Octopus Tracker

bristolleedsfan

Shedman said:

Anyone know if what Octopus have said below is correct re moving Electric away from Tracker but leaving Gas on Tracker?

"Thanks for getting in touch! 

When switching away your electric, this means that we are no longer authorised to collect the data from the meter. 

As gas smart meter data passes through the electric meter, this means that we won't be able to access the data for the gas consumption.

Kind regards,

Emma P 🐙

Community Management Specialist"

Seems odd to me as I have had my Gas on Tracker with Octopus since March 23 whilst my Electric was with BG until Dec 23 but they could still read the Gas meter and bill me correctly (I also had Gas separately with other suppliers before Octopus whilst Electric was with BG and again no issue).  

Customers on Tomato Energy Facebook group have said kept gas on tracker after switching electricity to T

Tracker customers are entitled to stay on Tracker in event smart meter stops sending automatic readings .

Telegraph_Sam

I read copious corresp on this forum and the "sister" forums on the benefits, hassle and uncertainties of transferring elec from Octopus to Tomato Energy.  Minor differences per kWh in favour of Tomato seem to count for a lot. But I am forced to wonder if, when these are grossed up over longer periods into monthly or annual absolute lump sum payments,  if the actual savings do indeed justify the hassle factor. Or if this a case of the duck / swan paddle phenomenon - lots of actiivity under the surface just to stand still. Apologies to the ducks if the comparison is a bit stretched.

masonic

Telegraph_Sam said:

I read copious corresp on this forum and the "sister" forums on the benefits, hassle and uncertainties of transferring elec from Octopus to Tomato Energy.  Minor differences per kWh in favour of Tomato seem to count for a lot. But I am forced to wonder if, when these are grossed up over longer periods into monthly or annual absolute lump sum payments,  if the actual savings do indeed justify the hassle factor. Or if this a case of the duck / swan paddle phenomenon - lots of actiivity under the surface just to stand still. Apologies to the ducks if the comparison is a bit stretched.

Minor gains can easily be dwarfed by the higher costs of a lengthy SoLR process on an unfavourable deemed tariff. I am watching with interest, but after having been with two suppliers that went bust in the past, it would take a considerable saving for me to take a punt.

Shedman

Telegraph_Sam said:

I read copious corresp on this forum and the "sister" forums on the benefits, hassle and uncertainties of transferring elec from Octopus to Tomato Energy.  Minor differences per kWh in favour of Tomato seem to count for a lot. But I am forced to wonder if, when these are grossed up over longer periods into monthly or annual absolute lump sum payments,  if the actual savings do indeed justify the hassle factor. Or if this a case of the duck / swan paddle phenomenon - lots of actiivity under the surface just to stand still. Apologies to the ducks if the comparison is a bit stretched.

Well I will be moved onto Oct24 Tracker if I stay on Tracker when my current version for Electric expires in Dec.  Using my actual as is time/usage data for 1 Oct to 8 Nov I would have saved over £20 on Tomato Lifestyle over Oct 24 Tracker (£82 vs £103).  Likewise using the data for 1 Jan to 8 Nov then Dec23 version gives £633, so as Oct24 is around 11% higher on kWh rates and 14.25p a day more than Dec23, that would be equivalent of around £735 for Oct 24 version vs £630 for Tomato. And that is without taking account of potential time shifting of washing machine, dishwasher, tumble dryer usage to take account of the periods of low rates on Tomato.  So is £100 saving, with potential of that actually being greater, worth a bit of hassle...I'm thinking it potentially is, providing I can stay on the Gas Tracker til mid Feb when worse of winter usage would be over.

Telegraph_Sam

I "survived" Tonik going bust, I wouldn't fancy a repeat. But in common with others the end of Dec 23 Tracker will soon force a decision on us. Does Tomato's appeal depend to a large extent on load shifting?  As with Agile and EV intended tariffs. I must check if Tomato is recognized by Compare

Shedman

Telegraph_Sam said:

I "survived" Tonik going bust, I wouldn't fancy a repeat. But in common with others the end of Dec 23 Tracker will soon force a decision on us. Does Tomato's appeal depend to a large extent on load shifting?  As with Agile and EV intended tariffs. I must check if Tomato is recognized by Compare

You have to use the subscribed version of Octopus Compare and put in the Tomato tariffs as custom tariffs

Bendo

masonic said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

I read copious corresp on this forum and the "sister" forums on the benefits, hassle and uncertainties of transferring elec from Octopus to Tomato Energy.  Minor differences per kWh in favour of Tomato seem to count for a lot. But I am forced to wonder if, when these are grossed up over longer periods into monthly or annual absolute lump sum payments,  if the actual savings do indeed justify the hassle factor. Or if this a case of the duck / swan paddle phenomenon - lots of actiivity under the surface just to stand still. Apologies to the ducks if the comparison is a bit stretched.

Minor gains can easily be dwarfed by the higher costs of a lengthy SoLR process on an unfavourable deemed tariff. I am watching with interest, but after having been with two suppliers that went bust in the past, it would take a considerable saving for me to take a punt.

In those circumstances the best option is to ignore Ofgem advice and switch away straight away to be fair.  It's not like the good old days where a switch too about 2 weeks.

That said,  can't see Tomato surviving, they would need to be a very lean operation to makeit work but given their tariffs are mostly smart, there is likely to be a reasonable support overhead with missing data queries etc.

Telegraph_Sam

I hope that some members of this forum will keep us posted on all things Tomato - up to the mid Feb time of decision for us Dec 23 Trackers

Qyburn

Telegraph_Sam said:

I hope that some members of this forum will keep us posted on all things Tomato - up to the mid Feb time of decision for us Dec 23 Trackers

For you and I the differences in export payments need to be factored in. Does the import saving compensate for losing just over half the export payment?

Looking at our use it would be tempting over Winter, but only if we could get the 5p rate which they offer only if you say you don't have solar panels. For Nov to Feb that would probably work for us even with no export payment. But I don't know how much hassle it would be switching back to Octopus in the Spring, particularly switching export back to them.

FreeBear

Bendo said:

masonic said:

Telegraph_Sam said:

I read copious corresp on this forum and the "sister" forums on the benefits, hassle and uncertainties of transferring elec from Octopus to Tomato Energy.  Minor differences per kWh in favour of Tomato seem to count for a lot. But I am forced to wonder if, when these are grossed up over longer periods into monthly or annual absolute lump sum payments,  if the actual savings do indeed justify the hassle factor. Or if this a case of the duck / swan paddle phenomenon - lots of actiivity under the surface just to stand still. Apologies to the ducks if the comparison is a bit stretched.

Minor gains can easily be dwarfed by the higher costs of a lengthy SoLR process on an unfavourable deemed tariff. I am watching with interest, but after having been with two suppliers that went bust in the past, it would take a considerable saving for me to take a punt.

In those circumstances the best option is to ignore Ofgem advice and switch away straight away to be fair.  It's not like the good old days where a switch too about 2 weeks.

That said,  can't see Tomato surviving, they would need to be a very lean operation to make it work but given their tariffs are mostly smart, there is likely to be a reasonable support overhead with missing data queries etc.

Took three months to switch from Toto the Clowns, and it finally went through on the day they went bust. Then had EDF (the SoLR) trying to grab everything back from my new supplier. Five years on, I still haven't had a correct final bill !

Lesson learnt. No more two bit suppliers for me.