Hi All. I'm looking for some advice on Energy Tariffs.
We're currently with Octpus outgoing 12M tariff, which has been great for the summer months.
But as we get into Autumn / Winter I'd like a cheaper tariff to charge the battery overnight.
All the Octopus Tariffs that have cheaper prices all require you to have an electric car (which we dont)
Any thoughts on suitable tariffs would certainly be very welcome
Thanks
David
phone them and ask to talk to the go team and not the usual customer team and explain your situation and your desire to " LOAD SHIFT"
I have never understood what having an EV has got to do with helping relieve the daytime grid as its not helping load shift anything except helping weathy people who can afford expensive cars run arround with a smug look on theire face. Batterys without wheels should be enough. solar and heat pumps come into the equation along with anything that takes it of daytime peak usage. 😃
Thanks John.
I'll give it a go and see where I get too. You are right, there is no difference in charging a battery, irrespective of where the battery is!
Cheers
David
Let us all know how you get on. There's a few of us would probably like to know how to get onto Octopus EV tariffs at some time.
Recently switiched to Octopus. Call them, 4hrs overnight at approx 7.25p or 5hrs at 8p. The switch was done in justy a day or two. Very simple and great service.
Hi RHR Please could you let me know how recently you were able to get a "Go" tariff for just charging batteries rather than a car. I am in the same position in that my batteries and solar panels were installed last week and appear to be working well but to be truly efficient I need a suitable night tariff. I have contacted Octopus but so far have not had a reply. Obviously they will be inundated with requests re new tariffs etc but it would be nice to know if they will offer a suitable time of use tariff for those of us without an Ev. With the advice being issued to try to use power outside of peak periods I would have thought those of us with batteries would fit that requirement perfectly if the tariffs are available.
Back in July this year I switched to Octopus from British Gas, on a Flexible E7 tariff which does not require an EV.
This tariff has just changed on 1/10/2022 to approx 15p/kWh night and 41 p/kWh day (inc VAT) in the East Midlands. There is some variation of prices across the regions but not huge.
Before 1/10/22 it was 20.7p night and 30p day, so it looks like they are encouraging more off-peak usage.
national grid are launching something to get people off peak usage. It may be worth waiting a couple of weeks
Octopus standard economy 7 tariff, which is now 14.9p/unit (actually reduced from 20.7p as of 1st Oct) overnight for 7 hours and is not tied to car charging.
I didn't think Octopus go was tied to car charging either (there is a 4hr or 5hr cheap rate) but the 6 hour cheap rate is definitely linked to car charging.
A lot depends on how much you use, maybe 4 or 5 hr charge is sufficient to last all day? If not economy 7 is best other option.
I contacted octopus and asked if there was any limitation on switching tariffs, to suit the time of year when export is much higher and they said no limit to how many times you can switch (unless you're on fixed contract). So it could be worthwhile using one tariff over winter and another for summer months.
Export tariff is 15p/unit, but you cant have that with octopus go, but you can on standard economy 7.
cluelesscris
I will do!
Of you are on Octopus, then when you switch you have to go on a standard variable rate for 30 days. You cannot switch seamlessly from, say, Go to Intelligent.
I'm in the same position (solar & battery, but no EV). I'm with Octopus and I spoke to them about getting on the Go tariff despite not having an EV.
Their customer services said "just sign up for it online, there is no way for us can check if you actually have an EV".
So I've just done that today. Website says to wait 14 days. I'll let you know how I get on.
Update: Turns out I didn't have to wait 14 days.
Octopus have switched me to Go same day.
Wasn't expecting that - but great result.
Yes I'm on Go (I do have an EV though) but they didn't ask about the car or anything really, and straight onto Go the same day. 🙂
ahmed_mulla
Great advise, I'll give it a go! (Excuse the pun)
That makes 2 of us!
Would I be right in assuming you need a smart meter to be on any of these tarrifs?
yes, at least the Go one as i am on.
EuanOatway
You need a 2nd generation smart meter.
I think the main difference between Gen 1 and Gen 2 is that Gen 2 sends meter readings to your energy provider every 30 minutes.
I believe gen1 meters can be upgraded to work with octopus
ahmed_mulla SMETS2 meters all report their data to the Data Communications Company (DCC). SMETS1 meters reported their data to whoever installed them had a contract with, and that caused a mess; hence SMETS2. The good news is that some SMETS1 meters are being brought within the DCC domain as time goes on although some may never be able to be adopted.
Both SMETS 1 and 2 have the capability of reporting every 30 minutes and those that are within the DCC domain do report every 30 minutes. It's your choice whether to allow your energy supplier to receive 30 minute readings, or not. If you want a time of use tariff, then evidently you need either a SMETS2 meter, or a SMETS1 meter that has been adopted into the DCC system. Then the energy supplier needs to connect to your data in the DCC database and confirm that they can receive 30 minute readings for your ToU tariff. Ironically, my SMETS1 meter displays import and export totals but cannot display Time of Use sub-totals. However, as the meter is sending 30 minute data to DCC, we are on a ToU tariff. To be able to find out our consumption, I have to download the same 30 minute data from DCC, but at least it means I can keep an eye on actual (ie billable) usage.
I dont have a smart meter so that's job #1. And it obviously prevents me charging my battery cheaply overnight in winter.
But it also presumably means any time I export, despite not getting paid for it, theres an advantage in terms of what's paid for import wise?
Yeah, that's the plan.
7.5p/kWh at night vs 42p/kWh in the day.
I think a battery would have been worth it even without solar panels, but there's zero VAT atm, so it was worth getting together.