Energy Prices (Strictly NO referrals!)

chrcoluk · 27 Oct 2022 at 10:58

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Octopus sent out the signup for the reduce your usage and get paid scheme, called "Saving Sessions"

Check your email if your a customer as you need to sign up now and then again when told of each window of opportunity

I didnt get this email but have already signed up following the link on the MSE news page. (no reply or confirmation yet on it).

So it seems they didnt send to all customers or perhaps its going out staggered over a number of days.

---edit--

I googled for "saving sessions octopus" and noticed its different to the link MSE provided, and signed up to it and got an immediate email receipt, so thanks.

On reading the t&c, it looks like you need a high base line to get the maximum out of it.

Doobedoo · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:00

Electric shower is actually much more efficient than using the immersion. You only heat the water you use for the short period of time you shower, rather than a big tank that incurs thermal loses from the moment it’s heated.

chrcoluk · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:07

Doobedoo said:
Electric shower is actually much more efficient than using the immersion. You only heat the water you use for the short period of time you shower, rather than a big tank that incurs thermal loses from the moment it’s heated.

For sure, its instant hot water.

I think a lot of people tend to look at the high watts for things like kettles and showers and immediately thinking its inefficient, but if I want hot water to rinse something immediately then shower is great, hot water for drink, kettle is great.

Troop · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:08

@HungryHippos

On the Octopus portal click on explore my energy use, from there look at the bottom of the page and click on "old consumption dashboard"

All your half hour daily usage is shown on a graph there,

Troop · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:11

Doobedoo said:
Electric shower is actually much more efficient than using the immersion. You only heat the water you use for the short period of time you shower, rather than a big tank that incurs thermal loses from the moment it’s heated.

It works for us using the immersion, 1 tank covers our daily use for all hot water for 12-14 pence daily. (on GO faster tariff)

Doobedoo · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:16

Troop said:
It works for us using the immersion, 1 tank covers our daily use for all hot water for 12-14 pence daily. (on GO faster tariff)

We don’t bother with the immersion tank beyond heating occasionally for legionaries. We waste far more than we use so we shower with an electric shower and wash dishes overnight in the dishwasher (keeps the wife happy)

b0rn2sk8 · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:16

Doobedoo said:
Electric shower is actually much more efficient than using the immersion. You only heat the water you use for the short period of time you shower, rather than a big tank that incurs thermal loses from the moment it’s heated.

chrcoluk said:
For sure, its instant hot water.

I think a lot of people tend to look at the high watts for things like kettles and showers and immediately thinking its inefficient, but if I want hot water to rinse something immediately then shower is great, hot water for drink, kettle is great.

Yes and no, yes it’s more efficient in terms of actual energy used (in reality, it’s marginal when using a modern, well insulated tank).

No because you can’t move that energy usage to a lower cost period of time. The demand comes when the demand comes. With a tank you can heat it off peak fro the grid, using excess solar or with a heat pump. All will dramatically reduce the cost.

There are also quality of life improvements for a tank fed system. Anyone will tell you that once you have experienced mains pressure hot water from a tank fed system, an electric shower by comparison is the equivalent of an OAP taking a wizz on your head.

HungryHippos · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:20

Troop said:
@HungryHippos

On the Octopus portal click on explore my energy use, from there look at the bottom of the page and click on "old consumption dashboard"

All your half hour daily usage is shown on a graph there,

Yes but the one I want is on-peak vs off-peak sum of consumed units, which I can't get from the dashboards at the moment.

The bill sums it though, for September I was 90% off-peak and 10% on-peak, and some of that on-peak may have been from the system commissioning as it force charges the battery at install.

Some small on-peak per day seems unavoidable when I use extra power with low solar generation at the time, or at night. Kettle or Oven draw too much at once on top of base load and exceed the 2.6KW the battery can feed back in at once.

I'll see how October compares.

chrcoluk · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:22

b0rn2sk8 said:
Yes and no, yes it’s more efficient in terms of actual energy used (in reality, it’s marginal when using a modern, well insulated tank).

