Octopus Agile

masonic

Today is my last day on Agile (and marks the end of this stint with Octopus). As has happened before, my Home Mini got kicked off my HAN at around 6pm. I wonder if they've sorted the issue where they can't pull the last day's smart data, or if I can look forward to being charged for today on Flexible.

Looking at tomorrows pricing, I'm not feeling any immediate regret (needed to double check tomorrow was indeed a Sunday). Hopefully the wind due towards the middle of next week will help you guys.

Newbie_John

My first few days feedback from Cosy is that it's more expensive than it looks.

You get 8h cheap and then 16h more expensive than SVR, some gains during cheaper slots easily disappear :)

And apps like Octopus compare are not helpful - sure it looks great with savings against Agile - but this doesn't include behaviour changes of me running immersion heater 5-7am rather than 3-5am as usual..

MikeyPGT

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914511#Comment_81914511

Useful to know - my main drain is a fridge freezer and fridge which are obviously on 24/7, boiling the kettle once or twice a day and the odd microwave meal. I'd just love for the Agile standing charge to come down a bit to at least within spitting distance of SVR - a 10p premium is just taking the mick …

Netexporter

Peaks are getting peakier. And the morning one lengthier.

NedS

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914511#Comment_81914511

Remember it's primarily targeted at those with a heat pump, and those folks are more likely to have solar and a battery so can avoid the more costly peaks.

Last winter, without a battery, I averaged 20p import on Cosy and a bit less in spring and autumn. Solar helps as it offsets the morning day rate if you have enough solar to run the house. This year since the addition of a battery, we only import during the 3 cheap rate periods (3h+3h+2h) which works out perfectly for recharging the battery 3 times daily with a maximum of 6h between the cheap rate slots.

I've continue to watch Agile pricing, but most days the cheapest agile slots have not been as cheap as the 8h of cheap rate Cosy, and super low or negative days have been few and far between. I'm kind of happy knowing my electricity is costing me 14.8p/kWh and the consistency of 8h of cheap rate per day and knowing when those 8h will be (Agile was hard work unless you find a way to automate it in something like Home Assistant).

Telegraph_Sam

I dithered long and hard over whether to purchase a solar battery to complement my panels, and concluded that as far as amortising the outlay was concerned the break even point was so far off as to make the exercise unviable. Same thing when I have revisited the topic since. Needs to be said however that this is a 1-man household with "moderate" consumption in the North East where the sun doesn't always shine. And the occupant doesn't take kindly to lifestyle bodyclock changes a la Quantas pilot's model. For the latter I could imagine that Cosy could be a better bet. Agile - I just don't know. It comes across as a gamble.

greenbee

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914627#Comment_81914627

Have stopped looking and turned off battery import. There's just about enough daylight at the moment for me to get to sunset with a fully charged battery. It's a good excuse to put off doing laundry, although I have run the DW and we're not actually cooking a huge amount at the moment - salads for lunch and mostly reheating in the evenings as we're busy. Hopefully there'll be more wind/solar soon and the high prices will be offset somewhat.

Spoonie_Turtle

Hopefully there'll be more wind/solar soon and the high prices will be offset somewhat.

Hopefully!

Newbie_John

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914665#Comment_81914665

Hard to tell who is it targeted at.. if for those with solar then what's the point of 13-16 slot? If for those with heat pump which runs best at the same temperature for 24h the jumps in prices aren't good enough especially 18h above SVR :)

In theory for those with smaller battery.. but then triple charge and triple discharge during the day would eat the battery really quickly. And the economics of batteries, more expensive like Tesla in my opinion will never pay back, the cheaper ones possibly but are risky seeing to what is happening to Givenergy etc.

Being on Agile for a long time I've learnt how to shift things so I think I can make it work. 4-7am immersion heater 6kWh, all white goods, breakfast, 13-16 lunch and dinner.. then 20% everything else including A2A which takes about 4kWh during warmer days like this.

Scot_39

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81914511#Comment_81914511

cosy is a semi-live electric heating special (electric boiler, ashp etc but would work vs e7 say for lossy self timing nsh or maybe low thermal mass underfloor etc) - if your not burning most ot your energy in the off peak slots its not going to work.

Vs 26.89 ofgem svt unit rate, cosy quotes

15.43p off peak - c11.5p cheaper than svt

31.47 day - c4.6p more expensive than svt

47.21 peak - c10.3p more expensive

The off peak saving sounds great, but

Burn just over 1kWh in peak, say cooking simple meal, washing machine etc - it writes off the savings for 1kWh off peak.

Burn c2.5kWh in day, it writes off the savings for 1kWh off peak.

the same is true of many legacy tou like e7, and more so likes of e10 closer to cosy - spkit for me 5,3,2 hrs - rarher than 3,3,2 - at some suppliers, your personal use timing is key.

in summer months - my e10 averages out more expensive than svr some weeks - over the year just few p cheaper. In winter though I can hit over 90% off peak some days. Id swap off e10 for 8-9m a year if could get back on it for just winter - as some do with cheaper e7 deals.

Annually I save around just over 3p/kWh - less than half the c7p off peak rate saving vs SVT abd thats getting worse as cut temps / heating to save on bills since crisis began.

Not looking forward to winter already given current affairs.