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New Octopus Go tariff and off peak options?

vitesse

Active Member
Apr 2, 2019
1,021
285
Hertfordshire (UK)
Have a look at their Tracker tariff for gas, it is the closest thing you can get to Agile for your gas consumption...
I'm quite relaxed about 2.2p for gas. We can't vary gas usage times as flexibly as electricity anyway. I might revisit this when the 2.2p deal expires in a year's time.
 

vitesse

Active Member
Apr 2, 2019
1,021
285
Hertfordshire (UK)
Yesterday wasn't that generous with the negative pricing but 38kWh of juice for 47p isn't to be sniffed at :D
 

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Mark_T

Active Member
Nov 1, 2017
1,278
1,117
UK
I'm quite relaxed about 2.2p for gas. We can't vary gas usage times as flexibly as electricity anyway. I might revisit this when the 2.2p deal expires in a year's time.

Over the summer months when gas usage is low there are only very small savings to be made, but it is worth taking another look when winter arrives as both the standing charge and the kWh rate are likely to be a lot lower than your current deal.

No rush right now though for sure.
 

vitesse

Active Member
Apr 2, 2019
1,021
285
Hertfordshire (UK)
Over the summer months when gas usage is low there are only very small savings to be made, but it is worth taking another look when winter arrives as both the standing charge and the kWh rate are likely to be a lot lower than your current deal.

No rush right now though for sure.

Do you have any peak time examples from last winter? The tariff I'm now on is 2.2p/k/wh and 17.9p/day standing charge. 90% of our winter gas usage is 5-7AM and 5-10PM and we set the thermostat reasonably low (19C). The projection with the 2.2p tariff is about £400 for the year.
 

Mark_T

Active Member
Nov 1, 2017
1,278
1,117
UK
Do you have any peak time examples from last winter? The tariff I'm now on is 2.2p/k/wh and 17.9p/day standing charge. 90% of our winter gas usage is 5-7AM and 5-10PM and we set the thermostat reasonably low (19C). The projection with the 2.2p tariff is about £400 for the year.

The Tracker Tariff is a variable daily rate so there are no peak times to worry about like on Agile.

Also gas prices don't have a particularly clear seasonal trend, so they are not so inclined to spike in the winter period with any regularity.

Looking at some data for last October through to January for example and comparing it to the best of the 'Exclusive' Octopus tariffs available at the time, the Tracker tended to be around 0.5p below the Exclusive tariff per kWh and at no point was the Tracker more expensive than Exclusive tariffs available at the time. So for example, for the period from June to January, the Exclusive Octopus June Tariff was the best available and that had a gas price of 3.17p/kWh in the Southern region (H), the highest the tracker got was 2.84p/kWh on one day in November, the majority of the time it was lower at around 2.4p/kWh. The region is important for comparison as the prices are noticeably different, right now for example, Region A (Eastern) is 2.20p/kWh on the current 'Exclusive' tariff, while region H is currently 2.53p/kWh... Where you live still makes a big difference in energy prices sadly.

The unknown of course is if a fix at 2.2p while the tracker is currently around 1.65p (both Region A prices) is going to be a better deal over the 12 months of the fix. Right now you would be losing money, but very little, due to low consumption, that is why I suggest checking again around the time you turn the heating on again and see how much the gap is at that point...
 
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vitesse

Active Member
Apr 2, 2019
1,021
285
Hertfordshire (UK)
The Tracker Tariff is a variable daily rate so there are no peak times to worry about like on Agile.

Also gas prices don't have a particularly clear seasonal trend, so they are not so inclined to spike in the winter period with any regularity.

Looking at some data for last October through to January for example and comparing it to the best of the 'Exclusive' Octopus tariffs available at the time, the Tracker tended to be around 0.5p below the Exclusive tariff per kWh and at no point was the Tracker more expensive than Exclusive tariffs available at the time. So for example, for the period from June to January, the Exclusive Octopus June Tariff was the best available and that had a gas price of 3.17p/kWh in the Southern region (H), the highest the tracker got was 2.84p/kWh on one day in November, the majority of the time it was lower at around 2.4p/kWh. The region is important for comparison as the prices are noticeably different, right now for example, Region A (Eastern) is 2.20p/kWh on the current 'Exclusive' tariff, while region H is currently 2.53p/kWh... Where you live still makes a big difference in energy prices sadly.

The unknown of course is if a fix at 2.2p while the tracker is currently around 1.65p (both Region A prices) is going to be a better deal over the 12 months of the fix. Right now you would be losing money, but very little, due to low consumption, that is why I suggest checking again around the time you turn the heating on again and see how much the gap is at that point...

The heating has been on the last couple of days :D
 

Mark_T

Active Member
Nov 1, 2017
1,278
1,117
UK
The heating has been on the last couple of days :D

Even this morning after several days of colder weather our house temperature has only dropped to 18.5C.

No heating at all, just the normal household activities, really happy with that.
 

noobey

Member
Apr 1, 2016
35
5
London, UK
Hi all,
We're a two EV household (MS and MX).
I've just had 6.5kwp solar installed, with 2 Powerwalls and 2 Zappi's.

I'm already on Agile for incoming, but am really not sure if I should be.
I wanted to hear your experience (and tips) for those that decided to move to Go or stay on Agile, that are in a similar situation to mine.
Would you have done it differently?

