Is Octopus Go worth it?

[Gomev]

Massive thank you to @johnnyc, @Ozzie1989 & @Gomev as your collective info has convinced me to switch. Here's the spreadsheet for me which shows a saving if I do nothing to my routine, but charge the car overnight. Dishwasher will just go on timer and washing machine overnight might take a bit more convincing...

View attachment 8016
BTW...Johnnyc you were right. I was looking at pre-april prices.

I like the way you tarted up the spreadsheet

 

[BillKerr]

Hi all,

I started mentioning this on another thread which is now closed, but I was hoping those in the know would be able to help?

I'm trying to understand if it really is worth changing to Octopus Go from my existing tariff...

Currently with Eon on the following rate (now that my fixed rate has just ended):
View attachment 7996

Octopus rate would be:
View attachment 7998

I'm thinking the overnight rate would be great @ 13p cheaper. So say usable battery capacity of 60kwh on the LR...A full charge would be something like £4.50 on the OG tariff and £12.30 on eon (saving £7.80 per charge).

I will probably only charge about 3.5 times a month (all shared out at the cheaper rate) so an overall saving of £27.30 per month by moving to OG.

My question is with the day rate being 15p more expensive per kWh, would I just use up my savings with being charged more in the day?

I know it's all dependent on how much I use in the day, but I think I use about 400 kWh per month. Am I therefore right in thinking that my daytime use of 400kwh per month would therefore be about £60 pm more expensive so would actually be £32.70 more expensive for me to move to Octopus.

Sorry, quite detailed, but hoping someone could check my logic here...

Hi Jonny. yes I concur with you - you either have to use a lot of electricity(mileage) EVERY day in your EV or you do not use standard daily use around the house at all - for it to pay .... I have looked at this carefully for my own use and with a Citroen Ami used from time to time from Sept 2022 it would not be economic to switch - instead I have bought an Eco Flow Delta Max Power Bank 2400 kwh. together with a 400 solar panel and I willl be able to get free electricity for the vehicle and free electricity aroungd the house... Hamshire Generators are offering a Bundle deal on generator and panel right now of £2899 inc. VAT and delvy. Other makes Bluetti and Jackery offered by this supplier with similar offering on the Bleuetti...

 

[johnnyc]

Hi Jonny. yes I concur with you - you either have to use a lot of electricity(mileage) EVERY day in your EV or you do not use standard daily use around the house at all - for it to pay .... I have looked at this carefully for my own use and with a Citroen Ami used from time to time from Sept 2022 it would not be economic to switch - instead I have bought an Eco Flow Delta Max Power Bank 2400 kwh. together with a 400 solar panel and I willl be able to get free electricity for the vehicle and free electricity aroungd the house... Hamshire Generators are offering a Bundle deal on generator and panel right now of £2899 inc. VAT and delvy. Other makes Bluetti and Jackery offered by this supplier with similar offering on the Bleuetti...

Unfortunately all this info is some what out of date now.

Basically - it makes total sense to transfer to Octopus Go, as at the moment the high day rates are cheaper - if you lock them in now for a year - than the SVR will be in October. So this basically means, even without charging at the cheap rate, nor load shifting / you’ll still be saving money compared to the SVR.

If you can load shift and charge in the cheap rate - that’s even more money to be saved. Basically - Octopus Go is THE BEST TARIFF ON THE MARKET at the moment! And if you sign up sooner rather than later - you’ll beat the price cap rise!

 

[N2STY]

Hi Jonny. yes I concur with you - you either have to use a lot of electricity(mileage) EVERY day in your EV or you do not use standard daily use around the house at all - for it to pay .... I have looked at this carefully for my own use and with a Citroen Ami used from time to time from Sept 2022 it would not be economic to switch - instead I have bought an Eco Flow Delta Max Power Bank 2400 kwh. together with a 400 solar panel and I willl be able to get free electricity for the vehicle and free electricity aroungd the house... Hamshire Generators are offering a Bundle deal on generator and panel right now of £2899 inc. VAT and delvy. Other makes Bluetti and Jackery offered by this supplier with similar offering on the Bleuetti...

Battery capacity 2016Wh not going to charge much on that?

Or am I looking at wrong thing?

 

[MichaelJHunt]

Base your car charging requirement on your annual mileage and divide by 3.5 to convert miles to kWh.

Eg. 10,000 miles year = 2,850 kWh

2850/52 is around 56kWh / week

You will get about 6kWh / hour into your car on a 32 Amp home charger. So on average you would need to charge for around 10 hours a week.

