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Octopus Agile in winter

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qsk
qsk Posts: 456 Forumite
Ninth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
I have switched to Octopus recently and am interested in taking on Agile. But I read that Agile is not good in winter due to a lack of renewable energy. What's people's experience on this?

Also I am on Octopus Fixed in dual energy at the moment but Agile is electricity only. Can I switch my electricity to Agile while keeping my gas on fixed?

I tried OctopusCompare for the couple of weeks I switched over: Agile would have some good saving but the July 2024 Tracker is only ever slightly cheaper.

Thanks.
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Comments

  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 27,162 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 18 August 2024 at 10:48AM
    Agile is an electricity-only tariff, so you would need to choose something else for gas anyway. I don't think prices in winter are necessarily that bad, as there is more wind but less sun, so swings and roundabouts. Look at prices during winter 2023/24...
    Not really any appreciable increase from Aug 2023-Dec 2023, prices fell after that, but that was more to do with wholesale price trends than any seasonal variation. You can see prices in August last year were higher than August this year.
  • NedS
    NedS Posts: 4,486 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    I've only been on Agile since March this year, so cannot comment from personal experience, but there are plenty of websites showing historical pricing for your region, so it's easy to look back at what the last year looked like. For example (don't forget to change to your region):
    Also, I would say that if anything there is more renewable energy in winter, as wind contributes far more than solar, and it tends to be more windy in winter. Even in the heights of summer, solar only contributes around 10% of our generation:
    Apps like Octopus Compare can compare the different Octopus tariffs for your actual usage (taken from your smart meter) once you are an Octopus customer. Not sure if it can pull and compare historical data from before the time you were with Octopus though (others may know)??

  • NedS said:

    Also, I would say that if anything there is more renewable energy in winter, as wind contributes far more than solar, and it tends to be more windy in winter. 
    More renewable energy, perhaps, but usually a smaller proportion of renewable energy (although this is obviously getting less true over time).
  • NedS said:

    Also, I would say that if anything there is more renewable energy in winter, as wind contributes far more than solar, and it tends to be more windy in winter. 
    More renewable energy, perhaps, but usually a smaller proportion of renewable energy (although this is obviously getting less true over time).
  • Bendo
    Bendo Posts: 551 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    Agile was great last winter. Lots of wind tends to equal cheap electric.
  • spot1034
    spot1034 Posts: 928 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper
    It can be more windy, or it can be calm with little wind, not just in the British Isles but over the whole of northern Europe. This is the classic worst case scenario situation for power supplies where demand is at its maximum due to cold, often freezing, temperatures, little wind, weak sun at best and it'll often be blotted out by fog or low cloud. Didn't happen last winter which was dominated by mild weather coming in on a brisk wind from the west. Who knows what we have in store for the coming winter, but I'd suggest that just looking at the record of what happened last year shouldn't be seen as a guide.
  • Oscarmax
    Oscarmax Posts: 181 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper Photogenic
    Bendo said:
    Agile was great last winter. Lots of wind tends to equal cheap electric.
    We were also on Agile last year and made large savings including charging up the PHEV
    12 x 370 Watt J A panels Solis 3.6 invertor. Solax AC invertor and 5.8 triple battery
  • zxzxzx
    zxzxzx Posts: 94 Forumite
    10 Posts First Anniversary Photogenic Name Dropper
    If you have an EV or solar/batteries then Agile will probably work for you with little effort. If not then the benefit risk increases as you need to avoid higher rate times, and trust in the wind gods as above.
  • Have been on Agile since Feb 15th this year and saved £250 compared to the SVT Variable. Though we do some load shifting to cheaper slots we don’t have an EV, Solar or Battery. If the price rockets there’s no exit fee so the risk is minimal. 
  • MP1995
    MP1995 Posts: 495 Forumite
    100 Posts Name Dropper
    I think 2023/2024 autumn through winter was an El Niño year.

    I would plan on less wind this autumn/winter
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