🐙OCTOPUS ENERGY MOVE COMPLETE 🐙

[Mike140366]

Hi all. Just joined and love my new MG5. Had a Zappi installed and waiting for the Smart Meter to be installed (9 days) and can then use the Octopus 7.5p tariff. Persuading the missus to have those panels on the roof.....maybe.

 

[johnnyc]

Hi all. Just joined and love my new MG5. Had a Zappi installed and waiting for the Smart Meter to be installed (9 days) and can then use the Octopus 7.5p tariff. Persuading the missus to have those panels on the roof.....maybe.

Get those panels and a battery! And an eddi!!! Free electric, and free hot water

 

[Mike140366]

What's an eddy!!!
Driving past Abergavenny tomorrow Johnny, on the way to Brecon - 34th wedding anniversary - staying in an eco hut with wood fired hot tub... I noticed that there only a few charger points in Brecon. Obviously, everybody is too spaced on magic mushrooms to fit them

 

[Rockjaw]

What's an eddy!!!
Driving past Abergavenny tomorrow Johnny, on the way to Brecon - 34th wedding anniversary - staying in an eco hut with wood fired hot tub... I noticed that there only a few charger points in Brecon. Obviously, everybody is too spaced on magic mushrooms to fit them

it controls the solar to a immersion heater on a water tank.

 

[johnnyc]

Ah sounds brilliant! Hope you have a good time! Sounds like a cool place!

Basically an eddi will work with the zappi and a Harvi and put your solar where It needs to go, either to the house, batteries, car or to the hot water tank to heat up your hot water!! All for free!!

eddi solar power diverter | myenergi GB

eddi is the solar power diverter from myenergi that allows you to make the most of your self generated power!

myenergi.com

 

[smokie]

I turn the house lights off at the fuse box when we all leave for the day

Really? Did you work out how much this saves you? It isn't much I'm sure... I'd have guessed hardly worth it for the effort but I suppose every little helps.

 

[johnnyc]

Really? Did you work out how much this saves you? It isn't much I'm sure... I'd have guessed hardly worth it for the effort but I suppose every little helps.

Yeah it’s not a huge amount - but over the course of the year it’s probably just over £15, no real effort as the fuse box is at head height where we keep the coats and shoes - so it’s become part of the daily routine.

Doesn’t sound much, but as you say every little helps - this added onto smart plugs turning the home entertainment system (tv, Sonos speakers, blu ray player, Apple TV, surround system etc etc) off when we’re not here and from midnight until 7 the next evening, plus load shifting our washing and dishwashing (and putting on eco rather than the modes before!) and other bits and pieces all adds up to about £210 a year saving (compared to what we were paying on British Gas before octopus go).

 

[smokie]

Well I've got loads of home automation turning stuff completely off (rather than standby) and turning on and off lights etc depending on time of day and motion and who is home, and turning n and off phone chargers according to how full the battery is - really fairly neat - but all of those switches and sensors must be using a tiny amount of electricity. I'll do some measuring sometime to find out how much.

 

[Ozzie1989]

Funny that, I did the same thing last month.

I had a plug controlled by a remote to turn my TV off in the bedroom, the plug is not very accessible and we only use that TV rarely.

The 'remote switch' was drawing a constant 2.2w whereas the TV in standby was only drawing 1.3w. The TV stays on standby now.

For other things (e.g. timed items) I have traditional mechanical timers which draw 1.1w constantly (£3.14 per year) and some WiFi smart plugs that draw 3-4w constantly (£9 per year).

In other words, I check the items first now to ensure the extra gadget will really save me money.

 

[Ozzie1989]

In case anyone is interested I've just calculated that in order for me to save any money now by switching to octopus go I'd have to charge my MG5 for at least 6 hours per week (approx. 150 miles). This is based on the following:

Yearly consumption excluding charging: 6000kWh

Total cost including charging for 6 hours per week on current variable rate: £3376

Total cost including charging for 6 hours per week on new Octopus Go rate: £3351

(Last week I only needed 4 hours charge per week to save money. Should have switched then but hindsight is a wonderful thing!)

 

[johnnyc]

In case anyone is interested I've just calculated that in order for me to save any money now by switching to octopus go I'd have to charge my MG5 for at least 6 hours per week (approx. 150 miles). This is based on the following:

Yearly consumption excluding charging: 6000kWh

Total cost including charging for 6 hours per week on current variable rate: £3376

Total cost including charging for 6 hours per week on new Octopus Go rate: £3351

(Last week I only needed 4 hours charge per week to save money. Should have switched then but hindsight is a wonderful thing!)

This is true, only a minimal amount of charging required to bring Go to below tge variant, but…only partly true.

You can save money on the New Go compared to the variable if you do things a little differently in terms of load shifting too, ie without charging the car (if you charge the car that brings the savings down even more!) The graph below is our daily usage and daily cost on a day where we didn’t charge the car - but we did our washing and dishwashing during the cheaper hours at night and it still worked out cheaper on Go compared to the variable.

