Energy Suppliers

[kosymodo]

Yeah, definitely. The thing is that we are two working from home, baby, 4 bed house, we cook all the meals, etc.

kosymodo, is the octopus tracker the same as the agile? This is confusing. I did again a simulation and it looks like I can't see the agile offer anymore. I see Octopus Tracker, octopus fixed 12M, flexible and green. Thanks

Agile is electricity-only, and gives you rates which change every half-hour

Tracker is both electricity and/or gas, and gives you rates which change every day. However, Agile is a better tariff for electricity.

Hope this helps!

EDIT - you can't sign up for Agile from the start, you have to sign up with Octopus using one of the 3 options you've given, then you can immediately sign up for Agile. I believe this is because you need to have an active Octopus account before Agile can be applied.

 

[IGBT]

Hi kasymodo, thanks for the reply and sorry for being a pain.

I gave them a call and basically it is like you are saying.
Tracker will give you an average of the year that comes from the agile prices. So if we sum up all the costs in agile and divide by the number of days on the year it will give you the average for the tracker. The agile what it does is allows you to be charged every half an hour.

If one wants gas and electricity it is fine you can get both.

To get the agile you have to sign up for the agile and be on the standard tariff till you get your meter fitted.

This is good. Looking at the prices from that website the user has posted one can conclude that you don't really need to be a geek to get lower prices. You just need to avoid running any heavy electrics between 4pm and 6:30pm. Laundry, dishwasher, electric oven or kitchen robots or anything else (just citing some heavy electric usage we do) you will be always saving. If the agile was from 4pm to 9pm it would be a no-no.

Based on that I will be considering going with octopus electricity and gas.

For my wattage usage e-on was giving me 1070 and with octopus this was coming at 1020 with the tracker. So I would imagine that with agile it will be even cheaper.

 

[kosymodo]

Hi kasymodo, thanks for the reply and sorry for being a pain.

I gave them a call and basically it is like you are saying.
Tracker will give you an average of the year that comes from the agile prices. So if we sum up all the costs in agile and divide by the number of days on the year it will give you the average for the tracker. The agile what it does is allows you to be charged every half an hour.

If one wants gas and electricity it is fine you can get both.

To get the agile you have to sign up for the agile and be on the standard tariff till you get your meter fitted.

This is good. Looking at the prices from that website the user has posted one can conclude that you don't really need to be a geek to get lower prices. You just need to avoid running any heavy electrics between 4pm and 6:30pm. Laundry, dishwasher, electric oven or kitchen robots or anything else (just citing some heavy electric usage we do) you will be always saving. If the agile was from 4pm to 9pm it would be a no-no.

Based on that I will be considering going with octopus electricity and gas.

For my wattage usage e-on was giving me 1070 and with octopus this was coming at 1020 with the tracker. So I would imagine that with agile it will be even cheaper.

Excellent, sometimes best to talk to someone so that you get the chance to ask questions in real time, if that makes sense!

Agile works for those who can avoid usage between 16:00-19:00 as much as possible. I've trained the missus in that way lol

 

[Semple]

I've just swapped to Green.Energy's Oak tariff which is variable - first time i've been on a variable tariff.

From what i saw on ofgem the wholesale prices for gas and electricity are quite low at the moment, so figure a variable tariff might be quite a bit cheaper than usual.

Electricity 12.395p/kwh & 15p SC, and Gas 3.229p/kwh & 10p SC.



I've always liked the look of Octopus Agile, but until we buy our next appliances (dishwasher/washing machine) with WiFi built in, i don't think i'd quite make the energy savings.

FYI if you're into smart home tech, Home Assistant has a great Octopus Agile integration. You can graph out your usages, and look at the upcoming prices. It's also easy to then automate appliances - i.e. when pricing dips below X price start the dishwasher.

 

[krooton]

ok this is cool - for agile information : https://agileprices.co.uk/?region=A
showing recent prices .. I'd like to see average price for each time slot averaged across month, for weekend/weekdays ... but it's not bad

I just need to that zigbee meter monitor to simulate what charges would be.

That is cool, I wonder if crypto miners would leverage that to schedule their farms.

 

[kosymodo]

I've just swapped to Green.Energy's Oak tariff which is variable - first time i've been on a variable tariff.

