Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?

Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?

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Discussion

mikey_b

2,217 posts

55 months

Sunday 19th January
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clockworks said:
You won't be able to switch to Intelligent Go until you've got a compatible car OR charger plugged in. Octopus do a check for comms with the charger or car as part of the switch via the app.

It's worth getting a charger that's compatible with Octopus, just in case you change cars at some point, or the car manufacturer stops third party access.
If that happens, and you have got a non-comoatible charger, you'll get kicked off Intelligent Go and switched to Go.

You could switch now to Go, by saying you are using a random car with a granny charger, then switch to Intelligent Go once you've got the car and charger.
All good points, thank you. A compatible charger makes sense.

Is switching tariffs on Octopus fast? I’ll be granny charging initially, so be good to reduce the cost of that even if it is slow.

anonymous-user

64 months

Sunday 19th January
quotequote all
mikey_b said:
clockworks said:
You won't be able to switch to Intelligent Go until you've got a compatible car OR charger plugged in. Octopus do a check for comms with the charger or car as part of the switch via the app.

It's worth getting a charger that's compatible with Octopus, just in case you change cars at some point, or the car manufacturer stops third party access.
If that happens, and you have got a non-comoatible charger, you'll get kicked off Intelligent Go and switched to Go.

You could switch now to Go, by saying you are using a random car with a granny charger, then switch to Intelligent Go once you've got the car and charger.
All good points, thank you. A compatible charger makes sense.

Is switching tariffs on Octopus fast? I’ll be granny charging initially, so be good to reduce the cost of that even if it is slow.
“If you already have a compatible smart meter, the Go tariff can be activated quickly, often within a day or two of the switch completing”

Mine took just a few days, I understand that they need to confirm the Smart Readings are reliable & every 30 mins.

Cupid-stunt

2,931 posts

66 months

Sunday 19th January
quotequote all
James6112 said:
mikey_b said:
clockworks said:
You won't be able to switch to Intelligent Go until you've got a compatible car OR charger plugged in. Octopus do a check for comms with the charger or car as part of the switch via the app.

It's worth getting a charger that's compatible with Octopus, just in case you change cars at some point, or the car manufacturer stops third party access.
If that happens, and you have got a non-comoatible charger, you'll get kicked off Intelligent Go and switched to Go.

You could switch now to Go, by saying you are using a random car with a granny charger, then switch to Intelligent Go once you've got the car and charger.
All good points, thank you. A compatible charger makes sense.

Is switching tariffs on Octopus fast? I’ll be granny charging initially, so be good to reduce the cost of that even if it is slow.
“If you already have a compatible smart meter, the Go tariff can be activated quickly, often within a day or two of the switch completing”

Mine took just a few days, I understand that they need to confirm the Smart Readings are reliable & every 30 mins.
And by contrast, my move took approx 3 weeks = due to the supplier so it wsan't much more that Octopus could do.
There are some other companies that have cheap overnight / EV specific rates so don't think you are HAVE to move companies.
Who are you with at the moment?

mikey_b

2,217 posts

55 months

Sunday 19th January
quotequote all
Cupid-stunt said:
And by contrast, my move took approx 3 weeks = due to the supplier so it wsan't much more that Octopus could do.
There are some other companies that have cheap overnight / EV specific rates so don't think you are HAVE to move companies.
Who are you with at the moment?
I’m already on Octopus - but using the Flexible tariff rather than an EV one. This would just be a change of tariff rather than supplier.

Somebody

1,356 posts

93 months

Sunday 19th January
quotequote all
TheAngryDog said:
We are on the daily tracker and it's starting to not be worth being on as it's above the cap more often than not.

Probably take the eon.nxt 7% below the cap tariff.
I moved to Tomato Lifestyle last Monday from Tracker Dec '23. Tracker has been higher every day apart one, 23.72p vs 24.13p/kWh, but offset by 6 hours overnight at 5p/kWh and 4 hours during mid-morning/late night at 14.04p/kWh.

RichB

53,219 posts

294 months

Sunday 19th January
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Road2Ruin said:
RichB said:
clockworks said:
<clip> You could switch now to Go, by saying you are using a random car with a granny charger...
Does 'granny charger' just mean plugged into a 13a socket?
Yes
Thanks, I have a PHEV plugged in and I'm on Octopus Go. Always wondered what it meant. smile

Byker28i

69,431 posts

227 months

Monday 20th January
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My solar export tariff came through surprisingly quick. Octopus did their bit in just a few days

Skodillac

6,779 posts

40 months

Monday 20th January
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Some Agile sums:

2023 - 6068kwh = £1,144. Average 18.9p per kwh.
2024 - 5072kwh = £777. Average 15.3p per kwh. (Surprised to see 1000kwh lower usage, but one teenager left home and went to University in October 2023...)

