Given the cost of energy I'm seriously thinking of rolling the dice a bit and try a bit of creative thinking to try and reduce our energy cost. For those who don't know electricity tariffs such as Octopus Agile unit charge differs every 30 min. Essentially for peak times your charged a premium, other times your electricity is generally cheaper than being on a standard rate so if your disciplined enough, you could in theory save.
You need a working compliant smart meter for this to work and yes I've no issue putting our washing machine/ tumble dryer etc on during the night.
I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has tried this or similar tariffs, is it worth the hassle or are the costs saved (if any) enough for the inconvenience ?
There was an article I read somewhere that the power companies are going to pay people to use energy between certain hours, looks like the one your looking at is being set up to encourage people towards that.
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Can't you estimate the savings yourself looking at your previous usage and what parts you can move from peak to off-peak (e.g. washing machine)? I imagine it's quite person-specific, depending on your use and how much you're willing / able to move.
I’m going to do it- with 2 kids we do a lot of washing / drying- we will just have to adjust behaviours around plunge price points. It makes sense to use the washing machine over night so you have a chance of putting the stuff out if it’s dry otherwise it’s straight into the dryer. Best to get into good practice now as it seems the current cheap fix (cough cough) is unlikely to go on past April. I doubt I will be in the priority group for support, I’m grateful that I can afford utilities, I just don’t want to spend more on gas and electric than I do on my mortgage.
Only today Ive signed up to Octopus Go as I have the smart meter so from 12-30 until 4-30 its 12p per 1 kWh seems like a no brainer although when ticking the Ts and Cs it does ask do you lease or own a electric vehicle as this tariff is designed for these but last week it said on their site although it was designed for E vehicles but go mad and use it any where in the home so I am putting a timer onto my immersion heater to heat the tank up for morning showers etc.Ps got the email to say I'm now connected.
Squashy1
Last edited by squashy1; 21st October 2022 at 21:54.
I cannot see how this works without a decent sized battery storage and an automated system or daily commitment to programming the times.
I just checked and the Octopus Agile rate was £0.00 kw/h between 6:30 & 7:30 am this morning Washing machine on, shower promptly done and anything I can charge before I leave the house.
I have a feeling this is going to be the future, it won't suit everyone though, I'd hate to have two small kids coming home from school just as peak time charges are about to hitOriginally Posted by aa388
Fair point, Just being a bit lazy and also find real world views and experience far better than relying on theory.
Having two kids will be difficult as they will be coming home from school. feeding and eating times around peak charges etc, but if you can manage to be a bit disciplined and flexible on when you use the heavy use electrical items it could (in theory) save you a bit over the year.
I did think about the Go tarrif as that is a little more certainty regarding pricing , however I decided to experiment a little.
That would be ideal, especially if you do have a electricity storage solution, however we do have a legacy Hive system and have bought various plugs/sensors etc in sales or off ebay the last few years (other systems may be cheaper /better but Hive does work for us) , so we can set up items to turn off/ on at the cheapest times through the app on the phon
My general thinking is I'll try it for a month, see how we get on, at least with Octopus you're not tied in, you can revert to a different tariff or the Std rate without penalty. The one thing I would say is that you do need to think about how you use your electricity, plan around cheaper times and of course every day the rates can be different, so definitely need to be a bit flexible
Last edited by zippy; 22nd October 2022 at 12:38.
I've recently went on to the bulb ev charging rate, which is 9p per KW between 2am and 6 am, as a by product, after about 8 years of ownership I've found the time programmer for dishwater and washing machine, at 2.01am my usage goes through the roof
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Isn’t the Octopus Go tariff the one that as well increases the day rate ? If it is have to be careful the bad doesn’t outweigh the night benefit
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Would be interested to know answer to this too.
I looked at it just yesterday and indeed night rate was 12p. But day rate was higher than the current cap, not sure if that is just the quoted on the site and then when bills arrive you will see a reduction to the cap, albeit for 5 months.
I've just checked and the Go day rate for my area is 5p kwh more expensive. If I remember though the Go tariff is for 12 months, so you may benefit in April when the prices increase again. As always due diligence is required to ensure these tariffs suit your circumstances though.
As may have gathered I signed up to the Agile tariff on Friday. This morning my electricity cost was £0.00 kwh, so again vacuum, washing machine, shower was done before the cost went up . The downside, peak times will have a higher kwh cost than the standard rate and it appears your domestic routine becomes a slave to different electricity costs every 30 mins, however, if you are flexible enough and don't mind a bit of inconvenience it could work for you.
No, it’s because on average the unit price will be below the cap due to off-peak usage.
A lot of us on the fixed product haven’t had a reduction.
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I tried last year during the trial period. It’s great if you don’t have a young family, with a little one meal times are fixed so oven, hob use etc.
I knocked it in the head as locked into a deal as prices were due to get silly. Might have another look when my current deal runs out.
My house also has no option to heat water via electric bar the kettle.
Last edited by Middo; 24th October 2022 at 13:06.
But surely gas prices will go back to around where they were before in the not too distant future?? And also I would think that the link between electricity and the gas price must be broken too??
Last edited by redmonaco; 24th October 2022 at 11:15.
Not sure it was myself, however Octopus have suspended new sign ups to their Agile tariff in the interim. Over the last few days their has been (according to the Octopus website) quite a few 30 mins slots of £0.00pwh rates. I'm not sure if the Octopus IT dept have screwed this up or if the rates are genuine, although in their defence they are very clear that this is a beta product. I'm sure we'll find out soon.
Just to be clear, and to give a bit of balance, peak rate times tend to be more expensive than the normal Std rate, so you need to be sure you are able to adjust your domestic routine in regards to your electricity consumption if you want to save money.
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