Also, are you using and enjoying any of the charge scheduling apps? (ev.energy, ohme, nureauwocket)
I haven't been able to have any of them work over an extended period without issues, and I'm curious if there's an easy way to charge m PW2s tracking the Agile prices.

Thanks in advance for any help!
 

ACarneiro

Active Member
Jun 20, 2019
1,223
966
Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK
There is currently no automated way for the Powerwalls to track Agile

If you have a single phase 100A supply, you may run into the same problem as me: two EVs and the PWs charging at the same time for load shifting during off peak hours may well be slightly above the 100A supply limit, so that may somewhat limit your benefit of going down the Octopus Go route.
Won’t be a problem in the summer, though.
 

Dilly

Active Member
Feb 24, 2020
1,344
994
Norfolk
@noobey
My setup is pretty similar to yours. I don’t quite hit the max amps as the Outlander can only charge at 3.6Kw. Charging everything and running the house load during off peak would max at around 21Kwh (circa 90-95amps).
That said, the 2 PW’s rarely charge from the grid at full whack..
I don’t use any other apps and am happy to stick with Octopus Go. To me, Agile is hard work to keep up with!
I can well understand that balancing charging for PW’s, MS & MX and staying under 100amps is tricky. Your only salvation may be setting a grid limit in the master Zappi. That should keep you safe.
 

noobey

Member
Apr 1, 2016
35
5
London, UK
Thanks for the responses gents!
To balance the load, I don't intend on charging both cars at once.
I'm hoping this works!

Any tips on which settings I should have my PW2's and Zappi's on?
 

Dilly

Active Member
Feb 24, 2020
1,344
994
Norfolk
Thanks for the responses gents!
To balance the load, I don't intend on charging both cars at once.
I'm hoping this works!

Any tips on which settings I should have my PW2's and Zappi's on?
For PW’s, this time of year is tricky. Last week or so has been wet and dull in Norfolk PV gen has been between 3 and 7Kwh per day so I’ve been on cost saving. Sunny day forecast for today so switched back to self-powered last night.
There are some occasions where if days are short but bright, balanced will serve well and then back to cost saving for much of the winter.
Word of caution. When you change settings, the PW’s instantly draw from the grid for a brief period. This is normal. So make the change when your draw is low!

for the Zappi’s, I confess I’m on a learning curve with the Tesla. I had an Ioniq up until March. 4 hours would fully charge it but the Tesla battery is almost 3 times the capacity. To be fair, it’s not getting a lot of use and doesn’t drop below 190 miles very often. So just a top up mostly.

In the Ioniq, I was able to set separate charge and departure periods so that was straightforward. Leave the Zappi on fast and use the car timers. Tesla unfortunately rolls it all into one.
My best guess is to to turn on precondition in the Zappi and run a timed boost. The car will stop the charge if full or the Zappi will time out after 4 hours. If needed run climate from the app when you get up. I think the Precondition setting in the Zappi allows the car to ‘charge’ but limits draw to the power needed for HVAC if the battery is full.
I’ll be giving this a try on Friday.
 

CMc1

supercharge.info editor
Aug 2, 2019
1,337
1,163
North, UK
For PW’s, this time of year is tricky. Last week or so has been wet and dull in Norfolk PV gen has been between 3 and 7Kwh per day so I’ve been on cost saving. Sunny day forecast for today so switched back to self-powered last night.
There are some occasions where if days are short but bright, balanced will serve well and then back to cost saving for much of the winter.
Word of caution. When you change settings, the PW’s instantly draw from the grid for a brief period. This is normal. So make the change when your draw is low!

for the Zappi’s, I confess I’m on a learning curve with the Tesla. I had an Ioniq up until March. 4 hours would fully charge it but the Tesla battery is almost 3 times the capacity. To be fair, it’s not getting a lot of use and doesn’t drop below 190 miles very often. So just a top up mostly.

In the Ioniq, I was able to set separate charge and departure periods so that was straightforward. Leave the Zappi on fast and use the car timers. Tesla unfortunately rolls it all into one.
My best guess is to to turn on precondition in the Zappi and run a timed boost. The car will stop the charge if full or the Zappi will time out after 4 hours. If needed run climate from the app when you get up. I think the Precondition setting in the Zappi allows the car to ‘charge’ but limits draw to the power needed for HVAC if the battery is full.
I’ll be giving this a try on Friday.
Zappi integration with Agile is in beta testing so hopefully these niggles will go. Can opt to charge X kWh every day at lowest rates
Only charge when below X p kWh
 

Dilly

Active Member
Feb 24, 2020
1,344
994
Norfolk
Zappi integration with Agile is in beta testing so hopefully these niggles will go. Can opt to charge X kWh every day at lowest rates
Only charge when below X p kWh
I’ve followed the integration progress. It will work with the Zappi’s but at the moment, the Powerwalls require a good deal of third party coding to manipulate the Tesla API successfully. I can’t be doing with that! If I got my grid usage down to zero, I’d be paying about £80 in standing charge. My bill last year was only £320 down from £600+ before we even had EV’s.
 

Battpower

Supporting Member
Oct 10, 2019
1,950
1,931
Uk
I’d be paying about £80 in standing charge.

Which can make for some very very expensive kwh's if you aren't importing much electricity.

I might have to look at Zappi again. It doesn't really fit with the rest of my system and it would cost me around £1000 - 1500 to change over I guess. Since I'm not driving much these days, that would take a long time to pay back, but if I'm eventually forced to switch to a smart meter, going for Agile and charging only at the lowest rate would make sense.
 

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