Octopus Energy...

[Ohbuggeritsme]

Another energy thread I'm afraid!

Anyone who is with Octopus, have you had an email confirming what your new prices/standing charges etc will be yet?

@reqding we got a smart meter recently with octopus.

They are free.

The plug in display in the kitchen obvs uses power- but not much I wouldn't think.

It has helped us reduce our usage as I can see exactly how much we are using, and we've turned off more stuff. And I can see at a glance if someone is in the shower & go and ell them to get out! (Elec shower vv expensive to run)

I have to say, I love octopus. I can submit monthly reading (before we had the smart meter) I can change my DD up or down online, or make an extra payment, or request money back if I've paid too much (doesn't happen any more)
No other company offered that level of ease to me before.

But I keep a close eye on usage- I have a spreadsheet to track what we use, and how much it's going to cost so I can see what I think we'll spend. They've overestimated slightly in their recent email- but I'll ignore that and pay for what I actually use.

I might be getting a headache...

Got the email yesterday and didn't understand it at all. I didn't notice it had an attachment with the new rates! About £900 more per year for all energy on variable - at first glance. To fix I think it's another maybe £600- 700 on top.
I will have to look at it properly later today because I just read it all with an angry WTF is happening attitude, so might have miss understood.

We are with Octopus moved from Avro when it went bust last year.

@poshme there was me thinking I would be exceptional with my spreadsheet.

Does yours also have formulae?

@Piglet89 yes.

And averages over time, and therefore my predictions of my energy costs over the coming year. And colour coding...

We have LPG as not on mains gas which complicates things- so we bulk buy when necessary. I can now predict fairly accurately how much we use and when we'll need to top up so I can save in advance for the horrible LPG bill.

(I do like a spreadsheet )

Thank you @TooManyPJs appreciate it !

@PurpleThursdays

I posted this on another thread but I'm so confused.

Octopus have offered me a 10month loyalty tariff of £285 per month. Per annum this work out at approx £3.5k. But the price cap in october is predicted to be about £2.3k.

Is it worth me fixing. I know you cant know my usage but essentially is it worth paying more than the cap til january??

I think the price cap for October is predicted to be close to £3K, actually. However….

The headline figure for the price cap is what it will cost for “the average user.” It is not a limit on your total bill - if you use more or less than the average user, your bill will be more or less in proportion.

You need to know your actual usage in kWh of both fuels and then look at the price per kWh and standing charge to work out if you would be better on a different tariff.

The other thing the headline hides is that gas and electricity are affected differently. So the April increase headline figure is 54%. But drill down and you will see that for most suppliers the gas standing charge is going up by a couple of pence but the p/kWh is going up by 75%, while for electricity the standing charge is almost doubling and the p/kWh is going up about 33%.

The “average user” uses 2,900 kWh of electricity and 12,000 kWh of gas, apparently. Is your usage more or less than that?

The other thing to bear in mind with Octopus is that they don’t offer dual fuel discounts nor do they usually have exit penalties. So you can be on fixed for one fuel and flexible for the other. If you fix, you can have different renewal dates. And if you fix now and then it turns out that by October prices have fallen back, you can switch back to Flexible without penalty.

I was on Flexible for gas - currently just under 4p, due to go to over 7p in April. Last week I fixed at 9.8p for 12 months (that price is no longer available, I don’t think), on the basis that we are coming into warmer weather and I don’t use much over the summer, but come October I think the gas price could be (gulp) even higher again - over 10p. So I have locked in 9.8p for next winter, but if I guessed wrong and the October price stays at 7p, I can switch back.

I am on a fixed tariff (Go) for electricity as I have an EV, and the overnight rate saves loads compared to being on a normal tariff.

@PuzzledObserver I did exactly the same last week. Our bills will go from around £270 to £380 just by moving to the fixed but I still think it's worth hedging prices going up more than that.

I hope people do understand that the price cap is for the average user - it's not the maximum you'll pay no matter how much energy you use. If you use more than the average user you'll pay more.

That's why you look at the kWh price rather than the annual or monthly amount quoted. The price cap is on the kWh price and standing charge not the monthly amount you pay

@dementedpixie

That's why you look at the kWh price rather than the annual or monthly amount quoted. The price cap is on the kWh price and standing charge not the monthly amount you pay

Do you known what the price cap figures are and what they are likely to look like in October?

@dementedpixie

That's why you look at the kWh price rather than the annual or monthly amount quoted. The price cap is on the kWh price and standing charge not the monthly amount you pay

Exactly. The messaging is actually quite misleading sometimes I think, because people think the max they will ever pay is x per year because that's how the price cap is generally communicated (ie £2600 per year instead of 4p per kWh or whatever it is pre April!)

