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Be careful on tariffs

DrTom

Established Member
Joined
May 20, 2021
Messages
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Location
Darlington
Driving
MG ZS EV
Just looked on Smart Home Charge to possibly switch energy provider.

Octopus Go were the cheapest.

Was quoted 25p/day Standard Charge - 15.59p/kWh peak - 5p/kWh off peak.

At these rates it would have cost me £8.48 more than my current cost with Avro Energy at 16p/day Standard Charge - 13.35p/kWh - no off peak rate.

I know I don't use much for charging but.

Just a heads up to check the figures before being blinded by the off peak rate.
 
I wrote about this earlier today on another thread. We are currently with British Gas.

They charge 25p per day standing charge and 17p/kWh. They do have a rate for owners of electric vehicles but it is 6.25p/kWh off peak and a whopping 21p/kWh peak rate with a standing charge of 28p per day.

I will not be bothering with this tariff.
 
Just looked on Smart Home Charge to possibly switch energy provider.

Octopus Go were the cheapest.

Was quoted 25p/day Standard Charge - 15.59p/kWh peak - 5p/kWh off peak.

At these rates it would have cost me £8.48 more than my current cost with Avro Energy at 16p/day Standard Charge - 13.35p/kWh - no off peak rate.

I know I don't use much for charging but.

Just a heads up to check the figures before being blinded by the off peak rate.
I am also with Avro and my current gas rate is much better than any others.
I could possibly get a cheaper rate on electricity but the savings would be wiped out by the gas charges.
Given that I don't have a daily commute its just not worth changing.

(Found a local supermarket this week with a rapid on free vend, so will get a fill up in the morning while I have a coffee).
 
I am also with Avro and my current gas rate is much better than any others.
I could possibly get a cheaper rate on electricity but the savings would be wiped out by the gas charges.
Given that I don't have a daily commute its just not worth changing.

(Found a local supermarket this week with a rapid on free vend, so will get a fill up in the morning while I have a coffee).
That’s a good result. Nothing like that in my area - I keep looking.
 
Just looked on Smart Home Charge to possibly switch energy provider.

Octopus Go were the cheapest.

Was quoted 25p/day Standard Charge - 15.59p/kWh peak - 5p/kWh off peak.

At these rates it would have cost me £8.48 more than my current cost with Avro Energy at 16p/day Standard Charge - 13.35p/kWh - no off peak rate.

I know I don't use much for charging but.

Just a heads up to check the figures before being blinded by the off peak rate.
The day standing charge is often missed. How did you calculate the £8.48?
 
I am also with Avro and my current gas rate is much better than any others.
I could possibly get a cheaper rate on electricity but the savings would be wiped out by the gas charges.
Given that I don't have a daily commute its just not worth changing.

(Found a local supermarket this week with a rapid on free vend, so will get a fill up in the morning while I have a coffee).
Free rapid chargers in the Leeds area:
D0F03E9F-F0F4-43A6-8360-DC7F30060A6E.jpeg

Free rapid chargers in the Sheffield area ( the one in Sheffield is not working)
852388E0-9C75-40BD-9F07-9911B21A05DA.png
Spot the difference!
 
The day standing charge is often missed. How did you calculate the £8.48?
How I calculated the cost difference.

I obviously had the Avro Energy cost from my last months statement.

I then used the quoted costs for Octopus Go.

Off peak was calculated from the usage for the month on my PodPoint app.

Peak was calculated by subtracting charge usage from PodPoint app from total usage for the month from Avro Energy bill.

Add cost for 31 days of daily standard charge.

Subtract Avro cost from Octopus cost.
 
How I calculated the cost difference.

I obviously had the Avro Energy cost from my last months statement.

I then used the quoted costs for Octopus Go.

Off peak was calculated from the usage for the month on my PodPoint app.

Peak was calculated by subtracting charge usage from PodPoint app from total usage for the month from Avro Energy bill.

Add cost for 31 days of daily standard charge.

Subtract Avro cost from Octopus cost.
So the £8.48 was per month :)
 
Just looked on Smart Home Charge to possibly switch energy provider.

Octopus Go were the cheapest.

Was quoted 25p/day Standard Charge - 15.59p/kWh peak - 5p/kWh off peak.

At these rates it would have cost me £8.48 more than my current cost with Avro Energy at 16p/day Standard Charge - 13.35p/kWh - no off peak rate.

I know I don't use much for charging but.

Just a heads up to check the figures before being blinded by the off peak rate.
You obviously don't have a great demand for electricity, I'm on octopus go and even with home charging twice a week I'm saving over £50 a month on my previous supplier (utilita)
 
You obviously don't have a great demand for electricity, I'm on octopus go and even with home charging twice a week I'm saving over £50 a month on my previous supplier (utilita)
Utilita must have been really expensive per kWh.

Only our heating and hot water is gas - even the shower is electric.

Three people in the house and one is a teenager who spends about half an hour in the shower.

Basically the extra standard charge of 9p/day and the extra peak cost of 2.27p/kWh makes it not an option for us.

