Octopus Tracker

Spoonie_Turtle

QrizB said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Didn't think I'd be likely to make a snap decision but Cosy is tempting, consistently below SVT.  What have we got left, under a month of Tracker Dec 23?  Hmmm.

Don't you need a heat pump for Cosy? Or have Octopus relaxed that?

(Asking for Rosie1001 and her RTS-metered storage heaters ...)

Edit: it currently needs a heat pump or an elecric boiler:
https://octopus.energy/smart/cosy-octopus/

If you have a heat pump (air or ground source) or electric boiler installed at your property, you can join Cosy Octopus. If you have another system in your property, get in touch and we'll let you know if you're eligible for the tariff.

Yes, we have a heat pump which is the reason Cosy factors into my deliberations in the first place.

Electric boiler??  There was a poster who lost her Economy 10 with an electric boiler (due to Octopus reassuring her the meter change would be fine and then putting her onto Economy 7) and wasn't allowed onto Cosy - does anyone remember her name to see if she knows about that?

QrizB

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Electric boiler??  There was a poster who lost her Economy 10 with an electric boiler (due to Octopus reassuring her the meter change would be fine and then putting her onto Economy 7) and wasn't allowed onto Cosy - does anyone remember her name to see if she knows about that?

Yes there was, I'm not imagining it!

I was looking for her thread earlier, but I couldn't find it easily. I might try again tomorrow when I'm less tired.

It would be good to know if she still needs help.

Telegraph_Sam

Rosie1001 ?

QrizB

Telegraph_Sam said:

Rosie1001 ?

Rosie has storage heaters and wants an afternoon top-up.

No, it was someone who had wet heating with an electric boiler.

Spoonie_Turtle

I think their username contained something like Anne or Annie, but I'm not certain on that.  She did initially post on an Economy 10 thread.  Obviously I'll update if I do find her but good to know others can be on the case too until she is found!

Edit: the forum search came good!  Quote marks around a phrase work like they do on Google.  @AnnieRichards
She's not been active here since May last year so I'll message her, and also with the tag here, hopefully she'll get an e-mail notification.

GoneWestWoman

QrizB said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Electric boiler??  There was a poster who lost her Economy 10 with an electric boiler (due to Octopus reassuring her the meter change would be fine and then putting her onto Economy 7) and wasn't allowed onto Cosy - does anyone remember her name to see if she knows about that?

Yes there was, I'm not imagining it!

I was looking for her thread earlier, but I couldn't find it easily. I might try again tomorrow when I'm less tired.

It would be good to know if she still needs help.

Hello everyone - I’m still here! 🙂  Thanks Spoonie_Turtle for your message, I’ve switched to Octopus Cosy this morning thanks to you.

Just fyi to anyone following the E10 saga:  I have a wet central heating system (ie normal wall hung radiators, just like a gas central heating system) BUT have an electric boiler as there is no gas in the village.  Originally on Economy 10 with Octopus but due to an error on their part was forced onto E7 which is useless unless you have storage heaters and can store your heat.  Took it to The Ombudsman and eventually won but Octopus would not follow Ombudsman’s ruling to put the E10 back in place.  Eventually persuaded Octopus to put me on the Agile tariff (tried Cosy but didn’t fit the conditions at the time) which has been OK for most of the past 8 months as I live alone, work full time and have timers on washing machine etc so was able to use the cheapest times.  However, since 1st January 2025 I’ve noticed a huge jump in the 30 minute prices.  Very simply the lowest ppu for 22/01/25 is 21.29 (midnight to 06:00) and during the peak period it’s 99.99 (the highest they are allowed to charge) but the prices change every 30 mins so involves being very proactive and I check at least 6 times a day!

