Octopus Go Faster

[im85288]

Apparently Octopus are beta trialing a new version of the famous Octopus Go tariff known for now as Octopus Go faster.

I do not have all the details but I think it breaks down to the following three options (based on the current 4 hours at 5p per kw)

1. change to 3 hours only at 4.5p
2. stick with the 4 hours at 5p
3. extend to 5 hours at 5.5p

There is also a rumour the actual time slots can be changed, i.e. does not have to be 12:30 to 04:30 but I presume they would still need to be off-peak.

Anyway let's do a poll to see which of the 3 options people prefer

 

[Jason71]

Its a very personal thing really. if you do the same mileage every day and can replenish in 3 hours then the 4.5 would be great.
I am away a lot so do a few big charges so the longer hours would suit me better even if the price is a little higher

 

[Jonslatt]

Yes. Just signed up for it 8.30pm to 1.30am. It is the time difference for me as now can persuade the SO to use washing machine, dishwasher and tumble drier after 8.30.

On the standard Octopus Go my monthly average per kWh was only 8.7p. Can’t wait to see what December’s bill is like.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

None of the above, as it takes close to 7 hours to charge up our ground floor slab overnight in cold weather, plus 7 hours isn't enough to charge the car after a long trip.

I think we'll have to stick with E7 for the foreseeable future, as we really need the full 7 hours at the off-peak rate. We can load-shift every high-demand appliance to the E7 period, except the dishwasher, and really need the floor heating to finish as late as possible during the overnight off-peak period, so that it isn't discharging to the house too early in the day.

 

[vitesse]

At present 00:30 to 04:30 works very well for me. Even if I get back after a long trip and low on juice I limit charging to 04:30 using TeslaFi scheduling. The following night the battery invariably returns to its 90% target level. The 4.5p tariff might work but it's already so cheap I wonder if it's even worthwhile. I also run the dishwasher and washing machine off-peak and 3 hours is a bit tight, especially with the washing machine which seems to have a mind of its own when it comes to cycle duration!

 

[vitesse]

None of the above, as it takes close to 7 hours to charge up our ground floor slab overnight in cold weather, plus 7 hours isn't enough to charge the car after a long trip.

I think we'll have to stick with E7 for the foreseeable future, as we really need the full 7 hours at the off-peak rate. We can load-shift every high-demand appliance to the E7 period, except the dishwasher, and really need the floor heating to finish as late as possible during the overnight off-peak period, so that it isn't discharging to the house too early in the day.

What's your E7 tariff?

From others I've seen I could charge for 7 hours and bottom line the extra 3 beyond Go's 4 hours wouldn't amount to much difference to an E7 tariff. I think I worked it out to an average 7.7p/kWh for charging 3 hours past the end of the Go cheap rate for me.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

What's your E7 tariff?

From others I've seen I could charge for 7 hours and bottom line the extra 3 beyond Go's 4 hours wouldn't amount to much difference to an E7 tariff. I think I worked it out to an average 7.7p/kWh for charging 3 hours past the end of the Go cheap rate for me.

8.148p/kWh at the moment. The limiting factor is primarily the time taken to charge the floor slab overnight. This can take a bit over 7 hours in very cold weather, and ideally we need it to charge as late in the off-peak period as possible.

I also like to keep the car charged, ready to make a long trip at short notice (ageing relatives that may need an urgent visit).

All a matter of fitting the best tariff to our requirements, really, and for now, at least, E7 seems to be a reasonably good fit. Ideally I'd like the off-peak period to be an hour longer, and extend to around 08:00, but wholesale electricity prices start to increase then, so I think it's not that likely to happen; if anything it's the late evening times that are most likely to be cheaper in future.

 

[Jason71]

Actually I'd take any of the above right now. I'm on Octopus standard and can't get a SMETS2 fitted until January , which probably won't work anyway where I live. sigh

 

[Yev000]

floor slab

Did you DIY wireless charging for your car? I'm a bit confused by what you mean with "floor slab"

 

[im85288]

Actually I'd take any of the above right now. I'm on Octopus standard and can't get a SMETS2 fitted until January , which probably won't work anyway where I live. sigh

I personally had loads of issues getting the smart meter fitted, in the end the only way to get some traction was to contact the chief executive: [email protected] where after that everything was handled well. They fitted a SMETS1 but it's still smart and allowed me to go onto the go tariff which was what I wanted.

