Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?

Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?

Author
Discussion

babelfish

917 posts

206 months

Saturday 20th February 2021
quotequote all
Why do they take the DD monthly (around the 28th in our case) but bill on an irregular basis.

i.e:

14//10/20
08/11/20
07/12/20
27/12/20
20/01/21
18/02/21

This means you go in and out of their "credit" limit so they try and increase your DD

Why don't they just bill monthly????



gazapc

1,319 posts

159 months

Saturday 20th February 2021
quotequote all
babelfish said:
Why do they take the DD monthly (around the 28th in our case) but bill on an irregular basis.

i.e:

14//10/20
08/11/20
07/12/20
27/12/20
20/01/21
18/02/21

This means you go in and out of their "credit" limit so they try and increase your DD

Why don't they just bill monthly????


I had slightly odd billing at first for a few months but settled down and It's now always the 6th. I've found them very responsive on social media if you want to ask them to check why.

bitchstewie

50,767 posts

209 months

Sunday 28th February 2021
quotequote all
Looking at them now and can't decide between fixed and flexible.

Difference on their website is about a fiver a month in favour of flexible.

What are people doing?

A500leroy

5,083 posts

117 months

Sunday 28th February 2021
quotequote all
bhstewie said:
Looking at them now and can't decide between fixed and flexible.

Difference on their website is about a fiver a month in favour of flexible.

What are people doing?
Always fix

bitchstewie

50,767 posts

209 months

Sunday 28th February 2021
quotequote all
A500leroy said:
Always fix
That would have been my default reasoning but I'm looking at the tariffs and there seems quite the difference particularly on gas.

Fixed.



Flexible.



A500leroy

5,083 posts

117 months

Sunday 28th February 2021
quotequote all
you always pay a little more for fixed, but April is just around the corner and those flexibles will rise

SpeckledJim

31,608 posts

252 months

Sunday 28th February 2021
quotequote all
A500leroy said:
you always pay a little more for fixed, but April is just around the corner and those flexibles will rise
Why is fixed better then?

A500leroy

5,083 posts

117 months

Sunday 28th February 2021
quotequote all
SpeckledJim said:
A500leroy said:
you always pay a little more for fixed, but April is just around the corner and those flexibles will rise
Why is fixed better then?
Because if there is an unexpected shock in the market you are protected from sudden sharp increases, its also easier to budget if you are on a low income

pingu393

7,715 posts

204 months

Sunday 28th February 2021
quotequote all
I don't think there is a lock-in, so you could go for the flexibe now, and change to fixed when you get warning of the price increase.

Is it worth it for £5? And will the same fixed deal still be available?

I just went for fixed.

SpeckledJim

31,608 posts

252 months

Monday 1st March 2021
quotequote all
A500leroy said:
SpeckledJim said:
A500leroy said:
you always pay a little more for fixed, but April is just around the corner and those flexibles will rise
Why is fixed better then?
Because if there is an unexpected shock in the market you are protected from sudden sharp increases, its also easier to budget if you are on a low income
So fixed is always more, except for sometimes.

craigjm

17,908 posts

199 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
quotequote all
Is anyone on their agile tariff and care to comment?

Toaster Pilot

14,615 posts

157 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
quotequote all
craigjm said:
Is anyone on their agile tariff and care to comment?
Bailed out of Agile onto Go in December when the prices got a bit crazy - it gives me enough cheap time to charge my car without having to worry too much about putting the kettle on at the wrong time of day

I do like Agile as a concept though

craigjm

17,908 posts

199 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
quotequote all
Toaster Pilot said:
craigjm said:
Is anyone on their agile tariff and care to comment?
Bailed out of Agile onto Go in December when the prices got a bit crazy - it gives me enough cheap time to charge my car without having to worry too much about putting the kettle on at the wrong time of day

I do like Agile as a concept though
Yeah go seems to make sense if you have an electric car. I don’t and was just considering if we could save by minimising use between 4-7pm

How do you get notified of the price change? Do you get a text message every half an hour or is there an app?

Edited by craigjm on Tuesday 23 March 21:37

essayer

9,009 posts

193 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
quotequote all
OctopusWatch app among others

sjg

7,444 posts

264 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
quotequote all
craigjm said:
Is anyone on their agile tariff and care to comment?
Even with the bonkers prices this winter our average has been around 13p/kWh. That’s nearly double what we averaged last winter but I’ve been checking elsewhere and no-one is doing a normal tariff anywhere near that.

