Octopus Tracker

Telegraph_Sam

As a simple rule of thumb I came to the conclusion that on a risk / reward scale you could put Fixed - Tracker - Agile in a row, with the exception of the short term. Might even apply in the face of the Trump effect.

I am however not clued up on the clever stuff like Cosy which could be the exception.

jazzy

I'm currently on the Octopus Tracker plan, which is set to expire on August 25, 2026. I'm thinking about switching to a fixed tariff with Octopus instead. Do you think that's a smart move, especially with the price cap coming in April?

Telegraph_Sam

I've been told that now is not the time to be switching to a fixed if that can be avoided. I suppose that there is a case for moving to the bog standard Flexible tariff in order to "keep one's options open".

I'm not sure if Octopus Compare can contribute anything to the current debate?

Stevie1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81912095#Comment_81912095

I can't see what the benefit would be in switching to Octopus' current really expensive Fixed tariff, with its high exit fees? If you switch to a Fixed, there are cheaper ones out there.

Bendo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81912023#Comment_81912023

Doh, trying to type quicky on my phone. Hopefully he has stopped at Iran but who knows...

jazzy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81912158#Comment_81912158

I would like to stay with Octopus if possible because of the winter fuel payment.

There doesn't seem to be significant difference in prices with my current tracker tariff and a fixed tariff.

Tracker Tariff 25.70p Kwh with a daily standing charge of 50.42p.

Fixed Tariff 26.56p Kwh with a daily standing charge of 51.41p

anon_ymous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81908470#Comment_81908470

So after considering what you've said as well as considering the fact that I have a wood burner :

- At about 6.5p/kWh for gas with just a wood burner, wood is cheaper when the log costs 40p/kg (ish)

- At about 5.5p/kWh for gas with a wood burner + recoheat, wood is cheaper

The recoheat unit wouldn't consume much energy, and I have an EV tariff anyway

So:

- We're in March, and we're simply not using that much heat

- If the war goes on until the winter and costs stay the same, maybe it's worth putting the wood burner on instead of the central heating

Telegraph_Sam

No sign of wood burner on the Cheap Energy Club etc comparisons (yet).

jadex

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81911889#Comment_81911889

Free coffee is the reason I am sticking with Octopus (for now). It's Cafe Nero for me and latte grande is £4.30 around here → £17.20 pcm → a little below £200 pa, accounting for a few missed weeks, which is a lot, not to mention a few Rakuten codes and Xmas/Black Friday perks (what was it last year? Sainsbury's and Greggs giftcards worth about £8?). Oh, and I got about a fiver off from their monthly wheel of fortune (4 times won 800 points).

To the point: as of today my tracker got terminated and am now on standard flexible tariff.
Sort of regret the move already (or at least am not so sure if it was a good one) as standing charge is almost 5p dearer and we are a low'ish users (<4800 kWh pa, averaging 13 kWh per day over a year), so need more than half a penny higher on tracker than on flexible (6.03p here) to "profit" from the move averaging over the whole year… but as we are now going into a summer and usage will be much lower then may even end up paying more… (but tracker was ending on 1st May anyway)

anon_ymous

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81912247#Comment_81912247

Lol. Tbf that was a chat GPT calculation. But it was me thinking hmmm what's cheaper

I'm fairly insulated though because

• We're In March so gas usage is lower anyway
• My eon next drive smart export tariff expires at the end of September
• Ditto for my import costs
• I have a log burner too

But for people who don't have solar / batteries / an EV / log burner, the fact that we're in March helps a lot

I'd hope that Qatar would have turned their LNG supplies back on long before we get to winter too.