Intelligent Octopus
Discussion
Mahalo said:
The graph you have posted does indeed show that the highest price band for Agile is the period from 16.00-19.00. What is also shows is that the price on Agile very rarely gets to the same price as the 7.5p/kwh as Intelligent Octopus. We discussed the Agile vs Intelligent Octopus spreadsheet on page 19 of this very thread and myself and others noted that the spreadsheet gave inaccurate daily predictions of savings. In my case these savings would have actually turned into extra costs were I to move to Agile. I suspect this is the case for most users as the spreadsheet does not take account on the daily calculations of the actual off peak usage on Intelligent Octopus.
Agree that if you plug in your car every day at 4pm and trigger the cheap energy, then it is probably hard to beat. I suspect I'll plug in once a week or so and as such, won't get the benefit so much whereas I do WFH, so the agile 10-15p electricity during the day wins for me.I think this is probably the genius of octopus, it is using smart meters etc to give customers more options since:
For daily EV drivers, use IO
For less frequent EV drivers, use Agile with the Ohme pluge pricing option (i.e. charge when price drops below Xp)
At no point in the discussion are we suggesting using any other supplier, which is fairly amazing!
Just ordered a model Y through my companies salary sacrifice scheme and now trying to get my head around which tariff we should move to (or not). Getting an Ohme charger fitted and are already on Octopus Tracker for gas and electric.
The scheme people are telling me to move to the intelligent tariff, but looking at that, the day rate would increase from 18p/kwh to 30p kwh but the 7.5p cheap overnight charging.
Used the comparison link shared on here and agile showing 1-2% more expensive than the tracker.
Don't do huge miles so perhaps charging once per week? Would you move the elec to IO or keep on tracker?
The scheme people are telling me to move to the intelligent tariff, but looking at that, the day rate would increase from 18p/kwh to 30p kwh but the 7.5p cheap overnight charging.
Used the comparison link shared on here and agile showing 1-2% more expensive than the tracker.
Don't do huge miles so perhaps charging once per week? Would you move the elec to IO or keep on tracker?
mattman said:
Just ordered a model Y through my companies salary sacrifice scheme and now trying to get my head around which tariff we should move to (or not). Getting an Ohme charger fitted and are already on Octopus Tracker for gas and electric.
The scheme people are telling me to move to the intelligent tariff, but looking at that, the day rate would increase from 18p/kwh to 30p kwh but the 7.5p cheap overnight charging.
Used the comparison link shared on here and agile showing 1-2% more expensive than the tracker.
Don't do huge miles so perhaps charging once per week? Would you move the elec to IO or keep on tracker?
OK, think I have worked it out. The scheme people are telling me to move to the intelligent tariff, but looking at that, the day rate would increase from 18p/kwh to 30p kwh but the 7.5p cheap overnight charging.
Used the comparison link shared on here and agile showing 1-2% more expensive than the tracker.
Don't do huge miles so perhaps charging once per week? Would you move the elec to IO or keep on tracker?
We roughly use 1100kwh a month which costs us around £195 on the tracker.
If I add 3x charges of 80kw at the tracker rate of 18p kwh that equals around £43
Combined cost £238
If I move to IO at 30pkwh, the 1100kw could cost £330 but the charge cost reduces to £18. But overall would cost me £348 - around £148 more per month than tracker.
Does that sound right?
Yes - but it really depends how much energy you use and at what time.
We’re best off on agile for electricity and tracker for gas as we use most of our electricity through the daytime but outside of the peak period.
Everyone’s circumstances are different and switching to intelligent isn’t the right choice for everyone.
We’re best off on agile for electricity and tracker for gas as we use most of our electricity through the daytime but outside of the peak period.
Everyone’s circumstances are different and switching to intelligent isn’t the right choice for everyone.
We used 800kWh last month, roughly 50:50 split on charging the car and rest of the house. Our car charger works out the best Agile period to charge but otherwise our “optimisation” is limited to “don’t put the dishwasher/washing machine/tumble drier on between 4pm and 7pm”.
Last month we averaged 12p/kWh on Agile for our entire use.
Cost on Agile was £107
Cost if we’d been on Tracker would be £158
Cost if we’d been on IO would be £170
The IO cost is overstated because it assumes no additional cheap periods and some of our agile charging was outside the IO cheap period, but all the same, shifting all the car charging to 7.5p but still having significant use at 28p is unlikely to be cheaper than Agile for us.
