Octopus smart meter installation

[Drew57]

Agile went live for me at midnight - slightly frustrating that electricity charges vary a little by region & the N West is among the highest. Octopus also told me (phone) that the in house display will not show correct elec cost data, only gas & also that the phone app is too basic to currently display Agile rates so only use the desktop version.

However I'm using the Octopus Watch app & by inputing my postcode it does show the current rate 1/2 hrly for my region. Should i enter the API key etc for my account or is this only used for a monthly/annual subscription? (which I don't need)

 

[Jeeves]

I never managed to get Octopus Watch to work properly for me. OctoWatchdog seems to work fine and retrieves the data from your Octopus account. Might be worth giving it a spin.

 

[NewbieT]

I use Octopus Watch without the subscription and I do login too. It shows you daily cost (accurate based on usage and HH rates) as well as current rates.

 

[Drew57]

I never managed to get Octopus Watch to work properly for me....

I use Octopus Watch without the subscription and I do login too. It shows you daily cost (accurate based on usage and HH rates) as well as current rates.

I just entered my API key, MPAN & Serial No directly into the Octopus watch app (using the linked IOS phone keyboard) & everything is there including my usage & daily elec costs plus accurate Agile rates for my postcode. Very neat & useful!

 

[Smog]

I emailed and I’m getting my install next week. I joined octopus in May. Looking at my local fees (South Yorkshire) I’ll be jumping into Go. We work shifts and my other half will be getting an Etron shortly.

As good as “agile” looks, it’s very up and down, and we can pretty much guarantee that 00:30-04:30 will be predominantly charging hours. We could use those as our sole Charing hours, based on monthly mileage, it would work. Looking at sub 20,000 miles per year between us.

Am I right in thinking it takes about 2 weeks to switch to a smart tariff once installed?

 

[Drew57]

Octopus quoted me 'up to two weeks' & it took 8 days from the meter install date.

 

[Masklin]

I was also told up to two weeks from install to switch to Go, in my case it took two days.

 

[SFBanks]

Mine were installed on the 20th and are still not working. Need another visit apparently as there is an adapter fault?!?

 

[Mark_T]

Out of curiosity has anyone seen an issue with the DCC Comms Hub on their meter (the box on top marked SKU1 Cellular) where the LED's stop flashing? Mine seems to be dead, there's no readings in my account since Thursday and the meter display seems to suggest it's in credit mode.

I've seen it reported a couple of times, don't worry about the 'credit mode' that is normal, you want it to be in credit mode, not pre-payment mode.

The comms hub can come back to life after a power reset, but that isn't something that can be done remotely, it needs an engineer visit, or if it happens by pure luck, a power cut.

I'd be inclined to call it in as a fault if you haven't already done that...

 

[dakaix]

I've seen it reported a couple of times, don't worry about the 'credit mode' that is normal, you want it to be in credit mode, not pre-payment mode.

The comms hub can come back to life after a power reset, but that isn't something that can be done remotely, it needs an engineer visit, or if it happens by pure luck, a power cut.

I'd be inclined to call it in as a fault if you haven't already done that...

Thanks for that. I've spoken to Octopus already and they're trying to diagnose it remotely (which I'm told can take 2 weeks), although I'm skeptical that it'll achieve anything. The latest comment I had from them was that "if the comms hub has fallen off the HAN that could be why the LEDs are off"; which isn't supported by any of the documentation I've read.

Like you I suspect it needs a visit from an engineer to power-cycle the hub, question is how long it takes until Octopus agree!

 

[Mark_T]

The delays can be frustrating, but Octopus as the supplier can't talk directly to the meter they have to go through their data partners and the DCC which seems to add to the delays.

 

[jaitch]

.......
The comms hub can come back to life after a power reset, but that isn't something that can be done remotely, it needs an engineer visit, or if it happens by pure luck, a power cut.
I'd be inclined to call it in as a fault if you haven't already done that...