No because you can’t move that energy usage to a lower cost period of time. The demand comes when the demand comes. With a tank you can heat it off peak fro the grid, using excess solar or with a heat pump. All will dramatically reduce the cost.

There are also quality of life improvements for a tank fed system. Anyone will tell you that once you have experienced mains pressure hot water from a tank fed system, an electric shower by comparison is the equivalent of an OAP taking a wizz on your head.

I can choose to use the shower at an off peak time as well.

Doobedoo · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:24

b0rn2sk8 said:
Yes and no, yes it’s more efficient in terms of actual energy used (in reality, it’s marginal when using a modern, well insulated tank).

No because you can’t move that energy usage to a lower cost period of time. The demand comes when the demand comes. With a tank you can heat it off peak fro the grid, using excess solar or with a heat pump. All will dramatically reduce the cost.

There are also quality of life improvements for a tank fed system. Anyone will tell you that once you have experienced mains pressure hot water from a tank fed system, an electric shower by comparison is the equivalent of an OAP taking a wizz on your head.

If you have a modern well insulated tank then it’s either cost money to install or quite possibly you already have a gas fed boiler. Not everyone has a multi rate electricity supply.

b0rn2sk8 · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:24

chrcoluk said:
I can choose to use the shower at an off peak time as well.

You can but if your off peak time is 00:30-04:30 like many are these days, it’s not exactly practical.

b0rn2sk8 · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:26

Doobedoo said:
If you have a modern well insulated tank then it’s either cost money to install or quite possibly you already have a gas fed boiler. Not everyone has a multi rate electricity supply.

I never said they did. I’m just saying there are clear advantages to doing it the other way even if there is a small efficacy loss.

Doobedoo · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:27

b0rn2sk8 said:
I never said they did. I’m just saying there are clear advantages to doing it the other way even if there is a small efficacy loss.

Based on particular variables.

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:28

Sinbad2000 said:
Cool, thanks. So they're not going to try to put me onto some inflated fixed tariff if I switch to them? (yeah I know about the EPG, but that's just a discount on fixed tariffs, and could end before the fixed tariff ends)

tell them you want to switch because you have an Ev coming and you want to go onto go
They will likely send you the link to allow you to sign up to go immediately

You cant join go until they see 30 minute readings but that seems to happen almost immediately if you have a smets 2

chrcoluk · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:41

b0rn2sk8 said:
You can but if your off peak time is 00:30-04:30 like many are these days, it’s not exactly practical.

It is if I am often awake at that time.

Currently on agile off peak is about 20 hours a day.

Not only that for a immersion to be as efficient it would need electric at only a few % of the normal price. A shower that I only need to use for one minute is going to beat an immersion that needs to be on for hours to heat the water up.

Gammawolf · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:42

Doobedoo said:
Based on particular variables.

Your own senario is based on particular variables too, so i don't see what the problem is with @b0rn2sk8 assessment since its quite correct for another set of fairly common variables. There is no one size fits all for everyones situation

n111ck · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:43

Anyone on Eonnext had a ‘customer service gesture’ added to their bill? It’s only a few quid but wondering if it’s to cover the small amount between my discounted fix and the SVR?

Troop · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:44

HungryHippos said:
On a bad winters day when generation is like 1kwh or less, then the battery will probably run out at some point in the evening.

If you change from "GO" to "GO faster" you only need to last until 9.30pm on the battery and it will give you an extra hour of off-peak charging time.

The 9.30pm start time makes it easier to make use of the cheap rate.

Doobedoo · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:47

Gammawolf said:
Your own senario is based on particular variables too, so i don't see what the problem is with @b0rn2sk8 assessment since its quite correct for another set of fairly common variables. There is no one size fits all for everyones situation

Having a modern well insulated tank, octopus go, solar and or ashp? No gas.
Yeah both can exist one is less likely than the other?

Sinbad2000 · 27 Oct 2022 at 11:50

Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
tell them you want to switch because you have an Ev coming and you want to go onto go
They will likely send you the link to allow you to sign up to go immediately

You cant join go until they see 30 minute readings but that seems to happen almost immediately if you have a smets 2

All done - thanks to everyone who offered advice!

Can't wait to never have to touch british gas again.