Not going to apply to all, but might give some the confidence to try Agile without stressing about the “expensive” peak rate. Worst case is you swap back off Agile if it doesn’t work out quite as cheap as you hoped. Octopus make switching painless.
Last month we averaged 12p/kWh on Agile for our entire use.
Cost on Agile was £107
Cost if we’d been on Tracker would be £158
Cost if we’d been on IO would be £170
The IO cost is overstated because it assumes no additional cheap periods and some of our agile charging was outside the IO cheap period, but all the same, shifting all the car charging to 7.5p but still having significant use at 28p is unlikely to be cheaper than Agile for us.
Not going to apply to all, but might give some the confidence to try Agile without stressing about the “expensive” peak rate. Worst case is you swap back off Agile if it doesn’t work out quite as cheap as you hoped. Octopus make switching painless.
MrTrilby said:
We used 800kWh last month, roughly 50:50 split on charging the car and rest of the house. Our car charger works out the best Agile period to charge but otherwise our “optimisation” is limited to “don’t put the dishwasher/washing machine/tumble drier on between 4pm and 7pm”.
Last month we averaged 12p/kWh on Agile for our entire use.
Cost on Agile was £107
Cost if we’d been on Tracker would be £158
Cost if we’d been on IO would be £170
The IO cost is overstated because it assumes no additional cheap periods and some of our agile charging was outside the IO cheap period, but all the same, shifting all the car charging to 7.5p but still having significant use at 28p is unlikely to be cheaper than Agile for us.
Not going to apply to all, but might give some the confidence to try Agile without stressing about the “expensive” peak rate. Worst case is you swap back off Agile if it doesn’t work out quite as cheap as you hoped. Octopus make switching painless.
Thanks, sounds similar to us. We have a larger house and both work from home so consumption is quite high during daytime and peak hours. We don't particularly make any effort currently not to put the washing machine etc on between 4-7 so that could help too.Last month we averaged 12p/kWh on Agile for our entire use.
Cost on Agile was £107
Cost if we’d been on Tracker would be £158
Cost if we’d been on IO would be £170
The IO cost is overstated because it assumes no additional cheap periods and some of our agile charging was outside the IO cheap period, but all the same, shifting all the car charging to 7.5p but still having significant use at 28p is unlikely to be cheaper than Agile for us.
Not going to apply to all, but might give some the confidence to try Agile without stressing about the “expensive” peak rate. Worst case is you swap back off Agile if it doesn’t work out quite as cheap as you hoped. Octopus make switching painless.
Will look some more at the Agile tariff, but IO doesn't seem to be a viable option
Question!
When my car is charging (like right now) is the whole house on 7.5p or just the charge that goes into the car?
I have got to the point where I charge twice a week using my 3 pin charger.
I turned down the charging to 6A just to put it in a bit slower and prevent any issue with over heating the socket etc.
The result is when I plug the car in it seems to schedule charging for most of the day and night. Like now its been on since 11am today. Will go off at 4pm but then back on at 1030pm till 9am.
Thats the other thing I noticed if I change the "ready time" to later in the AM it generally keeps charging till that time. I currently have it set to 9am and it seems happy to schedule till then.
When my car is charging (like right now) is the whole house on 7.5p or just the charge that goes into the car?
I have got to the point where I charge twice a week using my 3 pin charger.
I turned down the charging to 6A just to put it in a bit slower and prevent any issue with over heating the socket etc.
The result is when I plug the car in it seems to schedule charging for most of the day and night. Like now its been on since 11am today. Will go off at 4pm but then back on at 1030pm till 9am.
Thats the other thing I noticed if I change the "ready time" to later in the AM it generally keeps charging till that time. I currently have it set to 9am and it seems happy to schedule till then.
gotoPzero said:
Question!
When my car is charging (like right now) is the whole house on 7.5p or just the charge that goes into the car?
I have got to the point where I charge twice a week using my 3 pin charger.
I turned down the charging to 6A just to put it in a bit slower and prevent any issue with over heating the socket etc.
The result is when I plug the car in it seems to schedule charging for most of the day and night. Like now its been on since 11am today. Will go off at 4pm but then back on at 1030pm till 9am.
Thats the other thing I noticed if I change the "ready time" to later in the AM it generally keeps charging till that time. I currently have it set to 9am and it seems happy to schedule till then.
The whole house will be at the cheap rate in the hours given (and the standard overnight hours). Get your washing on. When my car is charging (like right now) is the whole house on 7.5p or just the charge that goes into the car?