My SMETS2 with Bulb stopped working back in November, about a month after installation. They claimed to have done a comms hub reset (remotely) which didn't work. Bulb have been absolutely useless. My meter appears to have correct data, in home display works, but Bulb can't get any readings. Meter shows full network signal reception bars. Annoying thing is I wanted to go Octopus Go last year after getting this SMETS2 fitted. So Bulbs incompetence has cost me several hundred pounds in kWh. I have even been charging in the night just for the practise of fbeing with Octopus.

Can't I just pull them main fuse?

James

 

[Mark_T]

My SMETS2 with Bulb stopped working back in November, about a month after installation. They claimed to have done a comms hub reset (remotely) which didn't work. Bulb have been absolutely useless. My meter appears to have correct data, in home display works, but Bulb can't get any readings. Meter shows full network signal reception bars. Annoying thing is I wanted to go Octopus Go last year after getting this SMETS2 fitted. So Bulbs incompetence has cost me several hundred pounds in kWh. I have even been charging in the night just for the practise of fbeing with Octopus.

Can't I just pull them main fuse?

James

I would go ahead with the switch to Octopus anyway (grab a referral code first of course )

If the IHD is working then your comms hub is not dead. If iut shows full bars then it is more likely that Bulb have a configuration problem with the DCC, so switch and see if Octopus can sort it out for you.

Unlikely that pulling the main fuse is going to be helpful for you as the comms hub isn't playing dead, and no, it is not 'legal' or safe for you to do that anyway as you'd have to break the seals and you'd be playing with the unswitched live side of your feed...

 

[mick4545]

Checked the display this morning and was informed that I had exceeded my monthly budget for gas and the cost was £99,999.

 

[Roy W.]

Checked the display this morning and was informed that I had exceeded my monthly budget for gas and the cost was £99,999.

I think I’d move house

 

[AlexMasters]

I think I’d move house

... Or leave the country!

My installation is happening this morning, at long last!.

 

[Envchem]

Octopus customer since February. Initial installation was scheduled for early April but as you can guess it was cancelled. After some emails I manage to get it scheduled for this Friday. Hope everything goes well. I am still torn between agile and go tariffs. Decisions, decisions...

 

[darkNstormy]

Octopus customer since February. Initial installation was scheduled for early April but as you can guess it was cancelled. After some emails I manage to get it scheduled for this Friday. Hope everything goes well. I am still torn between agile and go tariffs. Decisions, decisions...

I'm getting an install tomorrow, finally! I'm going with Agile initially - my reasoning is that it's easier to work out what the costs will be on Go as it's fixed pricing, whereas with Agile you probably need to actually use it to see the real world costs. I doubt there is going to be such a huge difference between the two that I find that being on Go would have been massively cheaper and kick myself for all eternity. I hardly ever use much leccy between 4pm and 7pm so my guess is that I'll save on my non-charging elec costs substantially. It will be far easier for me to retrospectively work out what my costs would be with Go than the other way round.

 

[Medved_77]

I'm getting an install tomorrow, finally! I'm going with Agile initially - my reasoning is that it's easier to work out what the costs will be on Go as it's fixed pricing, whereas with Agile you probably need to actually use it to see the real world costs. I doubt there is going to be such a huge difference between the two that I find that being on Go would have been massively cheaper and kick myself for all eternity. I hardly ever use much leccy between 4pm and 7pm so my guess is that I'll save on my non-charging elec costs substantially. It will be far easier for me to retrospectively work out what my costs would be with Go than the other way round.

Have a look at this. You should find that it helps with understanding your costs on agile vs go:

https://octopuscomparison.netlify.app/

 

[Adopado]

Have a look at this. You should find that it helps with understanding your costs on agile vs go:

Octopus Comparison

View attachment 571911

That doesn't really tell the story so well ... because it depends on charging the car! If charging the car on a day is way more than you use throughout the rest of the day (which it usually does) then the savings comparison looks very different. (It could be 28kWh at the Go cheap rate and only 6kWh spread over the rest of the day.)