Octopus Eco 7

propnut

I have battery storage and now that winter is here my solar panels are somewhat lacklustre. As such I was considering moving to Octopus Eco 7 to take advantage of the nighttime rates to charge the batteries. I am currently on their Flexible Tariff and it has taken them almost 8 months to get my billing with my export correct so am a bit concerned that they may screw it up again. I was just wondering if anyone else has made the change and if so what you experience has been 

QrizB

Octopus's E7 tariffs are a generally a bit lacklustre. They often have a smaller spread (a lower peak rate and a higher off-peak rate) than E7 tariffs from their competitors.

However, if you don't want to switch away, E7 is a simple way with no other qualifying factors to get a cheaper off-peak rate and continue to make use of your battery.

If you qualify for an EV tariff, that's likely to be a better option.

propnut

QrizB said:

Octopus's E7 tariffs are a generally a bit lacklustre. They often have a smaller spread (a lower peak rate and a higher off-peak rate) than E7 tariffs from their competitors.

However, if you don't want to switch away, E7 is a simple way with no other qualifying factors to get a cheaper off-peak rate and continue to make use of your battery.

If you qualify for an EV tariff, that's likely to be a better option.

Thanks, no I don't have an EV so don't qualify for those tariffs. So, Eco 7 is really my only option. I know they have things like Agile tariffs but I don't have the time to be tracking pricing peaks and troughs through the day. I just want a simple period where I can charge the batteries and be done with it.

QrizB

propnut said:

I just want a simple period where I can charge the batteries and be done with it.

In which case, E7 should be right up your street.

That's exactly why I chose Go!

ecraig

I am on Octopus E7 and find it very favourable. I charge the battery and feed the house from the grid from 12.30 till 7.30 at 15p kWh and export at the flat 15p rate. The alternative gamble would be Agile.
Octopus Compare is a great app to compare the prices of Agile vs Flux, and then daily I can compare what it would have cost me on those tariffs vs E7 as the Octopus app can show me yesterdays spend. So far it’s proven for me that E7 is far cheaper, but your usage profile may prove a different story…

Alnat1

@ecraig maybe if you were on the Agile tariff you would have filled you battery at different times, using the cheapest slots? The compare app will only show what Agile would have cost if you kept to the 12.30-7.30 schedule you set for E7.

My average kWh rate for import on Agile this last week is 11.06p and 10.56p over the month. I do have to faff and reset the times each day though so I guess for you, paying slightly more for less hassle might be worth it.

ecraig

Good point, something I have previously modelled using excel by looking at historical agile pricing and assuming an import of 1.5kWh every 30 mins import during the lowest possible prices. There is definitely some merit when cheaper, or better still, plunge prices are more common. 
For our usage profile, and considering our powerful electric shower that my wife tends to use during the most expensive periods of the day, I reckon a move to Agile is on the cards from Jan to March, before I move back to Agile if that lucrative tariff is still available.

70sbudgie

If you want a fixed cheap period, have a look at Flux. For me, the bit that is keeping me on it (so far) is that the day rate is comparable to non tou tariffs, but with 3 hours of cheaper import. Although I can't completely avoid the 3 peak hours (I have children that need feeding during that time), I have found it easy enough to minimise use during that time. Particularly because the day rate isn't too bad, I use timers to start things (like the washing machine / tumble drier) at 7pm. 

That said, I am currently looking and calculating whether Flux is still the cheapest tariff fof us.