Octopus Energy reviews: Give your feedback

niktheguru

Telegraph_Sam said:

Dolor said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

It comes to the same thing if my consumption is "recorded" and  totalised by my meter.  Otherwise by that logic I can take my brand new smart meter to the tip, do without it and accept that consumption comes from somewhere on high outwith my ken. Incidentally Octopus has today apologized and assured me that opening and closing readings will be included in my future bills.
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"My latest Octopus statement and the one before that have no import smart meter readings. Even if they did, you cannot work out the cost of your usage as Octopus uses a single register for billing for Go which I believe is the tariff that you are on?

Look at the graphic that I posted on page 298 and you have complete visibility of how much energy has been consumed. You will get 31/30/28 days worth of data sheets each billing month."

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I am on Go Faster and using the "Explore your Data Usage" link I can (and do) work out the cost of the energy consumed in various time periods. If the total kWh's and £££'s for the current one at the end of the billing period is not the same as indicated by my meter readings (too soon to say) then there is a system malfunction, but so far I have no reason to believe that this is the case.

Sam, you’re looking for an error that doesn’t exist. But fair enough for being diligent.

octopus bill on consumption. It’s like my petrol analogy in the other thread. Another example is if you go shopping and you buy something, you pay whatever is the value/cost of the product. Another way of doing it is to see how much money you had in your wallet before you went shopping and count it again when you go home. But which do you do. Do you look at your receipt for the value of the goods, or do you subtract the money before and after?

it’s just different ways of looking at it, and breaking from the routine.

Telegraph_Sam

I agree that it is two ways of coming to the same conclusion. What I finally pay is determined by what comes down the pipe - via the meter. How this is recorded is secondary but the meter and its readings are the vital link.  If not then question yourself: what is the use or function of a meter?  If it doesn't overtly or covertly take readings and convert these to kWh's of consumption then why have a meter in the first place?? It would be redundant!
My openly confessed weakness is that I like to understand where things come from.  I can "read" and understand and make deductions from what the thing displays.  But if all I get at the end of the month is a number with consumption written on it then I either have to take that at face value, or dig into the "Explore your Data" figures which I am sure most sane users would think was going a step too far.
Your comparison with the petrol is a good one and one which still causes me some head scratching. I think the answer is: If the data is there then why not display it?  The petrol pump no doubt has its internal meter. What this reads at the beginning and end of filling up is irrelevant to the driver - but would do no harm if it was small printed on the receipt.  Conversely it is of great concern to Shell & co just what Tuesday's throughput of pump 4 was and they use the start and finish readings to determine this. [guesswork, I am not on Shell's payroll]. I think it is where the period sum "total" has a value is where the start and finish readings come in rather than the volume of an individual transaction.

niktheguru

Telegraph_Sam said:

I agree that it is two ways of coming to the same conclusion. What I finally pay is determined by what comes down the pipe - via the meter. How this is recorded is secondary but the meter and its readings are the vital link.  If not then question yourself: what is the use or function of a meter?  If it doesn't overtly or covertly take readings and convert these to kWh's of consumption then why have a meter in the first place?? It would be redundant!
My openly confessed weakness is that I like to understand where things come from.  I can "read" and understand and make deductions from what the thing displays.  But if all I get at the end of the month is a number with consumption written on it then I either have to take that at face value, or dig into the "Explore your Data" figures which I am sure most sane users would think was going a step too far.
Your comparison with the petrol is a good one and one which still causes me some head scratching. I think the answer is: If the data is there then why not display it?  The petrol pump no doubt has its internal meter. What this reads at the beginning and end of filling up is irrelevant to the driver - but would do no harm if it was small printed on the receipt.  Conversely it is of great concern to Shell & co just what Tuesday's throughput of pump 4 was and they use the start and finish readings to determine this. [guesswork, I am not on Shell's payroll]. I think it is where the period sum "total" has a value is where the start and finish readings come in rather than the volume of an individual transaction.

