Octopus Tracker Switch Advice

focusonskill

Planeteer said:

bristolleedsfan said:

SJMALBA said:

I would guess that the unit rates on the quote would be the actual rates on that day?

No, they give estimated rate for following 12 months based seemingly on average rate for previous 12 months.

I see - well, that makes it even more unreliable. The only thing we do know is that the next 12 months won't be anything like the alst 12 months. How bizarre to provide meaningless information on a tariff switch quote instead of the applicable ceiling rates??

If the unit rate continue to rise or stay unchanged, the capped rate is likely what you will pay for the next 12 months. 
The estimate is probably based on the average rate over the past 12 month which will not reflect what you''ll pay in the next 12 month due to the continuous rise in unit rate. 

Planeteer

Understood. Just spoke to Octopus to cancel my switch for now to benefit from the current cap for a bit longer. I know my winter usage will be very low as away, so still have to figure if to go for the Tracker (better than the Fix) or just surf the SVT. Very nerve-wracking tbh...but that's the case for everyone  

Spoonie_Turtle

Planeteer said:

Understood. Just spoke to Octopus to cancel my switch for now to benefit from the current cap for a bit longer. I know my winter usage will be very low as away, so still have to figure if to go for the Tracker (better than the Fix) or just surf the SVT. Very nerve-wracking tbh...but that's the case for everyone  

In the meantime they could well bring out a new Tracker version with a higher cap.  Just something to be aware of while making your decision.

Planeteer

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Planeteer said:

Understood. Just spoke to Octopus to cancel my switch for now to benefit from the current cap for a bit longer. I know my winter usage will be very low as away, so still have to figure if to go for the Tracker (better than the Fix) or just surf the SVT. Very nerve-wracking tbh...but that's the case for everyone  

In the meantime they could well bring out a new Tracker version with a higher cap.  Just something to be aware of while making your decision.

Indeed, on that basis that the next tracker version  will likely be more expensive and the current tracker rates come close to the 80% increase from October, I did reinstate my switch to the tracker

DeeQS

I've also just switched to Octopus Tracker for gas. 16p KWH Gas is expected to be close to the SVT cap tomorrow.

Just managed to secure Octopus Go for a year as well... Was an issue with the smart meter that was stopping the switch by they fixed it today.

Planeteer

So having joined Octopus Tracker, I am curious how the pricing actually works. I can see a ceiling rate (supposedly fixed for 12 months),which I presumed would always kick in given where wholesale rates are moving. However, now I see a tracker price on my account page such as the below - but wondering how Octopus attributes today's consumption to today's price without a smart meter (that I don't have)? And if it takes averages, is it by averaging out the month's KwH across the days of the month? Thanks for any clues for unsmart Trackers

Alnat1

Those graphs are new and the prices and numbers relate to......nothing that I and several others can make sense of. Octopus often try new things and they don't always get them right at first.

For several weeks when you clicked into that tab, it was just a demo. Now it's meaningless figures that don't seem to relate to your account. 

Best to ignore it for now and rely on the other daily usage graphs and your IHD. Your bills will be fine.

Edit: Clicked on the gas arrow to show prediction for the next 12 months, says £88.93, I wish!!!!!!

Irratus_Rusticus

I don't have that answer - looked for it -  but would recommend smart meters. Finally ordered them last week after years of dissenting -- I first chose Octopus three years back because they didn't demand SMs for their better tariffs. Was fed up being nagged by big suppliers.

It took forty minutes for the fitter to finish the job. The in house display started showing consumption and costs within half an hour. Day one Octopus's site offered me csvs, but only for electricity, no gas figures. Day 2, today, all data available to download. Had a brief issue with no WAN connection today but sorted itself in an hour.  I guess mileage is different around the realm. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Planeteer said:

So having joined Octopus Tracker, I am curious how the pricing actually works. I can see a ceiling rate (supposedly fixed for 12 months),which I presumed would always kick in given where wholesale rates are moving. However, now I see a tracker price on my account page such as the below - but wondering how Octopus attributes today's consumption to today's price without a smart meter (that I don't have)? And if it takes averages, is it by averaging out the month's KwH across the days of the month? Thanks for any clues for unsmart Trackers

We also don't have a smart meter but having had the estimated daily cost change by day even when it's sitting at 55p/kWh, I think they may have gone with this formula from the FAQs rather than a flat average of our estimated monthly use:

"How we calculate daily usage

Our smart meter rollout will start in the next few months and until then we'll use the meter readings you give us, and apportion usage to each day using the official Profile Coefficients for electricity, and Annual Load Profiles for gas."

https://octopus.energy/tracker-faqs/

As for projections, they do say this (still in the daily usage answer):

"We make projections with the official estimated consumption figures for each meter (known as EAC for electricity and AQ for gas), or in their absence, the estimates customers give us. The more meter readings you give us, the more accurate we can be."

But none of the Tracker prediction graphs bear resemblance to reality (£1500 for a year would be a dream!!).  I guess it may be basing them on some historical pricing, as if things were stable.

macman

DeeQS said:

I've also just switched to Octopus Tracker for gas. 16p KWH Gas is expected to be close to the SVT cap tomorrow.

Just managed to secure Octopus Go for a year as well... Was an issue with the smart meter that was stopping the switch by they fixed it today.

I've just done the same, gas only. My estimate, rather than reflecting the 16p cap, has come back showing 6.02p unit! And the DD has then been set based on this, so obviously too low. The switch will take another week or so, so will get it amended to a more sensible level, but I expected them to set the DD based on the Tracker cap, which is only a little above SVT anyway.