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Octopus Agile

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  • Could be worth looking at Cosy as a stopgap - looks almost a bit like Economy 10 but with an additional peak period (4-7pm of course; in my region is 35p/kWh which while not great isn't looking bad against the current Agile peak rates).  Presumably you get to keep Octopus export rates, and the benefit of being able to jump back onto Agile as soon as you're confident the prices have stabilised down again.
  • It looks like prices may be going back to normal from Saturday :) it does really remind me last year, I've switched to Agile on 1st November, it was tough and everyone here was talking about moving to Tracker but then those who remained had Dec, Jan, Feb, March very cheap..
  • Telegraph_Sam
    Telegraph_Sam Posts: 2,552 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 13 November 2024 at 12:18AM
    I was wondering if in coming to a post-Tracker-Dec-23 decision, the temperature at which one runs the house is as much a factor as the "when" one has the heating on. I think I heard that heat pumps were designed to operate at a higher room temperature than normal gas combis, and that that in turn influenced the choice between Agile, Tracker, Tomato, Cosy etc (positively or negatively). "IOG" = Go??
    Telegraph Sam

    There are also unknown unknowns - the one's we don't know we don't know
  • NedS
    NedS Posts: 4,497 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 13 November 2024 at 1:29AM
    NedS said:
    It's becoming clear that Agile is not going to work for us over winter. We cannot sustain the heating (ASHP) off for the 3h peak period, as the temperature in the house is plummeting too quickly (I had hoped improved insulation may have helped, but it hasn't), and I cannot bring myself to run the ASHP at 50p plus per kWh during the peak period.
    So we are looking for other tariffs without the evening peak rate. Any suggestions?
    I know Tomato have some good looking options, but their billing and CS are awful so that's a non-starter.
    EDF offer a heat pump tariff at the SVR with two cheap slots at 4-7am and 1-4pm charged at 10p off the SVR - that's the kind of thing that interests me, but their SEG rates for solar export are rubbish. We have ASHP + solar, but no batteries and no EV.
    Anyone else thinking of jumping ship over winter, and if so what are you considering?

    Tomato's billing is OK, it may be shifted by 30mins in worst case scenario. Customer service is getting better, but they're overwhelmed.. I've never needed them, neither Octopus CS really.
    My only issue with them so far is how long they will last..
    Other than that prices are great. 

    Would the Octopus Cosy work for you?
    We like a temp of 19-20C, and today it had dropped to 16C within an hour or two of turning the heating off.
    I've looked at Cosy, and have been tracking Cosy vs Agile on Octopus Compare for a few months. The thing that's killing us is the evening peak which we'd like to try to get away from, and Cosy don't help there.
    Also the timing of the cheap slots on Cosy don't do a lot for us - the 4-7am slot isn't great for us. Not much point using it for heating as by the time we get up around 10am, that heat is gone and we are back to 16C but we could use it for the DHW.
    The afternoon slot 1-4pm is fine, although a morning slot would be better. The evening peak is something we really want to get away from, and the 10-midnight slot is pointless as we are just going to bed then, so don't want to wait until bed time to heat the house. 7-9pm or 8-10pm would be far better. So without batteries, I don't see that much that appeals about Cosy.
    Looks like things may be a little better on Agile from Friday.
  • Oscarmax
    Oscarmax Posts: 181 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    We are averaging about 18.5 pence kWh including charging up the PHEV, as far as I can remember November Agile 2023 figure were not that good
    12 x 370 Watt J A panels Solis 3.6 invertor. Solax AC invertor and 5.8 triple battery
  • Newbie_John
    Newbie_John Posts: 1,216 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    Oscarmax said:
    We are averaging about 18.5 pence kWh including charging up the PHEV, as far as I can remember November Agile 2023 figure were not that good
    Yeah they were worse than this month's prices. The only difference is that SVR was 35p or similar and now is 24p 😅
  • Oscarmax said:
    We are averaging about 18.5 pence kWh including charging up the PHEV, as far as I can remember November Agile 2023 figure were not that good
    Yeah they were worse than this month's prices. The only difference is that SVR was 35p or similar and now is 24p 😅
    Short term gas wholesale prices fell to under 60p per therm in the early part of this year. Now pretty much doubled at around 110p. The SVR was still reflecting higher prices from the previous autumn, which is why Agile/Tracker were such a good deal in comparison. Very different this year.
  • Oscarmax
    Oscarmax Posts: 181 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 13 November 2024 at 7:03PM
    Our average over the last 11 months on Agile 12.4 pence kWh export 15 pence kWh to date we are  + £95 excluding the dreaded standing charge
    12 x 370 Watt J A panels Solis 3.6 invertor. Solax AC invertor and 5.8 triple battery
  • Good chance of negative pricing on Tuesday next week - widespread strong winds looking likely. Stock piling the washing etc. 
  • Swings & roundabouts -  does the negative pricing compensate for the positive overall?
    Telegraph Sam

    There are also unknown unknowns - the one's we don't know we don't know
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