Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

niktheguru

Another thing to take into consideration, since 1st April, the tracker unit rate has been lower than the go/gofaster peak rate for only 7 days. The other 75 odd days its been higher, and the trend is increasing.

[Deleted User]

I agree with all the above. At the moment, thanks to the sun, I am able to confine all my Grid energy use to Go Offpeak but even if I couldn’t do that, the peak price on Go is cheaper than Octopus’ fixed and Tracker tariffs. With a smart meter and an App like Octopus Compare, I can check daily if I want to see which of Octopus’ tariffs would have been the cheapest for me. The App uses actual 30 min data: not just how much but when. You might be surprised at how addictive time of use tariffs can become. My wife and I have changed our usage profile without it having any impact on our daily lives. For example, in Winter, the dishwasher and the washing machine go on when energy is cheap: why, because it just makes sense to look for convenient ways of using cheap energy. That said, we haven’t allowed it to takeover our lives.

tlcgrantham

Thanks very much niktheguru for your clear and simple comparison between tracker and Go Faster using 10kw a day which is almost exactly what I use. My smart meter is due to be fitted in just over a weeks time thanks to your help and I’ll be following your previous suggestions to get Go Faster ASAP. 

[Deleted User]

tlcgrantham said:

Thanks very much niktheguru for your clear and simple comparison between tracker and Go Faster using 10kw a day which is almost exactly what I use. My smart meter is due to be fitted in just over a weeks time thanks to your help and I’ll be following your previous suggestions to get Go Faster ASAP. 

It you do decide to go for an Octopus time of use tariff, then a word of slight caution. Octopus bills using 30 minute data not meter index readings. Indeed, for all its time of use tariffs, Octopus leaves the meter on a single index register. Octopus’ systems do not connect directly to any smart meter. Every 24 hours, their system requests a data pull via their Adaptor (a piece of secure software provided by TMA) through the DCC to your meter comms hub. If any one of the daily 48 pieces of 30 minute data per day is not retrieved in any given billing period, then the mighty Kraken (Octopus’ billing system) will go into a mega sulk until somebody actions a manual data pull. A mega sulk means no automatic monthly bill. 

Also, at the moment, Octopus is having serious issues with one meter model. This has been returning the daily index reading along with an empty XML data file. This has been going on now for 3 months with no sign of a resolution in sight. This problem is unique to Octopus as I believe that it is the sole supplier that uses actual usage/per 30 minutes for billing. Others will have to follow as this is how the UK smart metering system was designed to work with 30 minute settlements between suppliers and energy wholesalers.

tlcgrantham

Very interesting though I won't pretend I understand all the technical stuff. Octopus have treated me well so far and I hope therefore they will make sure I don't lose out if anything does goes wrong with the meter they're installing or data collection systems they're responsible for.

QrizB

niktheguru said:

If you use 10kwh in a day:
with tracker: 18.73 + (17.35*10) = £1.92
with go faster: 25 + (14.99*10) = £1.74

On those specific tariffs, the break point is 3 kWh/day where Tracker is 70.78p while Go Faster is 69.97 kWh/day.

Anyone using more than that is better off on go Faster; less than that and you should choose Tracker.

niktheguru

QrizB said:

niktheguru said:

If you use 10kwh in a day:
with tracker: 18.73 + (17.35*10) = £1.92
with go faster: 25 + (14.99*10) = £1.74

On those specific tariffs, the break point is 3 kWh/day where Tracker is 70.78p while Go Faster is 69.97 kWh/day.

Anyone using more than that is better off on go Faster; less than that and you should choose Tracker.

and that equates to 1095kwh a year......how many people use that little? (unless you have a decent solar array and battery set up) At the present time, go faster is better than tracker. It may well change in the future, but right now its an easy choice.

masonic

[Deleted User] said:

tlcgrantham said:

Thanks very much niktheguru for your clear and simple comparison between tracker and Go Faster using 10kw a day which is almost exactly what I use. My smart meter is due to be fitted in just over a weeks time thanks to your help and I’ll be following your previous suggestions to get Go Faster ASAP. 

It you do decide to go for an Octopus time of use tariff, then a word of slight caution. Octopus bills using 30 minute data not meter index readings. Indeed, for all its time of use tariffs, Octopus leaves the meter on a single index register. Octopus’ systems do not connect directly to any smart meter. Every 24 hours, their system requests a data pull via their Adaptor (a piece of secure software provided by TMA) through the DCC to your meter comms hub. If any one of the daily 48 pieces of 30 minute data per day is not retrieved in any given billing period, then the mighty Kraken (Octopus’ billing system) will go into a mega sulk until somebody actions a manual data pull. A mega sulk means no automatic monthly bill. 