Admittedly we didn’t use the oven when we got home and were cooking with gas I think (so it may have worked out roughly even). But it does show a change in habits (we always but the dishwasher on overnight anyways) can have an effect on your bill pretty quickly.

Luckily we fixed on the old go a few weeks ago! BUT the new go rates really have me looking into battery storage, so can charge them on the cheap tariff - at least it gives me a year to save before my Go will go up!

 

[johnnyc]

Funny that, I did the same thing last month.

I had a plug controlled by a remote to turn my TV off in the bedroom, the plug is not very accessible and we only use that TV rarely.

The 'remote switch' was drawing a constant 2.2w whereas the TV in standby was only drawing 1.3w. The TV stays on standby now.

For other things (e.g. timed items) I have traditional mechanical timers which draw 1.1w constantly (£3.14 per year) and some WiFi smart plugs that draw 3-4w constantly (£9 per year).

In other words, I check the items first now to ensure the extra gadget will really save me money.

Yup! Totally agree here! you need to see if it’s worth automating stuff as it can be cheaper to just leave on standby!

I had to come up with a ridiculously complicated spreadsheet (it wasn’t that complicated, just a few moving parts), and I used a single wifi power switch that could measure the power draw on whatever was plugged into it over the course of a few days to measure anything. As you say, draws about 3-4w per plug so still costs money to use - so anything that has a standby power output less than this stays on standby now and I don’t use a smart plug.

As I said One of our main ‘draws’ was the tv entertainment unit as everything was on one surge protected extension plug - so TV, Sky Box, Blu-ray player, PS4, Apple TV, 2 x Sonos Speakers & Surround Sound Amp. Worked out that the power draw for that one plug in standby was about 25w and we tended to only use it for 4 hours a night - so at the moment I’ve got it switching off automatically at midnight, and switching on at 7pm (after small one has gone to sleep!) on weekdays, If we need it any other time of the day, I just ask Alexa to turn it on, and I know it will turn off at midnight if I don’t turn it off before (& I’ve got rid of sky so they doesn’t get plugged in anymore). This one change will save us on average 30w per hour, which equates to roughly £58 a year (ish).

The great thing I used the power draw monitoring plug though was for the dishwasher and washing machine - we tended to use a quick 1h wash or the normal cycle (both at 30 degrees), but after monitoring the power output - we can save about 300-400w per cycle by switching to the eco mode. Add that up over the course of the year and that’s 219kwh saved (we do a load of each per night and compared to our old British gas tariff (22p/kWh) that’s already a £48 saving). Also the shift in time saves us money too to the total of about £116 compared to our old British Gas rates. Or if I use my Go daily rates - £180 a year based on 1 washing machine and 1 dishwasher load a day. Add on the extra savings from switching to the eco mode and it’s at least an extra £40 saving (again more if I use the Go daily rate).

Told you my spreadsheet was complicated - lots of moving parts in it to compare load shifting and start switches etc!

I’ve only got a little bit of home automation, but I’ve set the house up to turn all non essential things off when we leave if I’ve forgotten to turn them off. Saves us a small fortune!

I could change my Wi-Fi smart plugs to traditional ones which use less power - but the added ease of Alexa to turn them on when they are off outweighs the tiny cost savings. I managed to get a multipack of switches so had a few spare so they go in the bedroom on the watch and phone chargers (as well as Sonos speakers) to only switch on during the cheap periods - so we plug everything in before bed, but it doesn’t start charging until the cheap rate) again not a huge saving, but about £7quid per side of the bed per year for only charging in this period and also being turned off during the day whilst we aren’t here.

As you can see, every little thing adds up but the main thing to do is switching to eco mode on the dishwasher and washing machine and using them overnight rather than during the day!

 

[smokie]

Did those who recently joined Octopus Go have to show proof of EV ownership?

 

[Gomev]

Did those who recently joined Octopus Go have to show proof of EV ownership?

No

 

[MikeW]

How long did the switch to Go take people. I switched to Octopus last week and they were immediately getting half hourly readings so I called to push the change through as they put you on the variable tariff until the Go goes live. I heard nothing for days and still on variable so emailed them a couple of days ago and still nothing. The price has jumped up now by over 4pkwh outside the go hours and the standing is up from 24p to 41p.

If they don't honour the quote when I signed up the cynic in me would wonder if they delayed putting me on Go until the price increase had happened?

I'm in the same boat. My move from BG to Octopus Flex should be on the 8th April and they quoted me the lower Go tariff prices so I hope they honour that. I asked if the Go tariff would rise after the 1st April price cap change and was told no!

Let me know how you get on.

Mike

 

[Ian MG5]

I'm in the same boat. My move from BG to Octopus Flex should be on the 8th April and they quoted me the lower Go tariff prices so I hope they honour that. I asked if the Go tariff would rise after the 1st April price cap change and was told no!


Let me know how you get on.

