Unlock our cheapest energy rate with Intelligent Octopus for smart thermostats
The smart plan that gives you one of the lowest energy rates in Texas with savings up to 30% off your energy costs
What is Intelligent Octopus?
Intelligent Octopus is a smart feature for Octopus Energy customers that automates your energy usage, saving you money while keeping your house comfortable. For every month you're connected, you'll get a discounted energy rate that equals about $300 in savings annually. Some customers may save even more.
Intelligent Octopus works with ecobee, Sensi, Amazon, and Honeywell Wi-Fi enabled thermostats. We're working to add more smart thermostat brands all the time! If you don't see yours listed, request it now.
Eligible Honeywell devices connect via the Resideo or Total Comfort Connect apps. Please note that Google Nest thermostats are no longer compatible for new enrollments.
Get the energy plan that rewards you for going smart
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How does it work?
It’s rather easy and you don’t have to do a thing! With Intelligent Octopus we’ll be connected to your smart thermostat via Wi-Fi. Occasionally when there’s a need to conserve energy, we’ll just adjust your thermostat a few degrees for a short period of time- most customers don’t even notice! Your thermostat will automatically return to its original setting, keeping your home comfortable and energy-efficient! But don’t worry, you’re still fully in control.
For full details read our Terms and Conditions
What are the benefits?
Adjusting your thermostat a few degrees in short intervals helps provide grid stability and gives you savings on your bill via a low energy rate. Using Intelligent Octopus is an easy way for you to help conserve energy and save money without having to lift a finger.
By reducing your energy usage during those peak windows, it helps us lower our cost to serve you. We pass those savings directly to you via a lower rate.
Here's what our customers on Intelligent Octopus say:
- 87% of customers agree they're saving money
- 90% of customers stay opted-in for savings events
Want to join Intelligent Octopus?
You'll need to:
- Be a new or existing Octopus Energy customer. Not with Octopus yet? Sign-up now
- Have a compatible thermostat — we're currently compatible with ecobee, Sensi, Honeywell, and Amazon wi-fi enabled thermostats.
Don't have one? Find discounts in Houston or Dallas areas. We're working to integrate more thermostat brands – request yours here. - Connect your thermostat to the internet over Wi-Fi.
- Agree to our Terms and Conditions
Be a part of something bigger with Intelligent Octopus. If you’re cool with what you’ve read, let’s work together to make world-changing energy plans a reality!
Learn more from our customers
Intelligent Octopus testimonials
Common Intelligent Octopus FAQs
How does Intelligent Octopus work?
The thermostat is a sacred piece of hardware in any Texas home, which is why we believe in a personalized approach and not a one-size-fits-all program like other suppliers. Intelligent Octopus learns from your habits and preferences to optimize your HVAC usage away from peak demand times, which saves you money and helps keep the grid balanced. When you use less energy during peak demand periods, it costs us less to provide you power. We pass these savings directly to you by offering one of the lowest energy rates in Texas.
How does Intelligent Octopus adjust my thermostat?
There are two different ways we adjust your thermostat:
Savings event: We’ll increase or decrease your thermostat from its current setpoint
Preparation event: We’ll pre-cool or pre-heat your home ahead of a savings event to maximize your comfort during a savings event. Most customers have found this to be helpful without adding extra energy costs.
👉 9 out of 10 Intelligent Octopus customers don’t override our settings during a hold event. So you can feel good about trusting us to keep your home comfortable.
How long will Intelligent Octopus adjust my thermostat?
Every day in Texas is a little different, just like every household, so we try to customize Intelligent Octopus for each of our customers based on their preferences and what the grid needs.
Here are a few examples of what that could look like:
- Hannah’s home: Two 30 minute hold events where we adjust her setpoint up 3 degrees from 5:30 PM to 6 PM and 7:30 PM to 8 PM
- Leah’s home: One 90 minute hold event where we adjust her setpoint up 2 degrees from 6:30PM to 8 PM
Hannah’s home isn’t super energy-efficient, so it can’t maintain a comfortable temperature for more than 30 minutes. But Leah’s home is better insulated, giving it the ability to maintain a longer savings event without her noticing or even hitting the higher setpoint.
We're constantly looking at and learning from our data to ensure that we're balancing savings against your comfort and fine tuning event details to you, which is why most of our customers report being as comfortable with Intelligent Octopus as they were before.
When can Intelligent Octopus adjust my thermostat?
Intelligent Octopus operates based on grid conditions. Sometimes the grid needs a lot of help so you may receive more than one event in a day. Other times, when the grid is less stressed, it may be a couple of times a week or even not at all! To maximize your comfort and the impact of our events, we have safeguards in place to ensure hold events don’t happen back to back or too soon after you’ve opted out of our last event.
Do I still have control?
Yes, you are still fully in control of your thermostat and have five overrides a month before you lose your discount for that billing period. Overrides are okay to utilize, and are an important way that Intelligent Octopus learns your preferences.
If I already have a heating or cooling schedule, will the holds adjust those?
At the moment, yes. Intelligent Octopus will override any schedule preferences you have during a hold event, but once the event is over your normal schedule will resume.
I don't see my thermostat brand listed
We're working to add more thermostat brands. Let us know you want yours added and we'll get on it.
Will I experience back to back hold events?
Once a conservation event has ended, we won't do anything for at least 15 minutes to allow your home to reset a bit to ensure you're comfortable. We won't do anything for at least an hour if you override a conservation event.
What if I am already adjusting my thermostat to save money?
Our intention with Intelligent Octopus is that you don't need to think about your thermostat once you've set your home's preferred temperature or schedule (if you have one). So for you, there's no need to adjust your thermostat to save money because we'll do all that heavy lifting for you. It's the ideal "set it and forget it" tool.
Can I have multiple devices connected?
Intelligent Octopus will communicate with all the smart thermostats in your account as long as they are enabled. You can manage preferences for all your devices in your Octopus Energy account. There are no additional discounts for having more than one device type connected, as the incentive will not stack. Having one connected is the same as having 100 connected.
How do I know when there's a hold event?
Most devices will show you on your thermostat app or the device itself if there's a savings event in progress. You can also check out to see if there's an event in our "Devices" tab in the Octopus app. You'll see "Smart Event in Progress" if we've issued an event to your thermostat.
Does Intelligent Octopus turn off my AC or adjust my temperature?
No! We set your thermostat's set point; we don't actually turn your AC off or on. The change in set point may affect when your AC is operating, so it may turn off to reach the set point. But we never directly control your AC.
Keep in mind, just because Intelligent Octopus has adjusted your set point, it doesn't mean it will always reach it during a hold event. Your home's ability to maintain a temperature is dependent on it's energy-efficiency.
How do I override a hold event?
If you need to override an event, just simply change your settings on the thermostat- that's all there is to it.
