Octopus Tracker

Griffindog

teena said:

Now that I am on it I realise I don't really understand how I find out what I am paying.

I used to like setting up a spreadsheet to track my costs but not sure how that will work now. 

I don’t have smart meters so I submit readings every day and get billed every day. I also put the data on a spreadsheet and add in the daily rates (today’s reading is charged on yesterday’s rates).

ecraig

It's a shame octopus is not accepting new sign ups for tracker or agile.
Has anyone had further discussions with octopus to get more insights on if or when they might affect new sign ups? 

nadsat

We were on Tracker v1 last year but I switched to Flexible when it was a better bet. Do they allow switch backs to tracker and to what tariff? 

milo_2020

Tracker agile closed to new switches

SJMALBA

Dolor said:

teena said:

Hi

After a dispute with Octopus they have agreed to put me on a historical Tracker which, from reading comments on here, seemed like a good move.Now that I am on it I realise I don't really understand how I find out what I am paying.

They gave me this site "you can see the cost forecast here"

https://www.epexspot.com/en/market-data

but I have no idea how to use it.

I have got the Lipman site too and will have to spend some time trying to work that out too. Is there an "idiots "guide somewhere for the likes of me which find this all a bit baffling.

I used to like setting up a spreadsheet to track my costs but not sure how that will work now. I am told " it takes the wholesale costs across the month and charges you on the the average"

Any help would be great if you can spare any time.

Thanks

You can see your daily unit rate in My Account either online or via the App. If the price for your supply region exceeds your agreed Cap, the App will just show the capped unit price. If you have a smart meter, the price shown is the price billed: for non smart metered homes, Octopus uses an average unit price based on the daily prices. Ignore the daily forecast page.



I am not sure that Tracker lends itself to a spreadsheet. Worst case, your gas will cost you the capped price times the number of units consumed.

No, with a non-smart meter, they apportion your usage over the period (using industry data), then apply this calculated daily usage to the actual URs for each day, it is not an 'average unit price'.

FWIW, I keep a spreadsheet for Tracker.

Spoonie_Turtle

SJMALBA said:

Dolor said:

teena said:

Hi

After a dispute with Octopus they have agreed to put me on a historical Tracker which, from reading comments on here, seemed like a good move.Now that I am on it I realise I don't really understand how I find out what I am paying.

They gave me this site "you can see the cost forecast here"

https://www.epexspot.com/en/market-data

but I have no idea how to use it.

I have got the Lipman site too and will have to spend some time trying to work that out too. Is there an "idiots "guide somewhere for the likes of me which find this all a bit baffling.

I used to like setting up a spreadsheet to track my costs but not sure how that will work now. I am told " it takes the wholesale costs across the month and charges you on the the average"

Any help would be great if you can spare any time.

Thanks

You can see your daily unit rate in My Account either online or via the App. If the price for your supply region exceeds your agreed Cap, the App will just show the capped unit price. If you have a smart meter, the price shown is the price billed: for non smart metered homes, Octopus uses an average unit price based on the daily prices. Ignore the daily forecast page.



I am not sure that Tracker lends itself to a spreadsheet. Worst case, your gas will cost you the capped price times the number of units consumed.

No, with a non-smart meter, they apportion your usage over the period (using industry data), then apply this calculated daily usage to the actual URs for each day, it is not an 'average unit price'.

FWIW, I keep a spreadsheet for Tracker.

Indeed.  On the first page of the bill it will use the averaged unit rate for the period for the single line calculation (so you can very easily see when it was cheaper than the SVT!) but then the following pages will show the breakdown of each day's usage multiplied by the relevant day's rate.


We also don't have a smart meter but if I want certain days to be billed accurately (e.g. load shifted to a cheaper day, used less on a more expensive day) I send readings at just gone midnight, this having those units billed at the correct day's rate.  I guess if you go to bed before midnight that wouldn't be a useful method though.

Griffindog

Spoonie_Turtle said:

SJMALBA said:

Dolor said:

teena said:

Hi

After a dispute with Octopus they have agreed to put me on a historical Tracker which, from reading comments on here, seemed like a good move.Now that I am on it I realise I don't really understand how I find out what I am paying.

They gave me this site "you can see the cost forecast here"

https://www.epexspot.com/en/market-data

but I have no idea how to use it.

I have got the Lipman site too and will have to spend some time trying to work that out too. Is there an "idiots "guide somewhere for the likes of me which find this all a bit baffling.

I used to like setting up a spreadsheet to track my costs but not sure how that will work now. I am told " it takes the wholesale costs across the month and charges you on the the average"

Any help would be great if you can spare any time.

Thanks

You can see your daily unit rate in My Account either online or via the App. If the price for your supply region exceeds your agreed Cap, the App will just show the capped unit price. If you have a smart meter, the price shown is the price billed: for non smart metered homes, Octopus uses an average unit price based on the daily prices. Ignore the daily forecast page.



I am not sure that Tracker lends itself to a spreadsheet. Worst case, your gas will cost you the capped price times the number of units consumed.

No, with a non-smart meter, they apportion your usage over the period (using industry data), then apply this calculated daily usage to the actual URs for each day, it is not an 'average unit price'.

FWIW, I keep a spreadsheet for Tracker.

Indeed.  On the first page of the bill it will use the averaged unit rate for the period for the single line calculation (so you can very easily see when it was cheaper than the SVT!) but then the following pages will show the breakdown of each day's usage multiplied by the relevant day's rate.


We also don't have a smart meter but if I want certain days to be billed accurately (e.g. load shifted to a cheaper day, used less on a more expensive day) I send readings at just gone midnight, this having those units billed at the correct day's rate.  I guess if you go to bed before midnight that wouldn't be a useful method though.

I send my readings every evening between 6pm and 8pm, they are always charged at the previous day’s rate so there is some room for making the most of cheaper days. I take photos in case it was ever questioned. I’ve got my oven on now so should get my reading done quick to get the oven use on today’s rate rather than yesterday’s.

teena

Thanks everyone.

I will have a good read through in the next day or so and see if I can sort it all out.

I do have smart meters put in by Octopus, when I was with them before, but at the moment it can't read one of them which I hope it will sort out soon.

So the part on the app which says "Your tariff details" has a varying daily unit rate (unless it has reached the cap). Is there anywhere that confirms what your caps are? I am not sure the version number will help as I have been told 2 different ones  and then said that I have been put on one that doesn't exist anymore or something.

I do appreciate all your help. It has been quite a fight to get on the tracker so I hope I made the right decision - you have given me confidence.

Spoonie_Turtle

Your tariff details should tell you which version of Tracker you are on, if not in the app then on your online dashboard.  If it's v3 then the electricity cap is 40p (I can't remember the gas cap).

Griffindog

I am not sure the version number will help as I have been told 2 different ones  and then said that I have been put on one that doesn't exist anymore or something. 

If you submit readings you will get a bill (usually a few hours later) and that tells you which version you are on. Then you can look on the historic tariffs to find the details.