Octopus Agile rates - absolutely mental. Is there a seasonal trick to switching from Agile to Fixed?

MRB

I've been battling with Powershop to sort some issues with their database which means I've been unable to switch to Octopus (or switch supplier at all actually). I've been trying
to get to the Agile rate since September, mainly because the property is self-catering and with the shut downs etc, I could be saving a fortune on leccy.
However, I've just checked the daily rate for Northern Scotland and holy crap Batman, that is expensive stuff. There's only about an 8hr window during the night when I'd be saving money, every other hour of the day I'd be spending the same or in most cases, a hell of a lot more.

So my question is - what's the trick? Do people go with Agile during the warmer months when rates get dirt cheap and then go for a Fixed during the winter? Northern Scotland, houses need heat, and from 7am until 7pm you're talking double the current rates pkwh. You're heating the house by burning money!

Would be interested to know how Agile users manage this significant spike?
Rates for reference: https://www.energy-stats.uk/octopus-agile-northern-scotland/

MWT

You can switch to 'Go' for example or just ride it out and look at the average price over time.

When you track the wholesale market you can't expect to have the cheapest rate every single day of the year and when you've had months of low prices a few expensive days doesn't really shift the balance all that much.

[Deleted User]

Having been on Agile; Go; Go Faster and Tracker Gas over the past 2 years, I have saved £00s compared to the cheapest tariffs on a PCW. We are now in something of a Perfect Storm. A number of nuclear power stations have not come back on supply because of Covid delays; there is I believe a problem with the French interconnector and France has its own supply problems, and we are having a very cold Winter. I switched back to Go in September when Agile prices started to rise and to a fixed gas tariff in early December.

Octopus’ ToU tariffs tend to lead the market in that they are based on spot prices and a fixed formula. Last year, Agile was cheaper than most tariffs, this year it isn’t. Sadly, I can well see what is happening today feeding through to normal fixed tariffs. I am guessing that some of the small suppliers may struggle to survive.