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Energy Bills

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  • I fixed our energy rates with EDF for 3 years and the deal runs out next month.

    We currently pay:
    20.42p/kWh and 23.0p/day for electricity (avg monthly use 365kWh)
    4.13p/kWh and 26.11p/day for gas (avg monthly use 1940kWh)

    Can't decide which 'deal' to go with but it's going to be a cold winter in our house with these new rates!


  • BalladMan said:
    I will repeat what I have said before. I don’t understand where the calculation for a 9/10% rise in energy bills is derived from. As the price cap is a lagging indicator (previous 3 months) it should be clear that wholesale prices have increased 9/10% up to end of September. They have not.  Following chart shows octopus tracker rate over the last 3 months 



    As you can see barely deviated from 20/21p and certainly not consistently higher than 22p needed to equal a 10% rise.  

    I get the feeling it’s the added extras that energy companies can throw into the ‘price cap’ to help them recover from bad debtors / other energy companies going bust that is pushing the prices up. 

    I will be staying on the Octopus wholesale tracker for this winter. 
    And me, one of the best decisions I've made financially this year, thanks to people on here. 
  • Huskaris said:
    BalladMan said:
    I will repeat what I have said before. I don’t understand where the calculation for a 9/10% rise in energy bills is derived from. As the price cap is a lagging indicator (previous 3 months) it should be clear that wholesale prices have increased 9/10% up to end of September. They have not.  Following chart shows octopus tracker rate over the last 3 months 



    As you can see barely deviated from 20/21p and certainly not consistently higher than 22p needed to equal a 10% rise.  

    I get the feeling it’s the added extras that energy companies can throw into the ‘price cap’ to help them recover from bad debtors / other energy companies going bust that is pushing the prices up. 

    I will be staying on the Octopus wholesale tracker for this winter. 
    And me, one of the best decisions I've made financially this year, thanks to people on here. 
    You're welcome.
  • It is not a market. It is a club for others to make money, presided over by a elected incompetents.

    Also my feeling.  I know the masses are not on the wholesale tracker offered by Octopus, so all getting shafted by greedy companies.  

    Even though Octopus have changed the calc in their favour, I still have comfort that I am paying close to wholesale rates.  
  • Did anyone else on the tracker get three saving sessions last week? Just had my email from the 1st, managed to use £2.60 of elec in the first hour!
  • cafcpolo said:
    Did anyone else on the tracker get three saving sessions last week? Just had my email from the 1st, managed to use £2.60 of elec in the first hour!
    Yep. First session I got 16p free. 
  • I think there should be a push by regulator to force power companies to take a serious look at their daily standing charges and force a reduction. I don’t think energy companies have been as negligent as their water counterparts but there’s little doubt that their profits have been protected far too much at the expense of the customer. 
  • cafcpolo said:
    Did anyone else on the tracker get three saving sessions last week? Just had my email from the 1st, managed to use £2.60 of elec in the first hour!
    Yes.
    I mowed the lawn (electric) for about 40 mins, put the dishwasher on for 30 mins, plugged in the laptop and phone and boiled the kettle (between 1pm & 2pm).

    The free electricity over and above what I would normally spend was a whopping 20p!
    I won't be rushing to bother again.
    I thought the saving would be more like £1 (purely guessing).
  • cafcpolo said:
    Did anyone else on the tracker get three saving sessions last week? Just had my email from the 1st, managed to use £2.60 of elec in the first hour!
     Yes.
    I mowed the lawn (electric) for about 40 mins, put the dishwasher on for 30 mins, plugged in the laptop and phone and boiled the kettle (between 1pm & 2pm).

    The free electricity over and above what I would normally spend was a whopping 20p!
    I won't be rushing to bother again.
    I thought the saving would be more like £1 (purely guessing).
    British Gas tell me I’ve saved £36 since October 23 on their equivalent schemes. 

    Just a small sum in the grand scheme but no effort or hardship on my part.
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  • Im currently OVO variable, Paying

    Gas 5.28p per KW an 30.50p per day Standing
    Electric 22.40 per KW  an 38.84p per day Standing

    Two Year Fixed

    Gas 6.60p per KW an 26.01p per day Standing
    Electric 24.59p an  41.55p per day Standing

    With the Cap increasing shortly (forecast 9%) and being reviewed every 3 months, it’s a gamble on the whether you think prices are short to mid term heading up or down. 