Interesting seeing the number of votes for the 5 hours...I guess it does depend a lot on personal usage. I recently had a Tesla Powerwall fitted and find that the 4 hours off peak is enough to get it charged (along with the car) and the battery (with a little bit of solar) then sees me through the rest of the day (so not using any on peak tariff)

 

[vitesse]

It's getting a bit ridiculous at my end for panicking when I saw in the smart meter graph that this morning's charging lasted 45 minutes longer than the 4 hours - 50p more than I needed to have paid! Shocking!

 

[Rooster6655]

5.5p because worst case with the 3.5p tariff is that you have to pay the full whack price if you need to charge extra

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Did you DIY wireless charging for your car? I'm a bit confused by what you mean with "floor slab"

Under floor heating, using the house foundations as a storage heater, like a pavement or beach sand under the blazing sun radiates heat back after the sun goes down

 

[Durzel]

I'd be interested to shift my time period to just before I set off for work, as it would mean I could precondition the battery on off-peak power too. I suspect that won't be possible though.

 

[Glan gluaisne]

Did you DIY wireless charging for your car? I'm a bit confused by what you mean with "floor slab"

No, it's as @NorfolkMustard says here:

Under floor heating, using the house foundations as a storage heater, like a pavement or beach sand under the blazing sun radiates heat back after the sun goes down

Our foundation slab is a 100mm thick lump of reinforced concrete, with underfloor heating pipes running through it, sat on 300mm of expanded polystyrene insulation. It works as a massive storage heater, that we charge up overnight, using an air source heat pump run on off-peak electricity. That way we get to heat the house for less than the cost of mains gas (costs us ~2.5p/kWh of heat), even though we're out in the countryside, and so off the gas grid.

The snag is that, like electric storage heaters, it takes time to charge up with heat, and it's not something that can be speeded up, so we need the long slab charge time in cold weather, pretty much forcing us to stick with E7.

 

[Jason71]

No, it's as @NorfolkMustard says here:



Our foundation slab is a 100mm thick lump of reinforced concrete, with underfloor heating pipes running through it, sat on 300mm of expanded polystyrene insulation. It works as a massive storage heater, that we charge up overnight, using an air source heat pump run on off-peak electricity. That way we get to heat the house for less than the cost of mains gas (costs us ~2.5p/kWh of heat), even though we're out in the countryside, and so off the gas grid.

The snag is that, like electric storage heaters, it takes time to charge up with heat, and it's not something that can be speeded up, so we need the long slab charge time in cold weather, pretty much forcing us to stick with E7.

I imagine the other snag is that it wasn't cheap to install in the first place!

 

[Glan gluaisne]

I imagine the other snag is that it wasn't cheap to install in the first place!

Cost about £400 to fit the UFH pipes to the steel reinforcement mesh that was going to be in the slab anyway, so not very costly. The ASHP cost £1,700, delivered, and another £300 or so to install and commission, so all told the heating system cost around £2,400, which doesn't seem too bad.

It was a new self-build, though, so pretty much a blank sheet of paper when it came to design.

 

[Mr Miserable]

It was a new self-build, though, so pretty much a blank sheet of paper when it came to design.

I would get a new designer if that's all he came up with.

 

[benclear]

None of the above, as it takes close to 7 hours to charge up our ground floor slab overnight in cold weather, plus 7 hours isn't enough to charge the car after a long trip.

I think we'll have to stick with E7 for the foreseeable future, as we really need the full 7 hours at the off-peak rate. We can load-shift every high-demand appliance to the E7 period, except the dishwasher, and really need the floor heating to finish as late as possible during the overnight off-peak period, so that it isn't discharging to the house too early in the day.

could you share more information on your heating system Jeremy? I build sustainable homes and I’ve not come across an electric system yet that I can make work effectively and responsively? Plenty of good wet systems including air source but no good electric ones yet. This has to be the future, good electric heating systems from clean energy. Building regs will kill off gas for new homes soon enough.

 

[benclear]

could you share more information on your heating system Jeremy? I build sustainable homes and I’ve not come across an electric system yet that I can make work effectively and responsively? Plenty of good wet systems including air source but no good electric ones yet. This has to be the future, good electric heating systems from clean energy. Building regs will kill off gas for new homes soon enough.

Ignore me, I type too slowly!!!