Octopus Tracker

mmmmikey

MarzipanCrumble said:

mmmmikey said:

Another good day tomorrow with prices still hovering around the 18p/kWh mark. It looks like we're in for bargain basement pricing for 4 or 5 days starting on Saturday with wind generation forecast to take a big step up at the same time that demand takes a big step down. So all in all a great start to 2024.

All we need now is another Saving Session and we'll all be rich beyond our wildest dreams - well those of us with smart meters will be :-) 

Mental note - must remember to throw a few crumbs to the misguided folk who still don't believe that smart meters can save you money. I blame Albert Enstein - he might understand energy from a theoretical standpoint but he appears to know stuff all about using your smart meter to save money. He's become so obsessed with his IHD that he's actually confused people into believing that the IHD is the smart meter, silly man. He doesn't even mention the benefits of time of use and other smart tariffs. Still, I suppose he's getting old and TV ads are one way to make a living....

Some of us have SM2 which are not consistently being read by our utility supplier.  So please don't be patronisiing.  I totally understand the difference between IHD aand my SM2.  I also have been in constant communication with my provider about the non-comms issue.

Must be frustrating and I hope you get it sorted. My comment was aimed at those who flatly refuse to believe that smart meters can help them save money and/or those that have been confused by the advertising. There are regular posts here from people who call their IHD their smart meter. That doesn't make them stupid - just the victims of what, in my view, are misleading adverts. 

Personally, I'd like to see statutory compensation for customers who have a smart meter that doesn't work properly, along the lines of a monthly discount to their bills. It hardly seems fair that people who have "done the right thing" should be unable to benefit from their decision. I'd also like to see smart meters made compulsory and/or additional charges made for those who refuse without good reason.

northernstar007

its the gas i'm enjoying the most, i'm using roughly 50kw per day in the winter months (in the house 24/7),  more so coming off a 8.5p fix

Slinky

I came off a 6.78p gas fix in mid December, I've saved £52 already so that £75 charge will soon be eaten up by the savings. I had a worst case scenario of end of March if we saved 1p per kwh, but I think I'll break even by the end of the month if not before.

Telegraph_Sam

@mmmmikey: I run my electricity through a smart meter but complement this with manual readings. With gas I am non-smart. I am not aware that the smart meter itself gives me any savings. But it allows me access to ToU tariffs which themselves are a channel to potential savings.

With gas I am unclear if having a smart meter makes any difference at all due to the differences in the way that two fuels are priced. Perhaps someone could clue me up if Tracker + smart has any advantage over Tracker + non-smart meter. Personal convenience apart.

QrizB

Telegraph_Sam said:

With gas I am unclear if having a smart meter makes any difference at all due to the differences in the way that two fuels are priced. Perhaps someone could clue me up if Tracker + smart has any advantage over Tracker + non-smart meter. Personal convenience apart.

I'm sure you're aware that Octopus won't take on new Tracker customers who are in your current situation.

Your gas meter being dumb, you get your usage profiled rather than being billed on your actual daily use. This probably evens outver time but you don't benefit from reducing usage on expensive days and increasing it on cheap ones.

Spoonie_Turtle

Telegraph_Sam said:

With gas I am unclear if having a smart meter makes any difference at all due to the differences in the way that two fuels are priced. Perhaps someone could clue me up if Tracker + smart has any advantage over Tracker + non-smart meter. Personal convenience apart.

Probably the fact that smart is a requirement for - edit: to join - Tracker.

I was unaware you were already on Tracker for gas, sorry.

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

With gas I am unclear if having a smart meter makes any difference at all due to the differences in the way that two fuels are priced. Perhaps someone could clue me up if Tracker + smart has any advantage over Tracker + non-smart meter. Personal convenience apart.

It will make some difference due to being billed accurately to the day, but this may not be an advantage. It's possible that in the future Tracker may require you to have smart meter for each fuel to remain on the tariff, but the justification for doing that is weaker for gas.

PennineAcute

Telegraph_Sam said:

@mmmmikey: I run my electricity through a smart meter but complement this with manual readings. With gas I am non-smart. I am not aware that the smart meter itself gives me any savings. But it allows me access to ToU tariffs which themselves are a channel to potential savings.

With gas I am unclear if having a smart meter makes any difference at all due to the differences in the way that two fuels are priced. Perhaps someone could clue me up if Tracker + smart has any advantage over Tracker + non-smart meter. Personal convenience apart.

My mean Gas price over December (The mean of the daily price) was 4.48p per kWh.

However, my actual mean for December, Total cost / Actual Usage was 4.549p per kWh.  In my case, for December, I would have been better off (albeit making a very little difference) being charged Tracker + Non Smart Meter.  This would have been due to using more gas at the beginning of December (during the cold snap) at a higher price than later on in December, when I used much less and the cost around 1p per kWh cheaper. 

If you use more gas at cheaper prices, than gas at higher prices, then Tracker + smart would be better.

Telegraph_Sam

For new Tracker customers only I suppose.

If my load shifting day to day is very limited then I suppose that profiling vs actual doesn't make a huge difference. With gas my charge is based simply on the month's (manual) onsumption x the "standard industry formula" factor. If I went smart on gas would this then change to day by day pricing? And would this change much. thinking that the gas price is generally comparatively more stable than electricity?

PennineAcute

Telegraph_Sam said:

For new Tracker customers only I suppose.

If my load shifting day to day is very limited then I suppose that profiling vs actual doesn't make a huge difference. With gas my charge is based simply on the month's (manual) onsumption x the "standard industry formula" factor. If I went smart on gas would this then change to day by day pricing? And would this change much. thinking that the gas price is generally comparatively more stable than electricity?

When you join tracker is irrelevant (I joined in summer).  If you use more gas at higher prices, than gas at lower prices, Tracker + non smart is better.  If you use more gas at lower prices, than gas at higher prices, Tracker + smart is better.  If your usage is fairly static each day, then it does not matter.

The same goes for electricity.  I try and use washer, dryer and dishwasher on days when prices have dropped.  Heating, you cannot do much about. 

Of course, the difference in usage is proportional to the cost difference.  I am not going to complain about paying 0.05p a kWh extra, when prices are as low as they currently are.

At present my data is as follows

Elec (since moving to Tracker)

Mean  17.77p
14-day Mean 17.98p

Overall Mean   17.68p
Overall 14-day Mean  18.08p

Gas (Since Moving to Tracker)

Mean 4.7p
14-day Mean 4.32p

Overall Mean 4.69p
Overall 14-day Mean 4.32p