Interesting. I haven't had an automatic monthly bill since my smart meter was installed, perhaps this is due to the single half hour gap in my smart meter data that occurred the day before I moved onto a TOU tariff. I was told there was no point in them trying to retrieve it because it wouldn't affect billing, but I periodically have to ask them to generate a bill for me, which they generally do that same day. I've had no issues with gaps in any TOU billing period.

[Deleted User]

masonic said:

Dolor said:

tlcgrantham said:

Thanks very much niktheguru for your clear and simple comparison between tracker and Go Faster using 10kw a day which is almost exactly what I use. My smart meter is due to be fitted in just over a weeks time thanks to your help and I’ll be following your previous suggestions to get Go Faster ASAP. 

It you do decide to go for an Octopus time of use tariff, then a word of slight caution. Octopus bills using 30 minute data not meter index readings. Indeed, for all its time of use tariffs, Octopus leaves the meter on a single index register. Octopus’ systems do not connect directly to any smart meter. Every 24 hours, their system requests a data pull via their Adaptor (a piece of secure software provided by TMA) through the DCC to your meter comms hub. If any one of the daily 48 pieces of 30 minute data per day is not retrieved in any given billing period, then the mighty Kraken (Octopus’ billing system) will go into a mega sulk until somebody actions a manual data pull. A mega sulk means no automatic monthly bill. 

Interesting. I haven't had an automatic monthly bill since my smart meter was installed, perhaps this is due to the single half hour gap in my smart meter data that occurred the day before I moved onto a TOU tariff. I was told there was no point in them trying to retrieve it because it wouldn't affect billing, but I periodically have to ask them to generate a bill for me, which they generally do that same day. I've had no issues with gaps in any TOU billing period.

You can check for missing data using Guy Lipman’s excellent set of tools or by going to the N3rgy.com website. If CS are generating a manual statement then they are probably initiating a data recovery process. FWiW, my last electricity smart meter usage data was nearly a week ago. I will give Octopus a nudge when my next statement is due. It isn’t an criticism of Octopus not treating customers fairly: it is more a criticism of the UK smart metering programme.

This post explains what the problem is:

Quote: There are currently 258 different versions of meters (makes, models, firmware versions, etc) approved on to be deployed on the (DCC) smart meter network from just 10 manufacturers. In total there are 496 approved (Meters, Comms hubs, HCALC, PPMIDs, etc) from 18 manufacturers. One manufacturer has 20 firmware/hardware versions of a single model of Electricity Meter in the live environment, another has 27 and a third has 40 different versions!! Unquote

The DCC looks after the system and manufacturers look after their devices. Sadly, UK smart metering is akin to a giant Supertanker with no captain on the Bridge.

masonic

Dolor said:

masonic said:

Dolor said:

tlcgrantham said:

Thanks very much niktheguru for your clear and simple comparison between tracker and Go Faster using 10kw a day which is almost exactly what I use. My smart meter is due to be fitted in just over a weeks time thanks to your help and I’ll be following your previous suggestions to get Go Faster ASAP. 

It you do decide to go for an Octopus time of use tariff, then a word of slight caution. Octopus bills using 30 minute data not meter index readings. Indeed, for all its time of use tariffs, Octopus leaves the meter on a single index register. Octopus’ systems do not connect directly to any smart meter. Every 24 hours, their system requests a data pull via their Adaptor (a piece of secure software provided by TMA) through the DCC to your meter comms hub. If any one of the daily 48 pieces of 30 minute data per day is not retrieved in any given billing period, then the mighty Kraken (Octopus’ billing system) will go into a mega sulk until somebody actions a manual data pull. A mega sulk means no automatic monthly bill. 

Interesting. I haven't had an automatic monthly bill since my smart meter was installed, perhaps this is due to the single half hour gap in my smart meter data that occurred the day before I moved onto a TOU tariff. I was told there was no point in them trying to retrieve it because it wouldn't affect billing, but I periodically have to ask them to generate a bill for me, which they generally do that same day. I've had no issues with gaps in any TOU billing period.

You can check for missing data using Guy Lipman’s excellent set of tools or by going to the N3rgy.com website. If CS are generating a manual statement then they are probably initiating a data recovery process. FWiW, my last electricity smart meter usage data was nearly a week ago. I will give Octopus a nudge when my next statement is due. It isn’t an issue of Octopus not treating customers fairly: it is more a criticism of the UK smart meter programme.

I am doing exactly that, Guy Lipman website made me aware of my only missing data (2021-04-01 06:00), I signed up to a smart tariff effective 2nd April. No automatic bills since March, yet Guy Lipman website can calculate them without issue. I've had no problem with my usage data - I'm grabbing this daily via my own python script (using Octopus REST API) and also use the Octopus Compare app, so it isn't a major issue, just annoying that I have to request each official bill.