Jan 2025 so far - 213kwh = £49. Average 0.23p per kwh. This will surely level out over the year to a far lower annual average.

Still beating the price cap/standard variable rates at the moment (27p isn't it?), even though it's an unusually calm (i.e. non- windy) and fairly cold January.

I don't think there's any reason to jump to another tariff - I think I'll stick with it for the year and take a view next year.

Condi

18,261 posts

181 months

Monday 20th January
quotequote all
Somebody said:
TheAngryDog said:
We are on the daily tracker and it's starting to not be worth being on as it's above the cap more often than not.

Probably take the eon.nxt 7% below the cap tariff.
I moved to Tomato Lifestyle last Monday from Tracker Dec '23. Tracker has been higher every day apart one, 23.72p vs 24.13p/kWh, but offset by 6 hours overnight at 5p/kWh and 4 hours during mid-morning/late night at 14.04p/kWh.
But now is when you expect tracker to be expensive, in summer when gas is cheaper, there is loads of solar, and lower demands then tracker will be cheaper. You can't make a decision based on a few expensive days in winter - or you can, but in 6m times your contract might look expensive.

If you don't want to worry about it go fixed, but if a few expensive days scares you then it's not the right contract and you'll be happier on a fixed deal.

silentbrown

9,510 posts

126 months

Monday 20th January
quotequote all
Condi said:
If you don't want to worry about it go fixed, but if a few expensive days scares you then it's not the right contract and you'll be happier on a fixed deal.
I've been on Agile since the start of July, so not yet a full year of data. Solar PV, 9.5kWh battery, actively managed. no EV.

Average unit rate has been 13.65p. Only one day so far costing more than the regular tariff, and that was just by 6p over the day...

Today and tomorrow not lookng great, admittedly!

Byker28i

69,431 posts

227 months

Monday 20th January
quotequote all
Skodillac said:
Some Agile sums:

2023 - 6068kwh = £1,144. Average 18.9p per kwh.
2024 - 5072kwh = £777. Average 15.3p per kwh. (Surprised to see 1000kwh lower usage, but one teenager left home and went to University in October 2023...)

Jan 2025 so far - 213kwh = £49. Average 0.23p per kwh. This will surely level out over the year to a far lower annual average.

Still beating the price cap/standard variable rates at the moment (27p isn't it?), even though it's an unusually calm (i.e. non- windy) and fairly cold January.

I don't think there's any reason to jump to another tariff - I think I'll stick with it for the year and take a view next year.
Our son was back for two years (covid and after) to finish his masters and then left for Belgium. We saw around 1500kw less the next year as he was in the garden office, heaters going, cooking with oven on at different times etc.

pingu393

9,279 posts

215 months

Monday 20th January
quotequote all
I've been doing some modelling based on Tracker, Agile and Flux.

Total Consumption = 3385 (9.27/day)
Total Solar Generated = 3330

Last year...
Total Imported from Grid = 2357
Total Exported to Grid = 835

Estimated Costs...
December 2024v1 Tracker + Octopus Export = £575 / year (£50 / month)
October 2024v1 Agile + Octopus Export = £200 / year (£20 / month)
Octopus Flux = £360 (£30 / month)

Zoon

6,895 posts

131 months

Monday 20th January
quotequote all
silentbrown said:
I've been on Agile since the start of July, so not yet a full year of data. Solar PV, 9.5kWh battery, actively managed. no EV.

Average unit rate has been 13.65p. Only one day so far costing more than the regular tariff, and that was just by 6p over the day...

Today and tomorrow not lookng great, admittedly!
I'm averaging that with no solar or battery on Tomato.

Condi

18,261 posts

181 months

Monday 20th January
quotequote all
Zoon said:
I'm averaging that with no solar or battery on Tomato.
But with an EV so you have a lot of overnight usage.

colin79666

2,016 posts

123 months

Monday 20th January
quotequote all
Condi said:
But now is when you expect tracker to be expensive, in summer when gas is cheaper, there is loads of solar, and lower demands then tracker will be cheaper. You can't make a decision based on a few expensive days in winter - or you can, but in 6m times your contract might look expensive.