I have got to the point where I charge twice a week using my 3 pin charger.
I turned down the charging to 6A just to put it in a bit slower and prevent any issue with over heating the socket etc.
The result is when I plug the car in it seems to schedule charging for most of the day and night. Like now its been on since 11am today. Will go off at 4pm but then back on at 1030pm till 9am.
Thats the other thing I noticed if I change the "ready time" to later in the AM it generally keeps charging till that time. I currently have it set to 9am and it seems happy to schedule till then.
We do about 1000 miles a month in our car. Last month we used just over 300kwh in charging so shifted about 150kwh onto the 7.5ppkwh rate. Average price just over 13ppkwh for the whole house for the month. We are fairly low users to be fair. 
Edited by Grapevine226 on Saturday 2nd March 16:59
theboss said:
Wow that's a lot of off peak - what EV/mileage do you have/do?Yes it's great the peak price is coming down - tbh I thought octopus locked me out of downward prices when I signed up to get locked in prices that were below the cap at the time.
Last bill we were down to 12ppkw average
TheDeuce said:
Wow that's a lot of off peak - what EV/mileage do you have/do?
Yes it's great the peak price is coming down - tbh I thought octopus locked me out of downward prices when I signed up to get locked in prices that were below the cap at the time.
Last bill we were down to 12ppkw average
Last one I had was 9.01p pkwh. I have had as low as 7.96p pkwh though. This is only because we charge our battery at night and use it through the day. Yes it's great the peak price is coming down - tbh I thought octopus locked me out of downward prices when I signed up to get locked in prices that were below the cap at the time.
Last bill we were down to 12ppkw average
Road2Ruin said:
TheDeuce said:
Wow that's a lot of off peak - what EV/mileage do you have/do?
Yes it's great the peak price is coming down - tbh I thought octopus locked me out of downward prices when I signed up to get locked in prices that were below the cap at the time.
Last bill we were down to 12ppkw average
Last one I had was 9.01p pkwh. I have had as low as 7.96p pkwh though. This is only because we charge our battery at night and use it through the day. Yes it's great the peak price is coming down - tbh I thought octopus locked me out of downward prices when I signed up to get locked in prices that were below the cap at the time.
Last bill we were down to 12ppkw average
In case it hasn't been mentioned before .. slap your API details in here and compare away.
Much better than the usual comparisons as it allows all smart tariffs.
https://octopriceuk.vercel.app/
Much better than the usual comparisons as it allows all smart tariffs.
https://octopriceuk.vercel.app/
TheDeuce said:
Wow that's a lot of off peak - what EV/mileage do you have/do?
Yes it's great the peak price is coming down - tbh I thought octopus locked me out of downward prices when I signed up to get locked in prices that were below the cap at the time.
Last bill we were down to 12ppkw average
Thats two EVs (iX and Mini) in the order of 1500-1800 miles on each of them but would have to check more thoroughly. The mini gets a 27kWh charge which corresponds to nearly its entire capacity near nightly and the BMW is used less frequently but covers longer journeys at a lower overall efficiency.Yes it's great the peak price is coming down - tbh I thought octopus locked me out of downward prices when I signed up to get locked in prices that were below the cap at the time.
Last bill we were down to 12ppkw average
Water heating is approx 250kWh/month at night.
We run dishwasher once nightly full now instead of twice half full (took the missus some time to get to grips but now she’s got it). Laundry similar although if we are running several loads a day we prioritise hotter/longer washes in off-peak.
Busy WFH business with lots of IT equipment running constantly. Busy household generally.
Pistonheadsdicoverer said:
Worth investing in solar?
It would be nice to have, but the roof is complex and less than ideal, I’d have to literally shove panels anywhere I could and would end up with lots of different aspects, shading etc.I’m thinking of doing my detached garage roof first as its a straightforward install for 12 panels on 4 aspects without scaffolding, installing with a solaredge and using it as a proof of concept.
Battery storage is also something I’ve thought about with renewed interest now prices are falling but when I can average 12p per unit from the grid the cost case still isn’t that compelling.
I’d do it more from a perspective of reducing grid dependency (somewhat), backup and protection against future price rises.
Its a shame that the plot is reasonably constrained. I’m also on a conservation area, a lot of houses have them and I’m sure its a permitted development, but when somebody takes the piss and plasters 38 panels on their roof in every direction it might get some curtains twitching.
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