Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?
Discussion
Simpo Two said:
Ah yes, so for the best deal I need to work all night and sleep all day... now where's my lumberjack outfit?
Anyway, I'm with Scottish Power who have proved useless and infuriating - so when I check out in September, will Octopus come up in the comparison websites?
We were with Scottish Power. I would give them an award for the most incorrect billing. They still can't work out what we owe them even nearly 12 months after leaving. I have news for them, it is nothing. I calculated the billing properly and paid them that... Doesn't match what they want though.Anyway, I'm with Scottish Power who have proved useless and infuriating - so when I check out in September, will Octopus come up in the comparison websites?
I also wanted access to the 30 minute billing data on our original smart meter... they didn't actually understand the question.
Pick someone's share code if you move.. they get £50 and you get a £50 credit on your billing.
theboss said:
FFS - I’ve been with octopus for a while but am stuck on 15p - applied for agile in Feb but they can’t install smart meters given present restrictions!
To make it worse I’m charging my new EV all night
We had this issue. To be fair, Octopus were tearing their hair out too. Meters are installed by a third-party and it took months to get the job done.To make it worse I’m charging my new EV all night
Guy who came out was pleasant and efficient. Seemed to take over a month for the installer to 'report back' to Octopus so they could enable it.
Octopus have said they will give us a credit for the time we were stuck on the 'wrong' tariff. I guess they are building up some comparison data and might then give us something. Frustrating though the delay was, it wasn't really Octopus' fault.
No ideas for a name said:
The industry (in my opinion) messed up with smart meters... They pushed them as saving energy, saying people would watch the in home display and cut their usage.... everyone could see that didn't make sense so didn't 'buy in' to the project. The message should have been "It is to better match supply and demand and offer pricing which is advantageous to both parties".
Totally agree. I’ve been fitting them for 4 years. Only on the list 6month to a year have the advertising campaigns focused on them creating a smart grid. If I had a pound for every customer who asked how much they save by getting a smart meter fitted... no wonder there is a lot of negative press as you rightly said, they were sold to people along totally the wrong lines. Now you find there is a bit of resistance to them due to misinformation. My colleagues and I agree now it should just have been sold as part of a grid upgrade. And not necessarily been done by energy suppliers.
Simpo Two said:
Anyway, I'm with Scottish Power who have proved useless and infuriating - so when I check out in September, will Octopus come up in the comparison websites?
I doubt it as they don't have half hour wholesale prices or your exact usage in each one of those half hours. If more people move onto this then there will be a higher demand. But as prices are published (APX or N2ex), assuming that is the wholesale price Octopus use, then National Grid will have to take more balancing action. This in turn will increase BSUoS costs, which are passed on to the consumer...
It makes sense to balance out supply and demand. Pricing signals are what wil make that happen (this happens on some business tariffs), but only if you can adjust your usage on price signals. Retailers struggle but can to a certain degree. Industrial users can adjust more so.
Residential users can optimise usage to a degree, but doing this manually is a chore. IFTTT is what is needed....
hopefully installs can pick up again soon.
Meeten-5dulx said:
Residential users can optimise usage to a degree, but doing this manually is a chore. IFTTT is what is needed....
As I understand it, IFTTT is an externally hosted service. People need to understand the downsides of an off-site controller. A friend of mine set up a system that relied on Alexa voice control only to find he was sitting in the dark when his internet connection had an outage. You can design around it, but many peopole assume that these things are always available when they are not. Some smart switches use Chinese servers again which you just can't guarantee long term availability.I would recommend a local controller, on site. Plenty of options and I have gone for an open source implementation, Home Assistant, others are available. Trouble is, at the moment a fair bit of knowledge is required to set this up.
In time, I expect a commercial product will offer home control, but not be tied to one 'flavour' of devices... It needs to integrate across all manufacturers and standards.
scgwhite said:
AND are going to be using entirely sustainable, low carbon electricity.
I mean, you're not, but if thats what they tell you! Always amuses me they're allowed to say that; in the middle of winter if its cold and still there will be electrons produced by coal power, and all year round there will be gas electrons flowing into your house. But yes, thanks to some quirk of policy, they are allowed to say it's 100% renewable.
Condi said:
I mean, you're not, but if thats what they tell you! Always amuses me they're allowed to say that; in the middle of winter if its cold and still there will be electrons produced by coal power, and all year round there will be gas electrons flowing into your house.
