Octopus Agile

[Deleted User]

Pat38493 said:

kingwheeler said:

I think we'll start off on Tracker, as hopefully we can use the smart app to record our usage? I'm expecting to be able to get a few weeks worth of data to understand just how much we're using during the day anyway, etc then can see if the switch to Agile will be worth it.

I thought I read you can't swap between them for 30days, not 10 months!

https://octopus.energy/blog/terms-conditions-agile-go/#:~:text=You can leave Agile Octopus,smart tariffs within 30 days.

For Agile yes it’s 30 days.  It’s Tracker where they say it’s 10 months.  To be clear, what they say is that you can leave Tracker at any time, but it might take up to 2 weeks to switch you away (but in reality it’s usually done in a day or two).  However you cannot go back onto Tracker for 10 months after you left it.  That said, I don’t know whether they enforce this strictly - certainly I’ve heard of times then they haven’t enforced the 30 day rule.  I don’t know about the 10 month one on Tracker.

The 30 day rule was brought in because some consumers were playing the market: that is, switching to Agile when prices were low and back to Flexible if the following day’s prices were high - rinse and repeat. 

 Normally, if a consumer has been on a smart tariff for more than 30 days, Octopus will allow a switch to another smart tariff. Like many, I have recently switched from Flux to IO and Fixed Outgoing without any problems.

Bendo

Some nice negative pricing coming up in the morning. Have set the washing machine to do a 90 degree cleaning wash, all the lights to come on etc. Damn these energy efficient bulbs.

mmmmikey

Bendo said:

Some nice negative pricing coming up in the morning. Have set the washing machine to do a 90 degree cleaning wash, all the lights to come on etc. Damn these energy efficient bulbs.

It's also quite warm, maybe get a couple of high power halogen spotlights and do some midnight gardening? I have a shredder that uses quite a lot of power, it's quite noisy but I'm sure the neighbours will understand....

Bendo

We have a boilermate that can run the heating off electric if the boiler fails. That's a good 3KW load, but having never used it in the 10 years we have been here, I'm loath to try it and risk something going bang for the sake of gaining a couple of quid.

mmmmikey

Bendo said:

We have a boilermate that can run the heating off electric if the boiler fails. That's a good 3KW load, but having never used it in the 10 years we have been here, I'm loath to try it and risk something going bang for the sake of gaining a couple of quid.

Not heard of boilermate before will have to Google it. Sounds like a day time test would be worthwhile as it could be a useful source of cheap heating during future events. Maybe a good candidate for a smart switch that could be automated to activate when electricity prices are less than gas?

Bendo

mmmmikey said:

Bendo said:

We have a boilermate that can run the heating off electric if the boiler fails. That's a good 3KW load, but having never used it in the 10 years we have been here, I'm loath to try it and risk something going bang for the sake of gaining a couple of quid.

Not heard of boilermate before will have to Google it. Sounds like a day time test would be worthwhile as it could be a useful source of cheap heating during future events. Maybe a good candidate for a smart switch that could be automated to activate when electricity prices are less than gas?

It's basically a thermal store.  They were popular with house builders in the naughties as they were simple and quick to install, although less popular with Home owners that don't really understand them I find it works well enough.

Easy enough to setup to run on electric automatically as the heating / hot water is already on Hive and therefore home assistant.  Would just need a switchbot or whatever to flip the switch to run it off electric when the unit rate drops below 0. Just worried that having never ran it off electric in the time I've been here, it may not appreciate it and the small savings could easily be wiped out by having to replace an obsolete system..

mmmmikey

Bendo said:

mmmmikey said:

Bendo said:

We have a boilermate that can run the heating off electric if the boiler fails. That's a good 3KW load, but having never used it in the 10 years we have been here, I'm loath to try it and risk something going bang for the sake of gaining a couple of quid.

Not heard of boilermate before will have to Google it. Sounds like a day time test would be worthwhile as it could be a useful source of cheap heating during future events. Maybe a good candidate for a smart switch that could be automated to activate when electricity prices are less than gas?

It's basically a thermal store.  They were popular with house builders in the naughties as they were simple and quick to install, although less popular with Home owners that don't really understand them I find it works well enough.

Easy enough to setup to run on electric automatically as the heating / hot water is already on Hive and therefore home assistant.  Would just need a switchbot or whatever to flip the switch to run it off electric when the unit rate drops below 0. Just worried that having never ran it off electric in the time I've been here, it may not appreciate it and the small savings could easily be wiped out by having to replace an obsolete system..

Thanks, presumably the electric bit is just an immersion heater? If that's the case I would imagine the worst thing that would happen is that it just won't work so probably nothing to lose by trying. But like you it's not something I'd do overnight, maybe just wait for a cheap daytime slot when you're in and give it a try.

On a related note, I have an electric only thermal store with two immersion heaters, which is perfect for using with Agile. Living on my own I rarely use more than 3kWh per day heating water and if I turn both heaters on I can do that in a single 30 minute slot. Which means my water is always heated at the cheapest Agile rate. Because water heating is about half my daily consumption I have a really low Agile average unit cost.

la531983

Just a warning to expect 5pm today (or higher) prices essentially all day tomorrow, if the early auction mirrors what happens in the late one....

Netexporter

I had a nice long, paid-for, shower at about 2am, this morning. Looks like I'll have to dodge the soap, tomorrow!

Netexporter

Half an hour of plunge tomorrow.

I must have had an intuition as I went out for a drive around the mountains this afternoon. If I plug in from 12:30 to 16:00 tomorrow, that should just about replace what I used today for less than 50p. It would have cost at least £7 in petrol.