Time-based Control
A simple target-based mode. Time-based Control charges the battery during your cheaper tariff periods until it reaches the level you choose, without optimiser-led export.
Private beta rollout
This page explains the mode logic, not just the label.
All of these modes sit inside the same wider platform: daytime EV-battery protection where supported, whole-home reporting, and vendor-safe controls. The difference here is what the battery is trying to optimise once those guardrails are in place.
Battery protection still sits above the mode
If your setup qualifies for the flagship daytime drain fix, that protection remains the first job regardless of the mode selected underneath it.
Mode choice changes the operating priority
The question is not whether the battery can charge or export. The question is what outcome should win when value, reserve, and home demand are competing.
Availability still depends on your stack
Real rollout still depends on inverter control support, telemetry quality, tariff setup, and whether the current private beta safely supports your hardware mix.
Best fit
Best for homes that want simple cheap-window charging to a chosen battery level without Autopilot managing export decisions.
Primary goal
Reach a chosen battery target during your cheap tariff window while keeping the rest of the behaviour simple.
Decision check
Do you want the battery to charge during your cheaper tariff periods up to a level you choose, without value-seeking export decisions?
When this mode wins
- Homes on fixed off-peak windows such as Go or Intelligent Go where cheap charging is the main goal.
- Users who want to choose a battery target directly instead of using Autopilot.
- Setups where simple tariff-window charging is easier to understand than adaptive import/export decisions.
When another mode is better
- You want the system to decide automatically when exporting is worthwhile.
- You want the battery to optimise across changing tariffs and later home coverage on its own.
- You expect a fully hands-off mode with adaptive export decisions.
What it does in practice
- 1
Uses your tariff setup to find the current cheap window and works out the charge rate needed to reach your chosen battery target before that window ends.
- 2
Keeps the same reserve floor protection as the other modes.
- 3
Does not run optimiser-led export, even if export prices look attractive.
- 4
Lets you set the battery target directly while leaving current control and safety limits to the backend.
Guardrails and stop conditions
- Unsupported control capability or fail-safe limits can still stop charging actions.
- The battery target must stay above the reserve floor.
- This mode keeps export optimisation off by design.
Compare with other smart controls
Most homes should choose the operating goal first, then choose the mode. These related pages make the tradeoffs explicit.
Autopilot
The best starting mode for most homes. Autopilot balances when to charge, hold, or export by weighing tariff value, later home coverage, forecast solar, and your protected minimum battery SoC so profitable export should not create later high-rate import.
Home First
A simpler home-first mode. It prioritises running the home from your own solar and battery first, minimises grid dependence, and avoids optimiser-led battery export.
Tariff pages where this mode matters
These tariff playbooks are the clearest places to see where this control style becomes commercially relevant.
Octopus Intelligent Go coordination
Octopus Intelligent Go creates EV-led charging windows, but battery logic, charger behaviour and whole-home demand still need to be interpreted together.
Octopus Go battery and EV optimisation
Octopus Go is simpler than Agile on paper, but homes still need to know whether the fixed off-peak window is serving the car, the battery and the house in the right order.
Use cases that usually point toward this mode
These whole-home problems are often where this control strategy becomes the practical answer.
Stop Octopus daytime EV charging from draining your home battery
This is the flagship 1app.energy wedge: stop the daytime EV-battery conflict first, then layer in cheaper-period battery charging and broader whole-home coordination.
Smart tariff EV charging without home energy conflicts
When EV charging is cheap, it can still be operationally expensive if it competes with battery reserve, heating demand or export value elsewhere in the property.
Integrations commonly paired with this mode
These integration pages explain the device context where this smart control style usually shows up.
Solis
Connect Solis hybrid inverters to 1app.energy to see live solar, battery, grid and home demand in one place, then automate battery charge decisions around tariff windows.
myenergi Zappi
Connect your myenergi Zappi charger to see EV charging in context with solar, battery and tariff data instead of guessing whether the car is stealing the cheap window.
Related reading
Use the overview hub for the big picture, or jump into the comparison blog for a quicker narrative walkthrough.
Smart Controls overview
See the full smart-control model together and use the overview hub to narrow the choice before you commit to one strategy.
Which smart control mode should you use?
Read the comparison blog for a quicker narrative walkthrough of where each mode tends to fit and where it can disappoint.
Product context
The smart control is not the whole product.
These modes decide how the battery should behave. The wider platform still includes the daytime EV-battery fix, whole-home visibility, tariff context, and vendor-safe control paths across the rest of the home.
See the wider productPriority access
Check whether Time-based Control fits your tariff.
If your main goal is simple cheap-window charging to a chosen battery level, we can check whether your tariff and hardware are a good fit.
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