Octopus offering deal £180/month

bristolleedsfan

MalMonroe said:

 Don't forget that energy prices have risen anyway and Martin Lewis has said that he cannot comfortably recommend any energy company right now. At the moment it's difficult for everyone and is predicted to get worse. 

He is still echoing the advice Octopus are giving to customers of other energy suppliers and that is not to choose a fixed rate tariff, go on energy capped variable rate tariff for coldest months of the year Martin Lewis: Energy price cap now due to rise by a 'horrid' 40%+ in April (moneysavingexpert.com)

Gas kwh rate 65%ish more than Flexible Octopus variable rate

Each Gas meter unit  £1.28 on flexible Octopus, £2.13 on Loyalty 12 month coldest months of year, based on Octopus gas kwh rate calculations on my last statement which equates to figure of 65% ish higher I mentioned above

Electricity 5.73pkwh less on Flexible until at least 1 April

bagand96

As others above have said, without details no one can say anything.  Whilst everyone has to budget in £ per month you can't just think of energy in that term.  You pay for the energy you use in kWh, so you need to look at the offered tariff and see the kWh rates along with standing charge and see what it looks like.

Also is your current £80 month covering your use.  Is your account in credit or debit?  Ideally this time of year you'd be in credit which is starting to diminish now we're in the colder peak use months.

wild666

rogertb said:

Sorry that should have been £168

Try turning down the heating to 18 degrees, if that's too cold then no more than 21 degrees turn it up in 1 degree at a time until you feel comfortable with the temperature. Don't heat rooms you aren't in like the bedrooms. Use draft excluders on doors, home made or bought. Do the same with the letterbox if one isn't fitted. Seal gaps around windows, put foil, not kitchen foil, but that meant to be put behind radiators behind then to direct heat into the rooms. 
Try turning everything that's in standby off at the socket except the fridge, freezer and router. The more appliances turned off the bigger the saving, most appliances use more power than it says in the manuals left in standby. My monthly saving in kWh is around 70 kWh per month. 

With a Combi-boiler turn down the temperatures to 50 degrees for hot water and 55 degrees for heating. The recommended temperatures only use more kWh to achieve the same results.

bullinn1

So impressed thanks all, we are existing customers and here are the offers. We use 3500 kwh elec 12000 gas and pay £83/month and we’re in credit £160. My wife is thinking £158 loyalty is the one to go for.

QrizB

rogertb said:

So impressed thanks all, we are existing customers and here are the offers. We use 3500 kwh elec 12000 gas and pay £83/month and we’re in credit £160. My wife is thinking £158 loyalty is the one to go for.

Given those choices, I'd pick the final one - do nothing and drop onto Flexible Octopus..

But it's your choice, in the end; do you want the certainty of a 12m fix or do you want to get through the winter on the variable rate then see what's on offer in the spring?

bullinn1

Sorry to be a pain Qriz, when you say last are you referring to (2) Do Nothing ie the last of those pictured or option (3) the last in the list “Fixed with loyal octopus” I got the 2 images out of order !

matelodave

The general consensus at the moment is to drop onto the standard variable tariff rather than fixing and then see what the situation is in April.

Even the "loyal Octopus" will cost you £40 a month (£480 a year) more than the present capped price and even if the cap increases next April it still may not add as much as £40 a month to your bill.

Your choice of course

QrizB

rogertb said:

Sorry to be a pain Qriz, when you say last are you referring to (2) Do Nothing ie the last of those pictured or option (3) the last in the list “Fixed with loyal octopus” I got the 2 images out of order !

That's OK   Do nothing, move onto Flexible Octopus, the option numbered (2) but appearing last in the pictures as posted here.

addled

I am currently contemplating the same offer from Octopus.  The way I read the email is that if you agree a new fix they will continue to honour your existing deal until it ends (in my case the end of January).  So it seems to me there is nothing to lose by signing up as I can simply go back onto the variable rate then depending on which way things are going.  Happy to be corrected on this.
I have crunched the numbers based on last year's usage and would be £75 worse off until April with £55 savings over the rest of the year.  This is based on a 40% increase in the cap in April and it then remaining the same until the following January.  YMMV and things will change.
The monthly figures aren't very helpful to work this out.

worrywart_3

QrizB said:

Until @rogertb tells us what Octopus have offered, the best I can see from their website https://octopus.energy/tariffs/ is Loyal Octopus 12M Fixed December 2021 v1. The rates for my region are:

• Elec: 26.08p/kWh, 24.11p/day
• Gas: 6.77p/kWh, 26.1p/day

Those rates are considerably higher than the current Ofgem cap but lower than I'm expecting the April cap to be.

That would be double what I’m currently paying I’m paying roughly 13p for electric and 2.5 for gas so yes original poster that fix could well be double what your currently paying. If it’s lower than you expect April to be we are in trouble 🥲 most are saying to go in variable untill April as even though cap will increase then we are all hoping come next winter it will be down but who knows worrying times