But yes, thanks to some quirk of policy, they are allowed to say it's 100% renewable.
not necessarily a quirk.But yes, thanks to some quirk of policy, they are allowed to say it's 100% renewable.
Orsted only have renewable generation, so surely their energy is green…?
A more accurate description would be to say that energy they produce is produce and offer to the grid is from renewable sources.
not as catchy to them marketing folk.....
No ideas for a name said:
We were with Scottish Power. I would give them an award for the most incorrect billing. They still can't work out what we owe them even nearly 12 months after leaving. I have news for them, it is nothing. I calculated the billing properly and paid them that... Doesn't match what they want though.
Same story here. Even if I give them meter readings the day they ask for them, I still get an estimated bill.On the phone we agreed that, because it was just such a rolling PITAgoing on month after month, that we'd leave it until September then I'd pay one accurate final bill and then move. But now they're denying it. I've had multiple overlapping invoices for seemingly random numbers - if I paid them all I'd be miles out of pocket.
No ideas for a name said:
Pick someone's share code if you move.. they get £50 and you get a £50 credit on your billing.
Can you explain that please?No ideas for a name said:
Pick someone's share code if you move.. they get £50 and you get a £50 credit on your billing.
Simpo Two said:
Can you explain that please?
Maybe that wasn't very clear... Octopus have a referal scheme whereby they pay the person who recommened them to a new customer £50, they also give that new customer a £50 'welcome' credit. It works by using someone's referal or share code.Some people put this code in their postings, but some people have had warnings from PH and their codes removed from postings by a mod. Apparently it isn't allowed under forum rules - however, some people have got away with it without removal.
To be honest, I have had a single referal from a name I didn't recognise, so I am guessing it was off here... Thanks.. every little helps!
Edited by No ideas for a name on Saturday 23 May 16:37
Condi said:
scgwhite said:
AND are going to be using entirely sustainable, low carbon electricity.
I mean, you're not, but if thats what they tell you! Always amuses me they're allowed to say that; in the middle of winter if its cold and still there will be electrons produced by coal power, and all year round there will be gas electrons flowing into your house. But yes, thanks to some quirk of policy, they are allowed to say it's 100% renewable.
How is this? Easy, they sold their non-renewable stations to Drax.... and buy back the power that they generate.
No ideas for a name said:
Scottish Power used to get me with that... 100% renewable so they claim. Reading in to it more, they actually claim that their generation is 100% renewable (as opposed to their supply).
How is this? Easy, they sold their non-renewable stations to Drax.... and buy back the power that they generate.
How is this? Easy, they sold their non-renewable stations to Drax.... and buy back the power that they generate.
Meeten-5dulx said:
Condi said:
I mean, you're not, but if thats what they tell you! Always amuses me they're allowed to say that; in the middle of winter if its cold and still there will be electrons produced by coal power, and all year round there will be gas electrons flowing into your house.
But yes, thanks to some quirk of policy, they are allowed to say it's 100% renewable.
not necessarily a quirk.But yes, thanks to some quirk of policy, they are allowed to say it's 100% renewable.
Orsted only have renewable generation, so surely their energy is green…?
A more accurate description would be to say that energy they produce is produce and offer to the grid is from renewable sources.
not as catchy to them marketing folk.....
They buy certificates to prove that for every MW they sell, 1 MW of renewable power was produced. Over a 12 month period it balances out, but at times the grid is nearly 100% fossil fuel and nuclear, and at other times very little is thermal.
It also fails to mention that those renewable MW's would be produced anyway, so saying Ocotpus is '100% green' because they own the certificates to prove it, means that the customer of another company is getting the 'dirtier', non renewable power. Which is of course, nonsense. It all goes into the mix, and all comes out jumbled up at the other end.
Its marketing nonsense.
Just a quickie..
Currently with Bulb and spending approx £1700/yr combined gas and elec. Octopus are saying I can save approx £100 (mainly from gas).
Do you have to do anything like have a Smart Meter installed? I like Bulb, it's simple to submit meter readings a few times a year, but I think £100 saving is worth switching. Also does anyone know if Bulb will match Octopus prices?
Currently with Bulb and spending approx £1700/yr combined gas and elec. Octopus are saying I can save approx £100 (mainly from gas).