Today Spoonie_Turtle messaged me to let me know that Octopus have relaxed their rules on the Cosy tariff and will now include anyone who has an electric boiler.  Disappointed that Octopus didn’t advertise that more openly, but not surprised!  So have switched today in order to have heat and hot food - I have not used any heating this winter, apart from my good old Meaco dehumidifier on the laundry setting and during the peak periods have had to resort to candles to light the place!  It’s been a challenge at times but I’ve just looked at my total bill for 2024 and I paid £964.34 for my total energy consumption having swapped to the Agile tariff in late May 2024.  I have a small 2 bedroom mid terrace house with single glazing (listed I’m afraid so can’t do double glazing☹️) and thick interlined curtains at every window.

Sometimes it’s like living in the 1800’s!  BUT I have learned that putting on an extra warm layer of clothing (and I live in one of those hideous Oodie type fleece things when indoors) and having a warm throw on my legs in the evening is perfectly OK in a mild winter.  We all need to learn how to live and thrive with less heating and it is perfectly fine.  I admit it’s nicer to have a warm house but you have to decide what’s more important to you?  My house is not damp because of the dehumidifier so doesn’t feel unpleasant and I don’t know how anyone can breathe in a house heated to 20/22 degrees, let alone relax 😃.

debitcardmayhem

AnnieRichards said:

……
and I don’t know how anyone can breathe in a house heated to 20/22 degrees, let alone relax 😃.

Glad your tariff woes are coming to a happy ending, Of course not everyone’s health is as good as yours but for those reasons we have to endure those temps.

Chrysalis

QrizB said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Didn't think I'd be likely to make a snap decision but Cosy is tempting, consistently below SVT.  What have we got left, under a month of Tracker Dec 23?  Hmmm.

Don't you need a heat pump for Cosy? Or have Octopus relaxed that?

(Asking for Rosie1001 and her RTS-metered storage heaters ...)

Edit: it currently needs a heat pump or an elecric boiler:
https://octopus.energy/smart/cosy-octopus/

If you have a heat pump (air or ground source) or electric boiler installed at your property, you can join Cosy Octopus. If you have another system in your property, get in touch and we'll let you know if you're eligible for the tariff.

People on reddit are claiming both cosy and the standard go (not intelligent) have no checks.  Its like agile, sign up online and it switches, and backdates to the start of the switch day as well.  Of course anyone doing should be aware they may not be t&c compliant.

GoneWestWoman

Telegraph_Sam said:

Re accounts and accounting systems.
It comes as little surprise when we read reports of accounting errors affecting those that have moved to Tomato. In contrast I have always held Octopus' systems with greater respect over the many years that I have been with them.

Until now. Inexplicably they are proposing to retro-invoice me for a whole series of charges (adjustments) some going back to 2022.  The "backlog" comes to several times what would be my normal monthly payment. This covers a long period at the start of which I opted to pay my bills by variable direct debit, precisely to avoid such situations arising. The bottom-up "explanation" that they are offering is so full of past minutiae as to drive any (non) accountant to despair.

Sorry Octopus, you have come down several notches in my estimation.

I so feel this pain!  For some bizarre reason Octopus did the same thing to me early last year which resulted in my account being £2000 + in credit for a few days, then £1000+ for a few days then went back to the figure before they started messing with it.  I also paid by monthly DD so there was never any money owing or in credit.  When I emailed and asked why my balance had become so erratic their reply was beyond fathomable.  For fun I asked them to explain it and the reply was pages of bills with different figures and readings on different days.  I keep a very close eye on my usage so was confident that I’d not over or under paid and let it run.

I think someone at Octopus was put on the Naughty Step and given a pencil, calculator, rubber and a pad of paper and spent a few days doing absolutely meaningless calculations until they’d learned their lesson and was let back into the main office 😁😜🤷🏼‍♀️

FreeBear

AnnieRichards said: I have a small 2 bedroom mid terrace house with single glazing (listed I’m afraid so can’t do double glazing☹️) and thick interlined curtains at every window.

Secondary glazing will help, and you don't (normally) need Listed building Consent to install it. You can also get double glazed windows that are acceptable to some Conservation Officers, but stuff like that isn't cheap.