To keep it very simple, for a BEV, allow for 7kWh of charging per week for every 1000 miles annually driven.

This is a good rough value.

 

[Gomev]

Unfortunately all this info is some what out of date now.

Basically - it makes total sense to transfer to Octopus Go, as at the moment the high day rates are cheaper - if you lock them in now for a year - than the SVR will be in October. So this basically means, even without charging at the cheap rate, nor load shifting / you’ll still be saving money compared to the SVR.

If you can load shift and charge in the cheap rate - that’s even more money to be saved. Basically - Octopus Go is THE BEST TARIFF ON THE MARKET at the moment! And if you sign up sooner rather than later - you’ll beat the price cap rise!

Exactly. Don't compare prices now, compare now with October.
I'm a low mileage user but I switched to Go in March just before that price rise and with another 50-60% rise coming again in October it's a no brainer.
We haven't time shifted anything either, the only thing we could do is the washing machine and that's only used twice a week on eco.

 

[peterseddon]

As others have said you need to be able to "move" as much of your electricity usage to the off peak time as possible. The real benefits come if you have a home storage battery and solar generation. It's then possible to shift up to 90% of your usage to off peak.

 

[johnnyc]

As others have said you need to be able to "move" as much of your electricity usage to the off peak time as possible. The real benefits come if you have a home storage battery and solar generation. It's then possible to shift up to 90% of your usage to off peak.

Not any more - you'll benefit even if you don't move any of your electric to the cheap rate (AVE price per unit 40P).
You'll benefit EVEN more if you do move it to the cheap rate (Ave Price Per unit - 20p)
And you'll benefit the most if you have a storage battery (Ave Price Per Unit -8p).

This is all assuming that you'll be paying about 43-45p per unit come October, and then 50p come January (which are conservative guesses for the price cap rates).

 

[peterseddon]

Not any more - you'll benefit even if you don't move any of your electric to the cheap rate (AVE price per unit 40P).
You'll benefit EVEN more if you do move it to the cheap rate (Ave Price Per unit - 20p)
And you'll benefit the most if you have a storage battery (Ave Price Per Unit -8p).

This is all assuming that you'll be paying about 43-45p per unit come October, and then 50p come January (which are conservative guesses for the price cap rates).

At the moment though GO is only available to people who have or have on order, an EV. Some months back they added an extra clause (No 6) to there terms for getting on GO.

 

[johnnyc]

At the moment though GO is only available to people who have or have on order, an EV. Some months back they added an extra clause (No 6) to there terms for getting on GO.

Yup! This is true - but what I’m basically saying - is - if you have an EV and aren’t on this tariff because you think the day rate is too high compared to the SVR now. You need to look at what’s happening in October. As it’s an EV forum, I’m assuming most here are able to qualify

 

[Lovemyev]

I signed up for a fix that was offered with my current provider EDF about 4 moths ago.
The day rate at that time, was very expensive at almost 40p/ kwh but the night rate offered was really cheap at 4.5 p/kWh.
It was a huge gamble to go for this offer at the time, as the “Get Out” cost was £150.
It was pure guess work on any future increase due in Oct - Nov 2022.
Some speculation at the time said it would be another rise of around 20 - 25% after the 63% increase made, back in April 2022.
Well in only a few short months, the speculation has been revised to reflect an increase rate of another 65% in Oct - Nov 2022 !.
We have time shifted as much of our usage as possible, into our “Off Peak” tariff of 5 hours per night.
The other day, we received a half yearly review / bill from EDF.
We currently owe them £175 and they will be increasing our direct debit to suit the shortfall.
When I looked at our bill, the time shift of energy is CLEARLY visible on that bill.
So also is the difference in price per Kwh’s.
Our night time usage is more than or day time usage, use which is absolutely paramount of course, if you are serious about trying too maximise the savings offered by the cheaper tariff.
I can can clearly see how the different rates has a massive affect on your bill !.
Our night consumption is higher than the day consumption, brilliant !.
But the charges for the day time rate ( although lower in consumption than at night ) is almost £300 - but our higher usage at night, was only £53 for the same calendar period.
I sincerely hope for everybody, that the predicted increase in Oct / Nov is not another 65% increase.
But unless anything radically changed in the mean time, it’s not looking so great .
Here is what we have done to maximise our “Off Peak” rate.
We have the ZS EV LR with the larger battery, so charging this at night is a absolute must.
We have pretty much stopped using our modern gas boiler to heat our domestic hot water.
We are using an emersion heater now, that is fitted with a timer control, to heat our domestic hot water.
Tumble drier is out of use also now.
We have a heated drying rack that is running on the “Off Peak” rate as well.
The automatic washing machine is also being used on a timer setting.
Anything that CAN be shifted, is time shifted.
It is essential to make this type of tariff work.