    This next increase I think will take my variable close to these Two year fixed figures. I’m taking the gamble it isn’t coming down anytime soon. So locking in now.

    Although worth noting I’m on £75 exit fee on both gas and electric should I wish to get out of the 2 year fixed.
    Often the exit fee doesn’t apply if you switch to another fixed rate with the same supplier. 

    Also if the rates change adversely in a big way that exit fee won’t feel so high I suspect. 
  • Is the Octopus Tracker still worth getting?  From what I've read on it you have to switch to their basic tariff and then apply for the tracker one.
    We're with EDF until the end of the month and their rates going forward aren't great.
  • edited September 19
    addix said:
    Is the Octopus Tracker still worth getting?  From what I've read on it you have to switch to their basic tariff and then apply for the tracker one.
    We're with EDF until the end of the month and their rates going forward aren't great.
    Over the long term it’s been significantly good but there’s no guarantees that’ll remain the case. I’m on it and will remain so. If you switch to Octopus from another supplier they put you on a tarif but not tracker. Once a customer you can switch to tracker and provided you have a smart meter it’s done within a day or so, or was in my case. You can switch away from tracker without penalty but I think you can’t go back on it for a period of time. Can’t remember the timescale. If you are a Facebook user there is a special group for Octopus tracker that’s worth a read if you’re undecided. 
  • edited September 19
    addix said:
    Is the Octopus Tracker still worth getting?  From what I've read on it you have to switch to their basic tariff and then apply for the tracker one.
    We're with EDF until the end of the month and their rates going forward aren't great.
    I still think so. Average price of electricity and gas on the most recent version of the tracker (July) over the last 3 months is in image below. 

    Cap right now is 22.63 / 5.48 so still a bit higher than the averages below. 

    Cap from 1st October will be 24.5 / 6.24 so unless wholesale prices increase significantly, you’re still slightly better off. 

    Obvious risk is that prices spike due to a global event, so depends on your risk appetite. 

    The savings are nowhere near what they were a year ago as Octopus have reaslied they were not making enough margin on the volume of people who used it, and increase in wholesale price of energy. 



  • addix said:
    Is the Octopus Tracker still worth getting?  From what I've read on it you have to switch to their basic tariff and then apply for the tracker one.
    We're with EDF until the end of the month and their rates going forward aren't great.
    To follow on for Shooter's very good post, I am going to add something to show how good it has been for me, following his important caveat that it isn't a guarantee it will continue:



    Above you an see a purple dotted line which represents the price cap for electricity, and there has only been one day that it has been higher than the cap, with the added bonus of semi regularly the price falling to around 13p which has been great, washing machine running all day etc. 

    Below that is a red line for the gas price cap, and it's never been above the line. 

    My understanding from some of the others on here is that when demand peaks in winter time, this might change, but so far I couldn't be happier. 

    Add to that, EDF messed up my final meter reading, Octopus sorted it within 2 weeks and refunded me the £150 pretty quickly, and then gave me a £50 credit for using a referral link posted by a user on here. 

    They're good. 
  • Here’s a link for £50 off your bill if anyone wants to sign up to the Octopus tracker. https://share.octopus.energy/melon-camel-122
  • edited September 19
    Here’s a link for £50 off your bill if anyone wants to sign up to the Octopus tracker. https://share.octopus.energy/melon-camel-122
    "Special offer: £50 credit for you and Stephen if you sign-up now."

    Never had you down as a "Stephen".
  • Off_it said:
    Here’s a link for £50 off your bill if anyone wants to sign up to the Octopus tracker. https://share.octopus.energy/melon-camel-122
    "Special offer: £50 credit for you and Stephen if you sign-up now."

