from a 12p/kWh window into a 32p/kWh evening period creates a much clearer case than moving the same energy from 18p/kWh into 22p/kWh. A stable 3 to 4 hour low-cost block is usually more useful than one isolated cheap slot.
What to watch out for
Do not use a simple import-only view as a full battery arbitrage strategy. Cheap charging only matters if the avoided peak cost is meaningfully better after accounting for losses and battery wear.
Related tool
Use the practical view next
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Best time to charge an EV
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Reminder
These guides are practical and estimate-focused. They are not personalised tariff advice, and they do not replace a full bill comparison.