Have an EV but minimal miles and charging through lockdown. Just normal family household usage with us both WFH, only adjustment is hitting the delay button on washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher if it’s between 4 and 7pm.

Kept our DD the same since joining on flexible, have just asked for £300 back as it was getting way too high.

Edited by sjg on Tuesday 23 March 22:51

spanner10

219 posts

46 months

Tuesday 23rd March 2021
quotequote all
I changed to them on 12 month fixed in Nov 20 and they seem ok . I think you can't get a new fixed rate when it expires though. Anyone any experience of this?

Condi

17,085 posts

170 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
quotequote all
sjg said:
Even with the bonkers prices this winter our average has been around 13p/kWh. That’s nearly double what we averaged last winter but I’ve been checking elsewhere and no-one is doing a normal tariff anywhere near that.

Have an EV but minimal miles and charging through lockdown. Just normal family household usage with us both WFH, only adjustment is hitting the delay button on washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher if it’s between 4 and 7pm.
Interesting. I do wonder how their (Octopus's) books look given they were capping you at 35p/kwh or whatever it was, and paying significantly more than that in the market. At one point the wholesale price was £1/kwh, before any transmission/distribution costs, and before any profit margin. Buying at £1 and selling at 35p doesn't make much money.

JonChalk

6,469 posts

109 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
quotequote all
craigjm said:
Toaster Pilot said:
craigjm said:
Is anyone on their agile tariff and care to comment?
Bailed out of Agile onto Go in December when the prices got a bit crazy - it gives me enough cheap time to charge my car without having to worry too much about putting the kettle on at the wrong time of day

I do like Agile as a concept though
Yeah go seems to make sense if you have an electric car. I don’t and was just considering if we could save by minimising use between 4-7pm

How do you get notified of the price change? Do you get a text message every half an hour or is there an app?

Edited by craigjm on Tuesday 23 March 21:37
I tried it for 4 months from October to February. In conjunction with Octopus Watch & Octopus compare it's possible to get notifications and plan accordingly, but after some discussion with OH about (our own) restrictions it imposed on usage, we decided to switch to a Go Faster tariff.

It's a shame, as I really like the principle of helping manage (in a tiny way!) load on the grid to save me money, and help grid load balancing, I think it's just too variable for most to plan / work around. Some will cope, most not, I suspect.

Go Faster offers a much more stable tariff to plan around, including charging and EV, and is fractionally cheaper (pennies per day), but still a huge chunk cheaper that the "flat" tariffs (almost ponds per day).



craigjm

17,908 posts

199 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
quotequote all
Condi said:
sjg said:
Even with the bonkers prices this winter our average has been around 13p/kWh. That’s nearly double what we averaged last winter but I’ve been checking elsewhere and no-one is doing a normal tariff anywhere near that.

Have an EV but minimal miles and charging through lockdown. Just normal family household usage with us both WFH, only adjustment is hitting the delay button on washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher if it’s between 4 and 7pm.
Interesting. I do wonder how their (Octopus's) books look given they were capping you at 35p/kwh or whatever it was, and paying significantly more than that in the market. At one point the wholesale price was £1/kwh, before any transmission/distribution costs, and before any profit margin. Buying at £1 and selling at 35p doesn't make much money.
How do you think it works when any energy company sells you a flat tariff of standing charge and unit price? They are based on averaging out these fluctuations so some times they are winning and some times they are losing with the calculation such, based on historical data meaning they are mainly winning.

craigjm

17,908 posts

199 months

Wednesday 24th March 2021
quotequote all
JonChalk said:
I tried it for 4 months from October to February. In conjunction with Octopus Watch & Octopus compare it's possible to get notifications and plan accordingly, but after some discussion with OH about (our own) restrictions it imposed on usage, we decided to switch to a Go Faster tariff.

It's a shame, as I really like the principle of helping manage (in a tiny way!) load on the grid to save me money, and help grid load balancing, I think it's just too variable for most to plan / work around. Some will cope, most not, I suspect.

Go Faster offers a much more stable tariff to plan around, including charging and EV, and is fractionally cheaper (pennies per day), but still a huge chunk cheaper that the "flat" tariffs (almost ponds per day).
Hmm I don’t have an EV so I’m not sure go would work for me. My thought was that the agile tariff would mean you would restrict your usage at certain times (like 1600-1900) each day and then benefit from cheaper costs at other times.

I have spent the last few years living in South Africa where they practice load shedding, actually kicking you off the grid at certain times for 2-4 hours at a time, to balance the grid and it’s surprising how quickly you get used to it. Just wondering if the saving is worth it