If you don't want to worry about it go fixed, but if a few expensive days scares you then it's not the right contract and you'll be happier on a fixed deal.
You also need to take into account usage. I have electric heating and therefore use 4-6x more electricity on a cold winter day than I do a summer day. It takes a whole week of cheap summer days to offset just one expensive winter one.

Tracker worked well for me through the ups and downs of 2023/2024 but I’ve left it now the Dec23 tariff was ending to be replaced by a more expensive version and a general up trend in daily prices.

Ubiquitous2024

246 posts

6 months

Tuesday 21st January
quotequote all
colin79666 said:
You also need to take into account usage. I have electric heating and therefore use 4-6x more electricity on a cold winter day than I do a summer day. It takes a whole week of cheap summer days to offset just one expensive winter one.

Tracker worked well for me through the ups and downs of 2023/2024 but I’ve left it now the Dec23 tariff was ending to be replaced by a more expensive version and a general up trend in daily prices.
I have been on all the Trackers since 2022 and am now starting to seriously consider ditching. I get the whole long game thing, and I have accepted the recent price hikes over cap in the last few weeks. I will stick it out for a bit but if this carries on, I will abandon. The fact that they keep increasing the standing charge and rates is just removing all the benefits of being on it for me.

page3

5,045 posts

261 months

Tuesday 21st January
quotequote all
Also on tracker and thinking of moving to IO. In the past, even with two EVs, Tracker has been cheaper but now I'm not so sure. Difficult to calculate absolute numbers because obviously I'd shift what else I can overnight.

Could jump ship (like many others) to Tomato, but would miss the API integration that Octopus offers.

Zoon

6,895 posts

131 months

Tuesday 21st January
quotequote all
Condi said:
But with an EV so you have a lot of overnight usage.
No EV

Philvrs

597 posts

107 months

Tuesday 21st January
quotequote all
Ubiquitous2024 said:
I have been on all the Trackers since 2022 and am now starting to seriously consider ditching. I get the whole long game thing, and I have accepted the recent price hikes over cap in the last few weeks. I will stick it out for a bit but if this carries on, I will abandon. The fact that they keep increasing the standing charge and rates is just removing all the benefits of being on it for me.
Exactly my thoughts (been on trackers since gas v1 started) always good rates, but recently its seems non of the upside and all of the downside to these tariffs.
Switch to tomato lifestyle pensioner on Thursday (I’m not a pensioner! it just suits me best) and british gas longer fix gas at some point soon.
No EV, battery or solar and very unlikely to install any here in the future.

pingu393

9,279 posts

215 months

Tuesday 21st January
quotequote all
Philvrs said:
Ubiquitous2024 said:
I have been on all the Trackers since 2022 and am now starting to seriously consider ditching. I get the whole long game thing, and I have accepted the recent price hikes over cap in the last few weeks. I will stick it out for a bit but if this carries on, I will abandon. The fact that they keep increasing the standing charge and rates is just removing all the benefits of being on it for me.
Exactly my thoughts (been on trackers since gas v1 started) always good rates, but recently its seems non of the upside and all of the downside to these tariffs.
Switch to tomato lifestyle pensioner on Thursday (I’m not a pensioner! it just suits me best) and british gas longer fix gas at some point soon.
No EV, battery or solar and very unlikely to install any here in the future.
I've come off tracker for electricity, but have stayed on it for gas.

I can charge a battery during the off-peak, and it has 20% more capacity than my normal daily usage, so I've moved to Agile. According to last night's charge (my first on Agile), it only takes 2.5 hours to charge from 20% to 100%. I can choose the five best 30-minute slots from the Telegram forecast, or just charge from 0330-0600.

At the moment, Agile is around 22p at charge time, but I hope the price will drop during between March-October.

I plan to sell excess solar at 15p, via Octopus Export. Solar tops feeds the house, then tops up the battery, then exports to the grid. Last year, I exported 800 out of 3300 generated.

The downside to doing things this way is that I am gambling on Agile being less than 15p for most of the year, as the battery will be full before the sun rises, and household consumption starts. Hence, I'll buy more electricity at Agile rates, but I'll be exporting more solar to the grid. I'm not planning on gambling on not doing an Agile charge, and hoping for a sunny day. That is hell of a risk, as Agile on-peak charges are horrendous!



Octopus recommended Flux, but I can't see how that would work, as the battery would be too low at 1900 to last until the cheap rate starts again at 0200. I'd be spending about £2.25 per day on electricity, but making about 65p per day for being a battery for the national grid. It would be a good scheme if I could export excess solar using Octopus Export rates, but they don't allow that, as the exporting outside 1600-1900 is only 12.74p.