 

[Susanna]

I had my Wallbox fitted a couple of weeks ago, in readiness for taking delivery of my EV. I contacted my dealer to get the MG order number, assuming (from what I had read) that this would be required by Octopus to prove I had ordered a car. As I was already with Octopus, I clicked on the info for Octopus Go, they checked they could take half-hourly meter readings, and that was it. The next day I was on the new rate, fixed for 12 months. No request for car or charger details at all. Very surprising.

I can take advantage of the very cheap off peak rate now for my washer, heat pump tumble dryer and dishwasher, as they all have delay timer facilities, and the 12 months fix is a real boon. I am also planning to get my electrician to replace the fused socket of the immersion heater for a timer one, to use in the summer in preference to the gas boiler.

So, with various MG accessories bought, the walls and floor of my double garage painted, my cheap leccy and my EVSE ready, all I need now is the Trophy……….

 

[MichaelJHunt]

We are with Octopus, but on a fixed rate of 26p/kWh for electricity. No difference using day or night.

 

[Lovemyev]

I am also planning to get my electrician to replace the fused socket of the immersion heater for a timer one, to use in the summer in preference to the gas boiler.

Yeah - Definitely do that ASAP !.
You are very likely to have the common 3.5 Kw emersion heater, but you could have the higher rated 7.0 Kw element ( but I doubt it ).
The emission timer switch is a good investment at around £15.
Even the standard rated 3.5 Kw rated emersion element is pulling half of what you wall box is demanding.
A washing machine is likely to be pulling around 3.5 Kw also.
I assume that you have a 100 Amp DNO cut out protection fuse on your incoming mains supply ?.
Sliding a lot of your usage into the “Off Peak” times is fine, but your fuse need ideally to be rated at 100 Amps.
Many houses ( our house included, built in 1982 ) was only protected by a 60 Amp fuse.
This was fine back then, but now with extra demand loads a 100 Amp upgrade was required.
The rating should be on the side of the DNO cartridge, it looks a bit like this .

 

[Susanna]

I got the idea about that from one of your earlier posts, so thank you for that! I don’t know, and can’t see the wattage of the immersion heater - short of removing slats in the airing cupboard to check the red thing on top of the tank. I should check that the immersion heater actually works too - it’s not been used during my ownership.

I already had a 100 amp fuse in my bungalow, built in 1985, so no problem there.

 

[Jomarkh]

The rating of 100A is for the fuse carrier not necessarily the fuse inside but that would have been checked out when your EVSE was installed.

 

[Whiskery]

The rating of 100A is for the fuse carrier not necessarily the fuse inside

Quite right. Ours said 100A but the fuse inside was 60 A which the DNO upgraded.

 

[Lovemyev]

I got the idea about that from one of your earlier posts, so thank you for that! I don’t know, and can’t see the wattage of the immersion heater - short of removing slats in the airing cupboard to check the red thing on top of the tank. I should check that the immersion heater actually works too - it’s not been used during my ownership.

I already had a 100 amp fuse in my bungalow, built in 1985, so no problem there.

100 Amp main cut out fuse - Brilliant !.
Do you happen to have a "Home Energy Meter" by any chance @Susanna ?".
They are usually supplied by your energy supplier, usually at the time when a smart meter is fitted.
If so, at a time of low demand of electricity, and ideally before your gas boiler has already heated the water, take a note of the electricity being drawn by your energy meter ( e.g. - lets say, about 500 watts for your fridge etc ).
Then go turn on your emersion heater and return to the energy meter, is now displaying a draw of about 4.0 kW ?.
If so, one - you know it's working and two it is a 3.5 kW heater element - sorted !.

 

[Jomarkh]

I would say that 3.5kW is a little high for an immersion element as they can be on a fused spur. You need to check if it has a modern thermal cut out. I had to swap out my thermostat.

 

[Susanna]

@Lovemyev

No home energy meter unfortunately, as the smart meter was installed by Eon and the device I was given then doesn’t work with Octopus. I am sure my electrician will be able to check that everything is working.

I love this forum - so much useful advice from knowledgeable people!!

Thank you