Looking for some advice on Economy 7 tariffs

flyinggoose

Hello, 

I've come across this tariff on the Octopus website:




I'm already with Octopus on the standard flexible tarrif + agile outgoing as I have solar panels installed, but for the winter months when I won't have much solar the above seems like a no brainer. 

I've never been on an economy 7 tariff, can someone give me any cons I should know beforehand? Obviously I'm aware of the higher day rate, but anything else I should know?

I have a Tesla Powerwall so the idea would be to charge it overnight with the cheap electricity and use that throughout the day, it would cover the amount of electricity I use during the day.

Can someone please tell me if I'm missing anything here as it almost seems too good to be true? 🤔 (I don't have an EV btw, so not eligible for their Go tariffs). 

QrizB

flyinggoose said:

I'm already with Octopus on the standard flexible tarrif + agile outgoing as I have solar panels installed, but for the winter months when I won't have much solar the above seems like a no brainer.

Economy 7 works out cheaper than standard rate electricity so long as you use (import) more than a certain % of night-time electricity. The % varies depending on the tariff offered. For that particular tariff, and ignoring the extra 0.09p/day standing charge, the number is 31%.

As you're not currently on E7, you'll need to estimate whether you'll import more than 31% of your electricity during E7 hours.

I've never been on an economy 7 tariff, can someone give me any cons I should know beforehand? Obviously I'm aware of the higher day rate, but anything else I should know?

If you've got a working smart meter - and if you've got Outgoing Agile, I guess you do - Octopus can switch you from standard rate to E7 remotely. If you don't, they will need to physically swap your meter.
Being on a time-of-use tariff can result in the other members of your household getting fed up of being told "don't do that now, save it until the cheap-rate period"

I have a Tesla Powerwall so the idea would be to charge it overnight with the cheap electricity and use that throughout the day, it would cover the amount of electricity I use during the day.

Can someone please tell me if I'm missing anything here as it almost seems too good to be true? 🤔 (I don't have an EV btw, so not eligible for their Go tariffs). 

Have you looked at the Octopus Tesla Power Plan? It might be a better option than you current combination of Flexible + Outgoing Agile. You effectively get net metering at about 25p/kWh.

MWT

flyinggoose said:

I have a Tesla Powerwall so the idea would be to charge it overnight with the cheap electricity and use that throughout the day, it would cover the amount of electricity I use during the day.

As long as the Powerwall can handle your use while on the day rate, then E7 is likely to be a better bet for you than the Tesla Energy Plan over winter unless you have a very significant array.

The only thing to be careful about is any significant spikes above the 5kW limit for the Powerwall (plus your current solar production of course) during the day, as that will draw from the grid.

Not much of an issue when the sun is shining but with the evenings getting darker just have to take care if you use electricity for cooking...