How does Autopilot handle price spikes in the electricity market?

Autopilot doesn't react to price spikes, it anticipates them. Every day, it builds a 24-hour optimization plan based on the next day's price curve, weather forecast, and your household's patterns. When prices spike, the work has already been done.

Here's the logic, step by step:

1. Price data arrives at 13:00 CET. The electricity market publishes day-ahead prices for the next 24 hours. Autopilot immediately pulls this data and begins planning.
2. Autopilot identifies the expensive hours. In Europe, the spread between the cheapest and most expensive hour can be 5–10x on volatile days. Autopilot maps these peaks and valleys precisely.
3. It calculates how much flexibility you have. Your home's thermal mass (how slowly it loses heat), your battery's state of charge, your EV's charging needs, and your hot water tank's temperature all represent buffers. Autopilot knows exactly how much energy it can shift without affecting your comfort.
4. It front-loads consumption into cheap hours. Heat pump runs harder at 0.20 kr/kWh so it can coast at 1.80 kr/kWh. Battery charges from the grid at 0.15 kr/kWh and discharges during the peak. EV charges overnight at the lowest rate. Hot water heats before the spike, not during it.
5. During the spike itself, your home runs on stored energy. Thermal energy in your floors and walls. Electrical energy in your battery. Your devices either idle or operate at minimum power. The house feels the same. The bill doesn't.

What about sudden, unplanned spikes? Autopilot also monitors intraday price updates. If prices shift significantly after the initial plan was made — for example, if a power plant goes offline or wind production drops unexpectedly Autopilot recalculates and adjusts in real time. Your plan isn't fixed at 13:00. It's continuously refined.

Real-world impact: A household with a heat pump and dynamic electricity tariff can save €120–€280 per year purely from shifting heating load to cheaper hours. If you add a home battery or EV charger, the savings increase because Autopilot has more flexibility to work with. With a full system (heat pump + solar + battery + EV), savings can reach €700–€1,350 per year.

You see these savings transparently in the Alva app. Each month, the savings dashboard shows exactly what you paid versus what you would have paid without optimization: no guesswork, no estimates.