Do you have to do anything like have a Smart Meter installed? I like Bulb, it's simple to submit meter readings a few times a year, but I think £100 saving is worth switching. Also does anyone know if Bulb will match Octopus prices?
Phooey said:
Just a quickie..
Currently with Bulb and spending approx £1700/yr combined gas and elec. Octopus are saying I can save approx £100 (mainly from gas).
Do you have to do anything like have a Smart Meter installed? I like Bulb, it's simple to submit meter readings a few times a year, but I think £100 saving is worth switching. Also does anyone know if Bulb will match Octopus prices?
Switch but use a code and you'll save £100 + get £50 credit and someone here gets £50. You can switch later to bulb again with no penalties from octopus either. Currently with Bulb and spending approx £1700/yr combined gas and elec. Octopus are saying I can save approx £100 (mainly from gas).
Do you have to do anything like have a Smart Meter installed? I like Bulb, it's simple to submit meter readings a few times a year, but I think £100 saving is worth switching. Also does anyone know if Bulb will match Octopus prices?
hotchy said:
Switch but use a code and you'll save £100 + get £50 credit and someone here gets £50. You can switch later to bulb again with no penalties from octopus either.
Do Octopus require or need you to have a Smart Meter? I haven't got nor want one.I need to do a proper calculation later. If I have did it right earlier than i *think* my saving will come from the gas? Electricity is more expensive with Octopus (I think). I'm not very good when it comes to reading the blurb
Phooey said:
hotchy said:
Switch but use a code and you'll save £100 + get £50 credit and someone here gets £50. You can switch later to bulb again with no penalties from octopus either.
Do Octopus require or need you to have a Smart Meter? I haven't got nor want one.I need to do a proper calculation later. If I have did it right earlier than i *think* my saving will come from the gas? Electricity is more expensive with Octopus (I think). I'm not very good when it comes to reading the blurb
Phooey said:
Do Octopus require or need you to have a Smart Meter? I haven't got nor want one.
Genuinely interested... why do you not want a smart meter? I don't see any downside for the customer at all, if you don't want to take advantage of the tariffs that it will enable, you don't have to.One little benefit here - when they did the smart meter installs, they added a 100A DP isolator on the consumer side of the meter... it means I can isolate the tails from the meter before they leave the meterbox, meaning any change of consumer units is either safer, or doesn't involve the supplier at all. Not sure if that was policy from just our area or if it is a National thing.
No ideas for a name said:
Phooey said:
Do Octopus require or need you to have a Smart Meter? I haven't got nor want one.
Genuinely interested... why do you not want a smart meter? I don't see any downside for the customer at all, if you don't want to take advantage of the tariffs that it will enable, you don't have to.One little benefit here - when they did the smart meter installs, they added a 100A DP isolator on the consumer side of the meter... it means I can isolate the tails from the meter before they leave the meterbox, meaning any change of consumer units is either safer, or doesn't involve the supplier at all. Not sure if that was policy from just our area or if it is a National thing.
Last company. 9 months of payments, No bills. Left them 3 months ago. Now it’s all estimated bills and guessing.
mikeiow said:
We are on an experimental version of the Go tariff: ours runs for 4 hours from 20:30hrs rather than the regular 00:30. Washing, dishwashing, drying all happens after 20:30 now!
Of course the EV is mostly full these days ‘cos it doesn’t get out much, but it makes for cheap running costs when it was used - 5p/kW means we can travel between 270-450 miles, compared with about 35 in my diesel XC60, even at today’s low pump prices (depending whether we floor the Kona or drive sensibly!!)
Would be interested in more details of this experimental tariff. We switched to Octopus a couple of months ago having bought a 30kw Leaf and are now waiting for them to fit a smart meter (which they aren't doing atm due to Covid19) so I can access their 'Go' tariff. Obviously a 8.30 to 12.30 'Go' style tariff would be of interest as it would open up a lot more practical use for us beyond just the car. What are the KWh rates on this experimental tariff - feel free to PM me if its not something you can post publically.Of course the EV is mostly full these days ‘cos it doesn’t get out much, but it makes for cheap running costs when it was used - 5p/kW means we can travel between 270-450 miles, compared with about 35 in my diesel XC60, even at today’s low pump prices (depending whether we floor the Kona or drive sensibly!!)
Thanks
PO
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