If you charge every day and have other things that you can schedule off peak, maybe it is good for you.

All I'm saying is do the maths - it may not beneficial for some.
 
Utilita must have been really expensive per kWh.

Only our heating and hot water is gas - even the shower is electric.

Three people in the house and one is a teenager who spends about half an hour in the shower.

Basically the extra standard charge of 9p/day and the extra peak cost of 2.27p/kWh makes it not an option for us.

If you charge every day and have other things that you can schedule off peak, maybe it is good for you.

All I'm saying is do the maths - it may not beneficial for some.
Same here I’m on a fixed standard EDF Go Electric tariff as the lower out of hours rate really doesn’t work for me so I got 14.21pence across the board.
 
I'm also better off on a single low rate and low SC. With Symbio I'm paying 12.6p/kWh and 10p/day SC. Totals just over £400 for 3000kWh usage.

On Octopus Go I'd be paying £75 per year more, even with 1000kWh off peak going into the car. I'd have to work really hard shifting other usage into the off peak window just to break even.
 
Just looked on Smart Home Charge to possibly switch energy provider.

Octopus Go were the cheapest.

Was quoted 25p/day Standard Charge - 15.59p/kWh peak - 5p/kWh off peak.

At these rates it would have cost me £8.48 more than my current cost with Avro Energy at 16p/day Standard Charge - 13.35p/kWh - no off peak rate.

I know I don't use much for charging but.

Just a heads up to check the figures before being blinded by the off peak rate.
Just done the same process, but in reverse - and Octopus Go saves me about £15 per month compared to your figures from Avro.

My Octopus rates are 5p/13.8p and we use 664kWh per month, split 241 off-peak and 423 peak. 155kWh was EV usage, according to my Ohme app.

Octopus cost is £78.16 inc s/c but Avro would be £93.60. So Octopus is a £335 saving for the year.

BUT…and it’s a big but…energy costs vary wildly according by region. Not sure where you live @DrTom but in my area (Wiltshire) Avro is quoting s/c of 17.85p/day and a whopping 18.165p/kWh. Thus Octopus actually saves me even more: £48 per month!
 
I'm also better off on a single low rate and low SC. With Symbio I'm paying 12.6p/kWh and 10p/day SC. Totals just over £400 for 3000kWh usage.

On Octopus Go I'd be paying £75 per year more, even with 1000kWh off peak going into the car. I'd have to work really hard shifting other usage into the off peak window just to break even.
I thought that these rates were really good. However, I have just been reading the customer reviews on Trust Pilot. One star reviews and lots of negative comments.
It also seems that they have not been behaving on Trust Pilot.

Have you had any issues @Petriix ?
 
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I thought that these rates were really good. However, I have just been reading the customer reviews on Trust Pilot. One star reviews and lots of negative comments.
It also seems that they have not been behaving on Trust Pilot.

Have you had any issues @Petriix ?
Octopus average 4.8 out of 5 on trust pilot. (Over 59,000 reviews)
I’m not saying they’re perfect but you’ll always get issues.
 
I've been with OctopusGo for about 18 months. Excellent Customer Service and the 5p for 4 hours and 14.8p for the other 20 hours is great. I have shifted Dish Washer, Washing Machine to the off peek ours and charge the car on timer too. During the Summer Months it makes sense to rest the Gas boiler and heat my hot water Heat Store for a couple of hours each night and not run the Gas boiler at all. My annual electricity usage is between 7,000 and 8,000 kWh / year even with the lockdowns this past year which has halved my miles driven in an EV.
I've also an ElectricJuice RFID which you can use to charge at a number of Rapid Chargers (some even with a discount) and have them charged back to your Octopus Energy account. Big plus with this is that it includes IONITY network and does this WITHOUT IONITY charging a £69 Pre-Authorisation fee each time you connect.
Octopus Energy also offer a variation on the Go tariff called OctopusGo-Fast which may be of interest as you can opt for different times of evening/night for your 3 hours at 4.5p or 5 hours at 5.5p. You can for instance ask for 3 hours starting at 8:30 in the evening if that suites your lifestyle better than the standard 00:30 - 04:30 at 5p. There is no guaranty you'll get that slot and there is only so much allocated by Octopus in each slot but it is worth talking to them if you want a customised plan.

If you want signup for any of these you'll get a £50 Credit into your account as will I if you use my recommendation link share.octopus.energy/zappy-guppy-175
 
Just done the same process, but in reverse - and Octopus Go saves me about £15 per month compared to your figures from Avro.

My Octopus rates are 5p/13.8p and we use 664kWh per month, split 241 off-peak and 423 peak. 155kWh was EV usage, according to my Ohme app.

Octopus cost is £78.16 inc s/c but Avro would be £93.60. So Octopus is a £335 saving for the year.

BUT…and it’s a big but…energy costs vary wildly according by region. Not sure where you live @DrTom but in my area (Wiltshire) Avro is quoting s/c of 17.85p/day and a whopping 18.165p/kWh. Thus Octopus actually saves me even more: £48 per month!
Have you factored in the £50 you get with a referral ?
 
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