Mike

Hi
I joined octopus on 11/3/22
Gave meter readings on 23/3/22 like they asked
Joined octopus flex on 28/3/22
Was accepted on octopus go 1/4/22
But the prices they quoted me on the beginning of this thread are not the ones I’m on
I’m on the updated 1/4/22 prices
I complained about this and told octopus that 2 different octopus employees had quoted me tha lower price
So as a good will gesture they are giving me one months free energy
I was a bit peed off but all is good in the end

 

[Lovemyev]

I’m on the updated 1/4/22 prices
I complained about this and told octopus that 2 different octopus employees had quoted me tha lower price
So as a good will gesture they are giving me one months free energy
I was a bit peed off but all is good in the end

This is what I expected to be honest.
I requested a quote from Octopus towards the end of March.
The quote was good, and I was asked if I wanted to enrol.
When I asked if this quote would be affected by the very soon, up and coming price cap increase ?.
I was told Yes.
Unless you are on a older previously arranged FIXED price tariff, you are subject to the increase.
Maybe your previous fixed price tariff has expired ( like mine ) and your energy provider or has placed you on a STD variable tariff ?. Or your energy provider has gone bust and you have been handed over to another energy provider ?.
If so, you going to pay the increased price.
Eventually, unless the energy prices stabilise in the next 12 months, then everybody is going to get whacked !.
Unless you have solar and a storage battery of course !.
A 53% increase now, with another rise due Oct / November.
Current predictions are suggesting another 20 - 25% price increase then !.
I think the days of cheap energy are long gone unfortunately !.

 

[Gomev]

Long story but a short timescale.

I rang Octopus saying I wanted to go onto Go as I had an EV on the 8th of March.
They said I needed a SMETS2 install, which I knew, (I had been hitting the dammed 'request a smart meter' for months on the website) but unfortunately there were no slots available to book but they did give me the direct number of the 'meter installing department'. suggesting I call, which I promptly did.

Very helpful person I spoke to confirmed no slots available BUT new slots are released daily at 4pm so suggested I ring back after 4. Well events overtook me and I didn't call until 9am next day and bingo install arranged for 5th April, but also asked if I could be put on the cancellation list for an earlier appointment incase someone else cancelled.
A cancellation appointment was my only hope really of getting switched before the big price rise so I just kept my fingers and toes crossed.

Well blow me down I get an email from Octopus on 11th March saying my SMETS1 meters have been remotely updated so that they can connect with them and are now 'smart'. It also said I can now access Octopus Go in a couple of clicks.
So on the 14th March at 9am ish I rang them to say 'can I really woohoo' but the guy I spoke to said he could not see my readings yet and to drop him an email (personal octopus email provided) in 3 days to check. Then I received an email at 4pm same day saying everything was up and ready all I had to do was go on the app/online and click the button agreeing to the T&Cs within 28 days and I would be switched to Go.

My variable tariff at this point was cheaper than Go, but would be more expensive come 1st April so I held until 22nd March and I clicked 'SWITCH to GO' on my website account. Within minutes I received an email saying I was on GO effective the previous midnight.

This probably won't help anyone now but I consider myself lucky, for a change, that I managed to get the pre April rates fixed for a year, and the process would have taken just 6 days. (8th-14th if I'd switched at the first opportunity).

 

[EVsince2016]

I am on Go, 3 years now at 25p daily rate, 5p/kw night 4 hours or 13.8p/kw day rate, no gas. Seems to be on a roll over tariff but September could be painful when it ends if it doesn't roll over again. I will then have pain until Ripple kicks in late next year.

I have solar PV with FiT / export tariff. I generate 6500kw per year & use most of it.

Eddi does over 2000kw / year into the hot water tank. I also have solar thermal which adds the equivalent to 25% of my annual heating needs
Zappi does 51% of the energy into my car, 5p night rate the rest.

My base heating is wood pellets, 3 tonnes at usually £200-£250 per tonne. The Ukraine issue & climate change has put the rate up to £400 / tonne so I now use Eddi on night boost to prolong my pellet supplies until I can get affordable pellets again. (Dream on!)

RHI grants paid for my pellets system & solar thermal so >100% cost recovered plus quite a few years of pellet costs.

Eddi 67% paid off by savings
Zappi 27% paid off by savings
Solar 25% paid off by savings
Ripple - no return until late 2023.

We can all do this by using grants, looking long term etc.

I still think that next winter will be a huge financial shock though.

 

[Largerbaloo]

I'm in the same boat. My move from BG to Octopus Flex should be on the 8th April and they quoted me the lower Go tariff prices so I hope they honour that. I asked if the Go tariff would rise after the 1st April price cap change and was told no!

Let me know how you get on.

Mike

They sent me a message on the 5th stating there s no record on my account of a switch to the Go tariff but they included a link in the message for me to process the move. I used that link and within 5 minutes I was in the Go tariff but at the new higher rates.

I argued that sending me the link could of been done a week earlier when I called them, or a couple of days later when I emailed them! That way I would of been on the lower rate fixed for 12 months. A couple of hours later they messaged again and I had been put on the Dec 2021 rates as quoted when I signed up.

All well in the end but annoying I wasn't given the link in my numerous contacts before the price increase. The cynic in me felt they'd delayed it to get me on the higher rate but to be fair they honoured the rate quickly so they got it right in the end.