Octopus Agile

Netexporter

Quite a few posters bottled out of Agile last autumn. I think most of them now regret it. I decided to stick with Agile, over the winter, and have been pleasantly surprised with my average monthly rates. I stayed well below 20p/kWh and I was as low as 13p one month. Overall I stayed in the same range of prices as I paid in the summer.

The main difference is whether you can limit your 16:00 to 19:00 consumption. If you can't, then you'll be better off with Tracker.

Telegraph_Sam

That is interesting since I suspect that autumn would normally NOT be the time to switch to Agile if I have understood the mechanics correctly. I think though that Tracker gave similar better than expected results over last winter. I have just started using Octopus Compare for this in addition to some comparison sites with historical values.

Slinky

I pondered for a short while after the rates went up and then bit the bullet and got on with it at the end of February, in order that if I needed to go back to Tracker I could do so at the end of November. We are in Eastern region which was one of the worst hit in terms of increased rates so it made the decision easier. We have solar and batteries which are now covering our usage along with a bit of judicious topping up at cheap (mainly overnight) rates. For the next several months we'll be laughing (assuming the thick clouds disappear at some point).

It's now April so you'd be looking at having to stay away from Tracker until the start of January. The longer you leave it, the more of winter will pass before you can get back onto Tracker. How critical is that 4-7pm peak rate period going to be in the winter months for you? Of course the SVR would be an option if you needed to leave Agile but weren't able to get back onto Tracker immediately. Only you can decide, but if wanting to be on Tracker for the certainty over winter is important to you, move soon or leave it til earlier next year (assuming any of these options are still available then).

Telegraph_Sam

The obvious question to ask is: Within the "Switched to Agile" community are there any readers who have regretted switching, or has it been roses for everyone?

ecraig

I was initially skeptical to join agile initially, and coupled with my battery storage, it became an absolute joy of forecasting, tracking and consistently reaping the benefits over E7.
i then moved to IOG, and it’s a bit trickier to track the price differences using Octopus Compare because IOG sometimes creates additional off peak price points and Octopus Compare doesn’t calculate for that.
but, long story short, I miss the micromanagement and work that comes with Agile.
Super cheap (<6p) or plunge gives me the most satisfaction, but plunge is few and far between.

for the next few months I will carefully monitor my spend. Realistically I am already plotting my return to Agile - but I don’t know when, yet…

Telegraph_Sam

Interesting. IOG is new to me, must look it up.
I don't have battery storage nor an EV but can usually restrict heavy consumption between 4 and 7. Should I be equally enthusiastic?
If you weren't a micromanagement enthusiast would the same apply?

Telegraph_Sam

Are you saying that IOG has the edge over Oct Compare? If so could you send me the link. There are quite a number of IOG's that google lists, mainly about a company going bust ..

Slinky

Don't think IOG is aimed at you without an EV or batteries

https://octopus.energy/intelligent-go-faqs/

Netexporter

You need an EV to be eligible for IOG (and ordinary Go). Ideally you want a large enough home battery to be able run the house all day from the 7.5p overnight period. If you also have solar then just export all of it at 15p.

Telegraph_Sam

Tks one less thing to check out!  I didn't realize that IOG was code for Go that I'd looked at previously.

FIT/SEG is another topic just now.  ..Probably belongs to a different forum thread.