Octopus Tracker

masonic

Doc_N said:

masonic said:

Sun-Is-Fun said:

Can anyone explain the difference between Octopus Tracker and Agile Octopus?

In a nutshell, Tracker gives a single unit price that changes each day, while Agile gives a unit price that varies each half hour, with an additional peak period between 4-7pm where the unit price is increased relative to the rest of the day.

But isn’t Agile electricity only?

That's right, so anyone considering the Agile tariff for gas is barking up the wrong tree! Likewise for anyone considering Agile without a smart meter, or anyone considering Tracker that has E7.

[Deleted User]

masonic said:

Doc_N said:

masonic said:

Sun-Is-Fun said:

Can anyone explain the difference between Octopus Tracker and Agile Octopus?

In a nutshell, Tracker gives a single unit price that changes each day, while Agile gives a unit price that varies each half hour, with an additional peak period between 4-7pm where the unit price is increased relative to the rest of the day.

But isn’t Agile electricity only?

That's right, so anyone considering the Agile tariff for gas is barking up the wrong tree! Likewise for anyone considering Agile without a smart meter, or anyone considering Tracker that has E7.

Tracker tariffs now require a smart meter.

spot1034

Are there any signs of other major suppliers introducing their own tariffs along similar lines to Tracker and Agile?

Alnat1

Tracker is available for both gas and electricity but you don't have to take both. Last year I was on Tracker gas and Agile for electricity. I've recently switched the electric to Flux which will give me better export payment from my solar generation over summer.

Agile is great if you can time shift when you use power, like running washer/dishwasher overnight or cooking at lunchtime, but you need to be checking prices frequently. Tracker electric is more switch and forget but you could do several wash loads if you saw it was a cheap day.

Mstty

spot1034 said:

Are there any signs of other major suppliers introducing their own tariffs along similar lines to Tracker and Agile?

No on trackers because they are loss leaders and they don't have the resources or other arms of business profits to pull upon to deliver these products. Basically it's not good business sense and very "for the people" hats off to Octopus for that.

They are however moving up the suppliers with most customers list.

Agile type products, time of use products are more likely to be realised by other suppliers

[Deleted User]

spot1034 said:

Are there any signs of other major suppliers introducing their own tariffs along similar lines to Tracker and Agile?

There is/was a BEIS consultation on increasing the rollout of time-of-use tariffs by the end of this year. For tariffs such as Agile to become widespread, suppliers have to ready to bill on 30 minute usage data not index readings. Suppliers such as Good Energy; E.oN Next and EDF have bought into this technology by leasing the Kraken Technology platform from Octopus Technologies.

BEIS has also developed a tool to use 12 month's worth of smart meter data to produce meaningful tariff comparisons based on total energy used and time of use. For example, Octopus Agile might work for many but Flux and Cosy might be cheaper for some.

As the focus of these tariffs is to change consumer behaviour and to meter manage demand with supply, it is possible that we may also see power limited tariffs. If a consumer agrees to limit maximum power to, say, 5kW, then they will get a cheaper tariff than someone who wants a 7kW limited tariff. These tariffs are now in use in some European countries.

bristolleedsfan

spot1034 said:

Are there any signs of other major suppliers introducing their own tariffs along similar lines to Tracker and Agile?

https://www.greenenergyuk.com/tideabout  - TIDE is temporarily unavailable to all customers

Alnat1

I think other suppliers will have to start offering similar sorts of tariffs soon as they are losing so much business to Octopus. The problem is, most of them don't seem to have systems that could cope and it would take several years for them to update. Many can only offer last century solutions and struggle with smart technology.

Besides the great tariffs Octopus also fit new smart meters quickly if needed, they have good, easy to understand, monthly billing and best of all, if you need to contact them, they answer the phone within 10 minutes/respond on twitter/reply to emails.

TheElectricCow

With some suppliers still struggling to get regular monthly billing right, I wouldn't hold out much hope for widespread time of use tariffs just yet. It looks like they will become more common at some point, but when exactly we'll start seeing them as fully functional market ready tariffs is anyone's guess.

A tracker/agile type tariff is something I'm quite interested in, and I could probably make it work rather well. Although without any solar/storage/EV, at the moment the consistency of a basic E7 seems like it can offer comparable savings (compared to single rate) without nearly getting as involved with daily/half-hourly load shifting.

Agile prices right now are looking very appealing, but with all the variation we've seen over the past year if for any reason the ship should start sinking again it's not one I'd want to remain on until there's a bit more certainty around future pricing. The one good thing here at least is Octopus do allow you to switch away any time you like.

Sun-Is-Fun

masonic said:

Sun-Is-Fun said:

Can anyone explain the difference between Octopus Tracker and Agile Octopus?

In a nutshell, Tracker gives a single unit price that changes each day, while Agile gives a unit price that varies each half hour, with an additional peak period between 4-7pm where the unit price is increased relative to the rest of the day.

Thank you for your reply. 

I have been on the Agile tariff a couple of weeks and, so far, really pleased with it - certainly saving quite a bit compared to the SVR. I am also on the waiting list for the tracker, but am wondering if Agile is better for me overall? I am able to shift washing machine loads / dishwasher to in the night or when it is cheaper.

Any thoughts on this?