Yes, the whole thing is very misleading in the way it's communicated. A lot of people think they won't pay over that £2,000 figure or whatever it is and will get a nasty shock I wish they would stop using it altogether and stick to unit rates and hammer home the importance of knowing your usage and working out your own figures. In reality the £2,000 or whatever it is is totally meaningless.

@reqding i can show you my new April figures for octopus. Not sure about October

Oh no, I totally understand its dependent on kW usage but the cost per unit on the fix is much higher than on the SVT currently. And I reckon it will be so in october too.

I worked out my usage over 12 months, i used 2805 kW last year in electricity and 12285 kW in gas. Now I'm much more conscious of everything turning to rats shit, I'll try and decrease that value.

I've bought some rechargeable led lamps off amazon to avoid using the mains lights. Any other things I can do to save, I will.

@PurpleThursdays

Oh no, I totally understand its dependent on kW usage but the cost per unit on the fix is much higher than on the SVT currently. And I reckon it will be so in october too.

I worked out my usage over 12 months, i used 2805 kW last year in electricity and 12285 kW in gas. Now I'm much more conscious of everything turning to rats shit, I'll try and decrease that value.

I've bought some rechargeable led lamps off amazon to avoid using the mains lights. Any other things I can do to save, I will.

The fixed rate is high, even the loyalty one. I am pretty risk averse though so I'd rather pay now and know it won't go mad in October. It's so difficult to judge!

Can they honour previous fixed rates? I.e. I got offered a fixed rate at the end of jan saying if I fixed for 12 months it would be 230. Obviously I didnt switch then as I still had two more cheap payments. Wondering if it's worth ringing up and being a bit cheeky

@PurpleThursdays

Can they honour previous fixed rates? I.e. I got offered a fixed rate at the end of jan saying if I fixed for 12 months it would be 230. Obviously I didnt switch then as I still had two more cheap payments. Wondering if it's worth ringing up and being a bit cheeky

I highly doubt it.

Thanks to the PP that mentioned the attachment on the octopus general email - that was hidden!
Based on that it says my annual gas prices are increasing to £1798 and elec to £1100. I’ve added this and divided by 12, meaning my monthly cost will be around £240 a month. A huge increase from the current £77 and the £160ish that PPs kindly calculated for me above. Can’t believe it!

@Singlebutmarried

I just looked to see what the offerings are today on octopus.

I sorted mine out on 2nd March (1st pic) todays prices (2nd pic) it’s jumped quite a bit in a week.

These are of course fixed and I’m gambling that the cap increase in October will offset the ‘overpaying’ now.

Currently £1570 per year, new predictions over £3k

@singlebutmarried I've done the same as you! Fixed 12 m last week and gambling that I'll save in the long run if it all increases even more in October!

I’m with Octopus. They sent me an email saying if I stay in their current rate I will be paying X amount. If I go on a fixed rate it will be twice as much. To be honest I am so confused I don’t know what to do. Would most people recommend fixing?

@FlyingGeeseAgain

I’m with Octopus. They sent me an email saying if I stay in their current rate I will be paying X amount. If I go on a fixed rate it will be twice as much. To be honest I am so confused I don’t know what to do. Would most people recommend fixing?

We haven't actually been told what we will be paying yet, just the increase on the account. They said we'll hear from them in the couple fo weeks x

I'm with Octopus but am in a fixed deal until Nov next year. I was bloody lucky, I arranged it almost by chance when I was on the phone to them about something else last June, so am paying June 21 prices until Nove 23.

However, I'm absolutely shitting myself about how I'm going to afford it after then. I'm a pensioner, working p/t, but I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to carry on (health issues), plus the funding for my post could be cut at almost any time.

This is awful for everyone, but especially for those on low incomes. When all your money goes on essentials, you have so little scope to make savings.

@FlyingGeeseAgain

I’m with Octopus. They sent me an email saying if I stay in their current rate I will be paying X amount. If I go on a fixed rate it will be twice as much. To be honest I am so confused I don’t know what to do. Would most people recommend fixing?

I'm not fixing; it's too expensive

Also with octopus. Bills are going from £100 a month to £250 a month - our fixed rate has just ended.

Not fixing, it's another £90 again so will stick with variable for now, can't see any benefit to fixing at the moment.

Also with Octopus and consider myself very lucky that I'm in a fixed rate until June 2023. They still tried to increase my monthly DD as my positive balance wasn't as large as they would like it to be at this time of year! ie they want to keep at least one month's worth of my DD in their bank account over the winter and double or treble that over the summer! Cheeky buggars. I'm trying to cut back on my electricity usage as thats what the bulk of my bill is but have someone else living in my house right now who can't/won't understand the policy of turning off switches that aren't being used . And the lights!!!! its like Blackpool Illuminations some nights but then he will sit in the living room in the dark watching TV and claim he's saving electricity - whilst having every other light in the house switched on!

We've been with Octopus a long time. Currently paying £85 a month d/d
New quote (cheapest) £266 a month