Octopus Energy Tracker and Agile Tariffs

sooty99_2

Hi
Has any got experience of using these tariffs and what changes have been made when using home devices e.g. when to run washing machine, when to use dish washer, when to use tumble dryer etc. Has anyone resorted to using domestic machine delay function so that the machine runs overnight? 

Alnat1

There a very long threads on each of these tariffs.

There are most definitely plenty of us who make the most of using Agile when it is cheapest.

Tracker rate changes once per day so doesn't need you to alter timings unless you know it's going to be windy tomorrow, so you can put off doing the washing until then as the rate will probably be cheaper.

Spoonie_Turtle

For further ahead planning (because actual prices for both tariffs are only released the day before) this site can be a good indicator - roughly speaking, the closer supply is to meeting demand, the lower prices will be.
https://emoncms.org/ukgrid

Of course other factors including unexpected world events (or even just the expectation of world events) can affect the price so don't fully rely on it, but if all other external factors stay stable then it's usually useful.

ecraig

Agile is a phenomenal tariff and best to exploit when prices are 0p or negative prices.
its best to review grid utilisation forecasts as you’ve been recommended on the previous comment, and save allllllll your washing machine, tumble drying, dishwashing, air con, car charging and everything for when prices are extremely low.
the rewards are high at present, but it requires planning and you might end up paying higher prices than the standard variable rate where the prices change every 30 mins in case of energy or political turbulence.

you spread and decrease your risk with tracker, but the general consensus is that the unit rate is more than that on agile.

Jyana

sooty99_2 said:

Hi
Has any got experience of using these tariffs and what changes have been made when using home devices e.g. when to run washing machine, when to use dish washer, when to use tumble dryer etc. Has anyone resorted to using domestic machine delay function so that the machine runs overnight? 

I moved to Octopus on Thursday and requested to be moved to Agile on that day but wasn't expecting for that to happen for a couple of weeks as that is the time scale they give you. However, I received an email the very next afternoon telling me that they had already made the change and I just had to accept the T&Cs. The graphs below show a snapshot of why I am very much in favour of Agile.



On the Thursday, the day I transferred my energy to Octopus, I used less electricity than on Friday, near enough half a kWh's worth. Yet because I was on the Flexable tariff that day I'm being charged around twice as much for it compared to the next day, once they moved me over to Agile.

I had the boiler serviced Friday morning and a friend around midday so the kettle was boiled a few times and her children had the TV/games on, which is where the extra comes in and is all before I knew I was on the new tariff. They didn't tell me about the change until 4.30pm or so, when peak charging had already started and I didn't do anything else different for the rest of Friday. And it still ended up costing me so much less, even less than my BG fix from 3 years ago!

I am a pretty low user though and can gernerally avoid peak use time with ease, which you will need to able to do to make Agile work for you. From the days I have seen on the tariff so far it looks like the early afternoon times can get some really good price levels too, tomorrow afternoon (from 12.30 to 16.00) is going down to below what the prices will be overnight, with a low of 0.88p. I think if you have a family or feel the need to complete housework on a schedule you may find it more difficult to work round the dips in pricing, but if you aren't too bothered by, say, leaving the washing for a couple of days while you wait for a good window, then it's the perfect choice at present.

bob2302

Overnight isn't always the cheapest, often it's the middle of the day.

I use Eco 40-60 on my washing machine, which only uses about 0.2 units. IMO it's not worth moving it to the middle of the night.

Chrysalis

My first comment is unless you not sharing a building with a neighbour (so you are fully deatched bungalow), then regardless of savings I wouldnt run a washing machine at night.  As a victim of the noise, been woken up at midnight by a noisy spin isnt fun.

In terms of cost, Tracker has the same unit cost for the entire day, its not a time of use tariff.  The cost changes daily but then that cost applies for the full 24 hour period.

For agile. the cost changes every 30 minutes and due to the new price formula on tracker, on most days it will be cheaper than tracker rates for 21 hours a day.

This is the cost for today on Agile. No need to go as extreme as doing it overnight.  Most mornings will usually still be very cheap as well as early afternoon.

TheBanker

Chrysalis said:

My first comment is unless you not sharing a building with a neighbour (so you are fully deatched bungalow), then regardless of savings I wouldnt run a washing machine at night.  As a victim of the noise, been woken up at midnight by a noisy spin isnt fun.

In terms of cost, Tracker has the same unit cost for the entire day, its not a time of use tariff.  The cost changes daily but then that cost applies for the full 24 hour period.

For agile. the cost changes every 30 minutes and due to the new price formula on tracker, on most days it will be cheaper than tracker rates for 21 hours a day.

This is the cost for today on Agile. No need to go as extreme as doing it overnight.  Most mornings will usually still be very cheap as well as early afternoon.

When I set my washer to run overnight I turn the spin cycle off. I rspin the clothes in the morning when I wake up. I also set the washer to run as close to waking up time as possible so the clothes aren't sat in it damp for too long.

Alnat1

TheBanker said:

Chrysalis said:

My first comment is unless you not sharing a building with a neighbour (so you are fully deatched bungalow), then regardless of savings I wouldnt run a washing machine at night.  As a victim of the noise, been woken up at midnight by a noisy spin isnt fun.

In terms of cost, Tracker has the same unit cost for the entire day, its not a time of use tariff.  The cost changes daily but then that cost applies for the full 24 hour period.

For agile. the cost changes every 30 minutes and due to the new price formula on tracker, on most days it will be cheaper than tracker rates for 21 hours a day.

This is the cost for today on Agile. No need to go as extreme as doing it overnight.  Most mornings will usually still be very cheap as well as early afternoon.

When I set my washer to run overnight I turn the spin cycle off. I rspin the clothes in the morning when I wake up. I also set the washer to run as close to waking up time as possible so the clothes aren't sat in it damp for too long.

What would you do if Agile was cheapest 00.30-01.30 and quite high from 4.30? Would you still run the washer an hour before you get up and pay the more expensive rate?