Octopus energy company. Anyone use 'em?
Discussion
pingu393 said:
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.
I've come off Agile temporarily and changed to Cosy - eight hours of ~13.23p/kWh for my area. It's a few mouse clicks to put in to affect & seemingly there's currently no down side (and no checking for ASHP). Check the Facebook 'Octopus Agile' for more info. I may well revert to Agile this Friday with the storm approaching. Cosy rates here - https://octopus.energy/smart/cosy-octopus/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.
I bailed on Gas Tracker and locked in to fixed rate at 5.68p last Nov or Dec. I came off a 3 year fix at ~4p in about September, so seeing some (for me) eye watering bills.
Octopus are very accomodating with allowing people to hop around tariffs - it doesn't seem sustainable.
Chris Type R said:
I've come off Agile temporarily and changed to Cosy - eight hours of ~13.23p/kWh for my area. It's a few mouse clicks to put in to affect & seemingly there's currently no down side (and no checking for ASHP). Check the Facebook 'Octopus Agile' for more info. I may well revert to Agile this Friday with the storm approaching. Cosy rates here - https://octopus.energy/smart/cosy-octopus/
I bailed on Gas Tracker and locked in to fixed rate at 5.68p last Nov or Dec. I came off a 3 year fix at ~4p in about September, so seeing some (for me) eye watering bills.
Octopus are very accomodating with allowing people to hop around tariffs - it doesn't seem sustainable.
Octopus won’t let you rejoin tracker for 9 months. I bailed on Gas Tracker and locked in to fixed rate at 5.68p last Nov or Dec. I came off a 3 year fix at ~4p in about September, so seeing some (for me) eye watering bills.
Octopus are very accomodating with allowing people to hop around tariffs - it doesn't seem sustainable.
https://octopus.energy/tracker-faqs/#:~:text=Does%...
colin79666 said:
Octopus won’t let you rejoin tracker for 9 months.
https://octopus.energy/tracker-faqs/#:~:text=Does%...
I'm not sure the 9 month limit is an issue as that will be cleared before next winter and we don't spend a great deal on gas during the warmer months when our CH is turned off. https://octopus.energy/tracker-faqs/#:~:text=Does%...
When we're on Agile and the price is ~3p I have the system configured to heat water using the immersion.
Apologies if this has been posted previously.
I've been charging my i4 overnight at 7p per kW with no problem for nine months but at the start of December the Octopus software stopped working, ie, it won't set the charging time at the overnight rate. Charging starts immediately the car is plugged in, whatever time of day. I tried using the BMW app to set the timing but it didn't work. Thus at 11.30 pm I have go out, plug in and hope the car's fully charged at 6am.
First world problem I know; Octopus have acknowledged the issue with certain BMWs but seven weeks to fix it? I'd rather stick with Octopus but patience is wearing thin. Any other users found a resolution?
I've been charging my i4 overnight at 7p per kW with no problem for nine months but at the start of December the Octopus software stopped working, ie, it won't set the charging time at the overnight rate. Charging starts immediately the car is plugged in, whatever time of day. I tried using the BMW app to set the timing but it didn't work. Thus at 11.30 pm I have go out, plug in and hope the car's fully charged at 6am.
First world problem I know; Octopus have acknowledged the issue with certain BMWs but seven weeks to fix it? I'd rather stick with Octopus but patience is wearing thin. Any other users found a resolution?
I switched from tracker to IOG when the EV arrived in June.
85%ish of my monthly usage is off peak. Granted the EV is most of it but shifting the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher all help.
I have been keeping tabs on how IOG compares against tracker and it has been cheaper every month since getting the EV.
Looking at current tracker prices I am glad that I switched when I did. Current unusually high rates aside, each tweak they have done has made it more uncompetitive which is a shame as it has been an excellent tariff for many years.
I pity the people who followed Martin Lewis and jumped on tracker without knowing the exposure.
85%ish of my monthly usage is off peak. Granted the EV is most of it but shifting the washing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher all help.
I have been keeping tabs on how IOG compares against tracker and it has been cheaper every month since getting the EV.
Looking at current tracker prices I am glad that I switched when I did. Current unusually high rates aside, each tweak they have done has made it more uncompetitive which is a shame as it has been an excellent tariff for many years.
I pity the people who followed Martin Lewis and jumped on tracker without knowing the exposure.
newlad said:
Apologies if this has been posted previously.
I've been charging my i4 overnight at 7p per kW with no problem for nine months but at the start of December the Octopus software stopped working, ie, it won't set the charging time at the overnight rate. Charging starts immediately the car is plugged in, whatever time of day. I tried using the BMW app to set the timing but it didn't work. Thus at 11.30 pm I have go out, plug in and hope the car's fully charged at 6am.
First world problem I know; Octopus have acknowledged the issue with certain BMWs but seven weeks to fix it? I'd rather stick with Octopus but patience is wearing thin. Any other users found a resolution?
The BMW app is a bit weird about charging in a time slot. On our car, that setting is completely ignored unless you have a Departure Time set (doesn't make sense to me, but...). So I have ours set to depart at 8am daily, even though it never does. Then I can charge it reliably in the overnight cheap rate period with our dumb charger.I've been charging my i4 overnight at 7p per kW with no problem for nine months but at the start of December the Octopus software stopped working, ie, it won't set the charging time at the overnight rate. Charging starts immediately the car is plugged in, whatever time of day. I tried using the BMW app to set the timing but it didn't work. Thus at 11.30 pm I have go out, plug in and hope the car's fully charged at 6am.