From what i saw on ofgem the wholesale prices for gas and electricity are quite low at the moment, so figure a variable tariff might be quite a bit cheaper than usual.

Electricity 12.395p/kwh & 15p SC, and Gas 3.229p/kwh & 10p SC.

Sounds like a reasonable deal - in comparison my unit rates with Octopus are Electricity 11.163p/kWh (based on Sept average), and Gas 2.87p/kWh

 

[wedrum]

That is cool, I wonder if crypto miners would leverage that to schedule their farms.

just do what i did and rent a work place with free electric

 

[jpaul]

I'd be surprised though if most people couldn't schedule their heavy electric use outside of 16:00-19:00.

no sure how you achieve this ... if you are using an oven, electric/induction hob, unless you go Spanish on eating times, personally eat ~19:30,
then those heavy-hitters remain.
Washing machine already go on during the night, dish washer would, if we used it, too ... what can you re-schedule ?

with the 2x rates, effectively you can think the cooking appliances are being on for twice the time... so the oven would now be on for 3hours, hotplates 1.5

edit: interesting xmas day 2019 at Agile , rate wasn't high at lunch time, just the evening ?
you'd had thought, with no one working, too, peak prices would be lunch; maybe they were being charitable, or cross-subsidising.

 

[kosymodo]

no sure how you achieve this ... if you are using an oven, electric/induction hob, unless you go Spanish on eating times, personally eat ~19:30,
then those heavy-hitters remain.
Washing machine already go on during the night, dish washer would, if we used it, too ... what can you re-schedule ?

Easy - start cooking at 19:00 if using the oven, or use gas hob to cook (an alternative meal) if required before 19:00, or use slow cooker to cook before 16:00. It's all about sometimes rethinking meals and possibly mealtimes.

Prior to COVID, we generally got home from work at 18:30. After changing out of work clothes etc, it's soon 19:00. Since COVID, we've both been WFH, yet have managed well to keep clear of the 16:00-19:00 period in terms of heavy usage.

Add to this the fact that we schedule the washing machine to run during the night, or, if possible, during any plunges, and that also helps.

It won't work for everyone, but should for the majority. After having trained SWMBO to use our Hue lighting, and having installed Tado for the heating (previously used in our old place, so I know the cost savings from there, rather than the new place in which we've barely used heating since we moved in), it's a smart house to live in, and most of the training is now complete! (Don't get me started about having a foreign wife who's used to having utility bills havily subsidised, so thinks nothing of leaving taps running when brushing teeth etc!)

 

[IGBT]

Excellent, sometimes best to talk to someone so that you get the chance to ask questions in real time, if that makes sense!

Agile works for those who can avoid usage between 16:00-19:00 as much as possible. I've trained the missus in that way lol

Yeah, that's right. I actually have late dinners (8pm or 9pm, sometimes 10pm lol) hence why this will probably work really well for me. Using washing appliances can definitely be used late in the evening and that will translate into a huge saving when compared with fixed rates (17ish with e-on vs 7ish or so pence). The rest will come as added bonus - stuff under stand-by, fridge working 24/7, people that leave computer turned on (like me, almost 24/7), etc. Not to speak now working from home which will take the most out of this tariff.

Before lockdown when I used to go to the gym everyday, I used to batch cook on Sunday so that would have worked really well back then as well.

 

[kosymodo]

Yeah, that's right. I actually have late dinners (8pm or 9pm, sometimes 10pm lol) hence why this will probably work really well for me. Using washing appliances can definitely be used late in the evening and that will translate into a huge saving when compared with fixed rates (17ish with e-on vs 7ish or so pence). The rest will come as added bonus - stuff under stand-by, fridge working 24/7, people that leave computer turned on (like me, almost 24/7), etc. Not to speak now working from home which will take the most out of this tariff.

Before lockdown when I used to go to the gym everyday, I used to batch cook on Sunday so that would have worked really well back then as well.

Excellent! Sounds as if you've been giving this some serious thought.

Maybe we can look forward to next year coming out of this whole COVID mess and your return to the gym and batch cooking

 

[Vanilla]

General Q, probably simple

If I have solar should I be going for a low evening tariff and high day?

 

[Semple]

General Q, probably simple

If I have solar should I be going for a low evening tariff and high day?