    Never had you down as a "Stephen".
    Steve to everyone except my mum (RIP).
  • For those of you with Octopus and who haven’t already done so, you can now get free of charge Octopus Mini

    https://octopus.energy/blog/octopus-home-mini/
  • edited September 21
    For those of you with Octopus and who haven’t already done so, you can now get free of charge Octopus Mini

    https://octopus.energy/blog/octopus-home-mini/
    Or you could use the app from these people https://loop.homes/
    Does gas and electric readings for hourly, daily, monthly or yearly and has a solar and battery storage simulator.
    Been using this since my in home display broke and I was told it would cost me money to replace.
    You need a smart meter for it to work
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  • For those of you with Octopus and who haven’t already done so, you can now get free of charge Octopus Mini

    https://octopus.energy/blog/octopus-home-mini/
    Or you could use the app from these people https://loop.homes/
    Does gas and electric readings for hourly, daily, monthly or yearly and has a solar and battery storage simulator.
    Been using this since my in home display broke and I was told it would cost me money to replace.
    You need a smart meter for it to work
    The Octopus mini updates every minute I believe.
  • I’ve just fixed for 18 months, with Octopus, for peace of mind, in case anything else unforeseen pops up
  • edited September 21
    I told my supplier E-on next that I no longer wanted gas and their engineer capped my supply. They still charged me the standing charge so I sent them an e-mail reminding them I don't have gas anymore in 2022. Since then I haven't been sending a reading for obvious reasons and got a letter saying I haven't sent a reading for a long time. I e-mailed them and asked why they sent it as I don't have gas and they replied they still have me down as having it and I have been paying a standing charge. I sent them the e-mail I sent in April 2022 and 'genorously' they have said they will refund me a year of the standing charge payments. I have e-mailed them asking why they ignored my 2022 e-mail and why they should only refund me a year!

    They ae not crooks but like so many companies nowadays, customer service is very poor. All their resources go to sales. You can notify them and it is a matter of luck whether they act on it or not.
  • I told my supplier E-on next that I no longer wanted gas and their engineer capped my supply. They still charged me the standing charge so I sent them an e-mail reminding them I don't have gas anymore in 2022. Since then I haven't been sending a reading for obvious reasons and got a letter saying I haven't sent a reading for a long time. I e-mailed them and asked why they sent it as I don't have gas and they replied they still have me down as having it and I have been paying a standing charge. I sent them the e-mail I sent in April 2022 and 'genorously' they have said they will refund me a year of the standing charge payments. I have e-mailed them asking why they ignored my 2022 e-mail and why they should only refund me a year!
    Ffs
  • I got rid of gas because I don't like the idea of gas. I thought that electricty is cleaner but didn't realise that most of the electricity we use is taken from burning gas even though E-on claims all my electricy comes from green sources which doesn't make sense. I need to pay more attention in future.
  • Quick question. I always resisted smart meters. Partly because I can't see how it would save me any money (some people I can), but mainly smart meters only used to work with 1 supplier and weren't transferrable if you changed company. So the question is, is this still the case or are they now homogenous? 
  • An up to date smart meter should switch if you change supplier. They only show what you are using and it’s up to you if you use the data to save money. 
  • redman said:
    Quick question. I always resisted smart meters. Partly because I can't see how it would save me any money (some people I can), but mainly smart meters only used to work with 1 supplier and weren't transferrable if you changed company. So the question is, is this still the case or are they now homogenous? 
    Smart meters are able to cope with change of supplier.
  • redman said:
    Quick question. I always resisted smart meters. Partly because I can't see how it would save me any money (some people I can), but mainly smart meters only used to work with 1 supplier and weren't transferrable if you changed company. So the question is, is this still the case or are they now homogenous? 
    Smart meters are able to cope with change of supplier.
    Sadly not quite true. If you have a SMETS1 meter (the first generation) they can't. A change of supplier makes them go "dumb" whereas SMETS2 meters transfer seamlessly. 

    I had SMETS1 when I changed from British gas to EDF and it went dead, I had to threaten to take them to the energy ombudsman, and they had to come and install a new gas and electricity meter which solved it all. 

    I've since changed to Octopus and it transferred absolutely fine. 

    According to a Google search, you can work out which you have by checking your meter:

    "SMETS1 meters should have a serial number beginning with 19P, while SMETS2 meters should have a number beginning with 19M."
  • For those of you with Octopus and who haven’t already done so, you can now get free of charge Octopus Mini

    https://octopus.energy/blog/octopus-home-mini/
    Thanks for this, signed up for it. Better than Loop/Octopus app etc as it looks to be completely live which is really good if you want to move round the house understanding in real time how much energy each thing uses. 

    Basically looks like it will add real time functionality to the app which is pretty cool!
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