First world problem I know; Octopus have acknowledged the issue with certain BMWs but seven weeks to fix it? I'd rather stick with Octopus but patience is wearing thin. Any other users found a resolution?
outnumbered said:
newlad said:
Apologies if this has been posted previously.
I've been charging my i4 overnight at 7p per kW with no problem for nine months but at the start of December the Octopus software stopped working, ie, it won't set the charging time at the overnight rate. Charging starts immediately the car is plugged in, whatever time of day. I tried using the BMW app to set the timing but it didn't work. Thus at 11.30 pm I have go out, plug in and hope the car's fully charged at 6am.
First world problem I know; Octopus have acknowledged the issue with certain BMWs but seven weeks to fix it? I'd rather stick with Octopus but patience is wearing thin. Any other users found a resolution?
The BMW app is a bit weird about charging in a time slot. On our car, that setting is completely ignored unless you have a Departure Time set (doesn't make sense to me, but...). So I have ours set to depart at 8am daily, even though it never does. Then I can charge it reliably in the overnight cheap rate period with our dumb charger.I've been charging my i4 overnight at 7p per kW with no problem for nine months but at the start of December the Octopus software stopped working, ie, it won't set the charging time at the overnight rate. Charging starts immediately the car is plugged in, whatever time of day. I tried using the BMW app to set the timing but it didn't work. Thus at 11.30 pm I have go out, plug in and hope the car's fully charged at 6am.
First world problem I know; Octopus have acknowledged the issue with certain BMWs but seven weeks to fix it? I'd rather stick with Octopus but patience is wearing thin. Any other users found a resolution?
This is the mail I had from Octopus about the IOG / BMW issue at the end of November.
I hope you are well! Unfortunately, due to a recent update with 'Enode' classed vehicles (specifically BMW and Mini) there was a loss of our authorised control over charging. This is an issue we are currently working through with BMW to allow us back access and a fix is hopefully going to be available from mid December but until this can be finalised the onboarding option for BMW has been paused.
Obviously taking longer than expected.
I hope you are well! Unfortunately, due to a recent update with 'Enode' classed vehicles (specifically BMW and Mini) there was a loss of our authorised control over charging. This is an issue we are currently working through with BMW to allow us back access and a fix is hopefully going to be available from mid December but until this can be finalised the onboarding option for BMW has been paused.
Obviously taking longer than expected.
Condi said:
You must be using a lot of overnight power @ 5p to get the average to 14p<. It's not a normal usage profile.
Dishwasher, tumble dryer, and a small outbuilding electric heater.There are five hours at 5p and four hours at 13p so not difficult to get down to that average with load shifting.
Nobody home during the day.
outnumbered said:
The BMW app is a bit weird about charging in a time slot. On our car, that setting is completely ignored unless you have a Departure Time set (doesn't make sense to me, but...). So I have ours set to depart at 8am daily, even though it never does. Then I can charge it reliably in the overnight cheap rate period with our dumb charger.
Same here, also on a dumb charger, except I set my departure time 10 minutes before the end of the cheap overnight slot, even though I don't really have a fixed daily departure time.Philvrs said:
craigjm said:
Savings session today 1630-1730
Paying twice as much as yesterday too, things must be getting tight.It looks like being a strange day on Agile, tomorrow. It'll be cheaper in the afternoon than in the wee small hours. They must be expecting over-generation from Storm Éowyn.
pingu393 said:
Philvrs said:
craigjm said:
Savings session today 1630-1730
Paying twice as much as yesterday too, things must be getting tight.It looks like being a strange day on Agile, tomorrow. It'll be cheaper in the afternoon than in the wee small hours. They must be expecting over-generation from Storm Éowyn.
Skodillac said:
pingu393 said:
Philvrs said:
craigjm said:
Savings session today 1630-1730
Paying twice as much as yesterday too, things must be getting tight.It looks like being a strange day on Agile, tomorrow. It'll be cheaper in the afternoon than in the wee small hours. They must be expecting over-generation from Storm Éowyn.
Octopus Energy Agile Forecast
I've written this little Excel file that can be used with Agile.
It predicts what your battery level will be when you start and finish a future charge.
The first tab is based on what the situation is now, the second tab is for planning subsequent charges.
There are no passwords, but the page is protected to stop you accidently messing with the formulae. You will need to unprotect each tab so you can change the pink fields to suit your charger.
https://www.porterbility.co.uk/Files/XLS/Octopus_A... (Use Save As, or click the link to download)
[edit] Now at version 1.01
Now available as a webpage...
https://www.porterbility.co.uk/Octopus_Agile_Calcu...
It predicts what your battery level will be when you start and finish a future charge.
The first tab is based on what the situation is now, the second tab is for planning subsequent charges.
There are no passwords, but the page is protected to stop you accidently messing with the formulae. You will need to unprotect each tab so you can change the pink fields to suit your charger.
https://www.porterbility.co.uk/Files/XLS/Octopus_A... (Use Save As, or click the link to download)
[edit] Now at version 1.01
Edited by pingu393 on Sunday 26th January 00:33
Now available as a webpage...
https://www.porterbility.co.uk/Octopus_Agile_Calcu...
Edited by pingu393 on Thursday 30th January 14:52
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