Would make logical sense, although as long as your panels produce more than your consumption. You'd probably need to consider the worst case scenario for a dark/dull day when the panels might not produce a great deal. If you can keep your consumption below production then you won't suddenly get hit with any high tariff charges.

 

[DB_SamX]

For those people who are being moved from Tonik to Scottish Power by default, I have had my new tariff info today.

I used to be Tonik Green Power (1 Year) v6 + Free Boiler Service for a £637.44 projected annual cost ( Electricity: 2600 kWh, Gas: 6953 kWh)
Electricity Unit rate 13.20p/kWh
Electricity SC 24.72p/day (£90.22/year)
Gas Unit rate 2.36p/kWh
Gas SC 21.86p/day (£79.79/year)

I have been put on Basic Energy V2 £796.40 based on 6,877 kWh for gas and 2,760 kWh for electricity.

Electricity Unit rate 15.858p/kWh
Electricity SC 20.33p/day (£90.22/year)
Gas Unit rate 2.898p/kWh
Gas SC 23.33p/day (£79.79/year)

So it's 25% more expensive. I will wait till i have my final Tonik bill, check all payments are up to date, etc, and look to change before the end of the year.
@Helios1234

 

[BigBoy]

For those people who are being moved from Tonik to Scottish Power by default, I have had my new tariff info today.

I used to be Tonik Green Power (1 Year) v6 + Free Boiler Service for a £637.44 projected annual cost ( Electricity: 2600 kWh, Gas: 6953 kWh)
Electricity Unit rate 13.20p/kWh
Electricity SC 24.72p/day (£90.22/year)
Gas Unit rate 2.36p/kWh
Gas SC 21.86p/day (£79.79/year)

I have been put on Basic Energy V2 £796.40 based on 6,877 kWh for gas and 2,760 kWh for electricity.

Electricity Unit rate 15.858p/kWh
Electricity SC 20.33p/day (£90.22/year)
Gas Unit rate 2.898p/kWh
Gas SC 23.33p/day (£79.79/year)

So it's 25% more expensive. I will wait till i have my final Tonik bill, check all payments are up to date, etc, and look to change before the end of the year.
@Helios1234

Don't wait, as soon as Scottish power take over your contract find a new deal, because Tonik have gone under/been taken over you are no longer locked in.

 

[Kamakazie!]

For those people who are being moved from Tonik to Scottish Power by default, I have had my new tariff info today.

I used to be Tonik Green Power (1 Year) v6 + Free Boiler Service for a £637.44 projected annual cost ( Electricity: 2600 kWh, Gas: 6953 kWh)
Electricity Unit rate 13.20p/kWh
Electricity SC 24.72p/day (£90.22/year)
Gas Unit rate 2.36p/kWh
Gas SC 21.86p/day (£79.79/year)

I have been put on Basic Energy V2 £796.40 based on 6,877 kWh for gas and 2,760 kWh for electricity.

Electricity Unit rate 15.858p/kWh
Electricity SC 20.33p/day (£90.22/year)
Gas Unit rate 2.898p/kWh
Gas SC 23.33p/day (£79.79/year)

So it's 25% more expensive. I will wait till i have my final Tonik bill, check all payments are up to date, etc, and look to change before the end of the year.
@Helios1234

I've still had naf all from them but tried to switch last week and it got declined as, despite telling me I was all setup I clearly wasn't.
Scottish Power have no competitive tariffs for me so it's not worth switching to a better one of theirs either.

 

[Vanilla]

How about these new fangled companies that swap you to the best rate each year automatically?

Worth it or better off getting your own bonus via topcashback and such?

 

[b0rn2sk8]

It will be cheaper to do it yourself and it only takes 5 mins. I remember one year I switched 2/3 times, each with a £50 or so bonus via Quidco or a referral link.

There’s so many companies out there now, I doubt you’ll ever run out of bonus links.

 

[Semple]

Worth it or better off getting your own bonus via topcashback and such?

The problem I'm noticing is that the cashback sites are now rarely offering the best deals, even with the cashback. Similarly to buying car insurance now.

 

[Skynet5]

I've never changed energy supplier in 11 years. Although I have done compare the market to and used that to swop to a better tariff with my current supplier who wouldnt give it to me directly. Scottish Power. Unbelievable.

Any news on the new BG digital only spin off?