The next time you go to the petrol pump have a closer look. on the pump itself is a ticker meter with the "meter reading". This for for the owners to be able to cross check usage......this is exactly the same as your meter in your house. The fact that your provider decides to let you know about consumption is the same as the petrol pump letting you know about your consumption only. At the end of the day the energy you consume IS the most important, not what the meter reading is. The meter reading just traditionally gets you to that end of calculating consumption. What do you put into the comparison sites when looking for the best deals, your meter reads or your annual consumption????

Your argument of "what is the use or function of a meter?" well, how else is the utility company going to calculate your consumption. Every 30mins the meter calculates how much you've consumed. It then logs this, and then feeds it back to your provider when asked. THATS the function of a meter the way octopus uses it on its TOU tariffs. 

I of course understand what you're saying sam, and know you're uneasy with losing control.....but a meter can be interpreted in more ways than just opening/closing readings!

Telegraph_Sam

I'm not sure that I quite follow Bristolleedsfan's latest figures but his regional costs seem quite different from mine.

Re meters in general we ought to be able to agree from the foregoing that meters and the readings they provide are but means to an end, the end being to provide the consumption which determines the billing.  I myself prefer to have the "means" made explicit as part of my billing, others are  happy to do without. Each to his own.

Umiamz

Telegraph_Sam said:

I'm not sure that I quite follow Bristolleedsfan's latest figures but his regional costs seem quite different from mine.

Re meters in general we ought to be able to agree from the foregoing that meters and the readings they provide are but means to an end, the end being to provide the consumption which determines the billing.  I myself prefer to have the "means" made explicit as part of my billing, others are  happy to do without. Each to his own.

You'll get an electricity statement from Octopus that has a separate page for each day of the billing period. Each page shows you the half-hourly consumption. I'm at a loss to understand what further information or explanation you need...

[Deleted User]

Telegraph_Sam said:

I'm not sure that I quite follow Bristolleedsfan's latest figures but his regional costs seem quite different from mine.

Re meters in general we ought to be able to agree from the foregoing that meters and the readings they provide are but means to an end, the end being to provide the consumption which determines the billing.  I myself prefer to have the "means" made explicit as part of my billing, others are  happy to do without. Each to his own.

I was trying not to get into another never-ending debate about Octopus’ billing. However, let me put it another way. 

Octopus has three time-of-use tariffs. All three use a single increasing register as energy is consumed. Let us take the worst case/best example which is Agile. This tariff has 48 by 30 minute unit prices each day. If I consume 8 kWhs today then I can expect my meter index to increase by 8 - and by 250kWhs in a month. Let us assume, that the meter reading was 01000 at the start of the billing period and 01250 at the end of the month. So what does this information actually tell me - NOTHING of any real use. Read on.

The detailed statements that Octopus provides lay out in very simple detail how much energy was used and when. For Go/Go Faster, the statement will add up all the usage in the peak and Offpeak periods and it will show the two costs: that is ‘x’ units at 14.63p/kWh and ‘y’ units at 5p/kWh. It will then add the two costs together and add VAT to produce a monthly charge. For those that hanker after even more detail, it will show an equivalent unit price (total cost/total units consumed), and a page of detailed usage data for every day in the billing period. You can if you wish sit down and add up all the peak and Offpeak usage to see if the bill is correct.

bristolleedsfan

Telegraph_Sam said:

I'm not sure that I quite follow Bristolleedsfan's latest figures but his regional costs seem quite different from mine.

Has been said before, Octopus rates for North East which is your region are often more favourable in comparison to other energy companies rates for North East.

bristolleedsfan

1 hour a month free Electricity for those with Smart Meters that Octopus can connect to  Introducing Power Hour: An hour of free smart green electricity | Octopus Energy

masonic

bristolleedsfan said:

1 hour a month free Electricity for those with Smart Meters that Octopus can connect to  Introducing Power Hour: An hour of free smart green electricity | Octopus Energy

It seems like the offer is for new and existing smart meter customers, but they've only said they will send the opt-in form following an installation. Seems like something the FAQ should address.

Edit: Now I see "If you already have a smart meter and want to join, email us at hello@octopus.energy"

Umiamz

Here's the Opt-in URL for anybody who wants to take up the offer:

Power Hour Opt In 13