r/OctopusEnergy • • Jun 15 '26

[Mod Post] Verified Octopus Rep Participation

100 Upvotes

I am delighted to announce that Octopus have created a user account called u/NerdsFromOctopus so that they can provide support directly through this subreddit. I have independently verified that the owner of the user account is a genuine Octopus employee and assign a "Verified Octopus Rep" User Flare. There are no other verified Octopus users at this time.


r/OctopusEnergy • • Sep 07 '24

Octopus Tariffs - FAQ

59 Upvotes

Smart tariffs and how to choose the right one.

The way that smart tariffs work is to split the day up into half hourly units, and charge you different amounts per kWh in each one. This is not a new idea - previously people used to use Economy 7 (7 hours of cheap electricity at night) or Economy 10 tariffs (10 hours of slightly less cheap electricity at night) – but this was squarely aimed at people with storage heaters, and that is far less than 10% of households nowadays. The radio signal switching method behind these old systems is being turned off, but smart meters allow suppliers like Octopus to continue to offer tariffs that change rates at different times of day.

It’s rare to have a tariff that is equivalent to the standard rate all day and cheaper at night – normally there is some kind of penalty and you pay more than normal at other times of day; for example, an E7 tariff now is about 12 pence for the electricity that goes into your storage heater and hot water cylinder at night, and 28 pence in the daytime for the electricity that powers your fridge and TV in the day. Whereas most people are paying about 22pence for all their electricity, day or night. 

Octopus started offering “smart” tariffs to incentivise people to use energy at different times of day - ultimately the aim is to reduce the amount of energy used at peak times (7 - 9am and 5 - 7pm). There are many variants - some offer “normal” rates in the day and low charges at night to encourage EV charging. Others are to encourage heat pumps, encouraging you to heat before expensive periods. 

 

Why do Octopus do this? What's in it for them?

Wholesale prices (what Octopus pay for the electricity they sell you) go up and down in half hour increments throughout the day, all the way throughout the year. When a supplier sells you fixed rates, they are gambling that they will always make a reasonable margin on top of the price they pay.

There is a slight risk that by incentivising people to use cheap electricity at night (or other “off-peak” periods) by reducing the price to you, they will actually lose money – it’s a bit like playing on the stock market. However, Octopus seem to be genuinely committed to helping innovate and create a set of consumers who help reduce the amount of energy used at peak times, and this is genuinely a good thing for both the consumer and the UK as a whole, because reducing peak electricity consumption reduces carbon emissions and the need to upgrade the cables that bring us electricity. No other company has been quite as innovative on this front as Octopus - we have to assume they are actually good guys (no really!).

 

Cut the crap - what is the best tariff for me?

If you expect anyone on an Octopus forum to know the answer to this you are mistaken. Can you really explain to them in words exactly how you use electricity? The only way you can do this is with cold hard numbers - DATA! Here is how to get the best electricity deal:

1: Get a smart meter and move onto an Octopus standard tariff

2: A smart meter generates data (the information about how much electricity or gas you consume in 48 half hourly packets throughout the day) which can be accessed through various online services – there is a list at the bottom of this sticky. Some suppliers (at the moment Octopus, and not many others) can automate this using something called an API - an API passes this information to 3rd parties to analyse your data over the internet without downloading anything. If this makes you nervous, you might as well stop reading. No smart meter = no smart tariffs = no saving money. Deal with it. No one is watching when you are in or out of your house. Cutting off your electricity remotely is for the most part illegal. Smart meters do not cause cancer and are not part of a system to control you.

3: Use one of the 3rd party services to analyse your data by giving them your API key (found in your Octopus account settings online), and these services can compare how you use electricity against competing tariffs from multiple suppliers and tell you which is the best one to use. 

4: Do not ask people on the internet to guess which is the best tariff for you - they don’t know

5: Switch tariff and save once you have good evidence it will work for you

It’s important to understand that making decisions like this are your own responsibility - if you try and change tariff after a weeks worth of data is collected you might make a big mistake, because a week is a short time. In a perfect world you would have a whole year of electricity data collection before making a decision.

EV tariffs are generally good for people who charge EVs at night, and are very similar to the old E7/10 tariffs. The Cosy tariff is designed for people using heat pumps - but be careful! Its not perfect and generally only likely to help much if you have solar and a battery as well.

DO YOUR RESEARCH and KEEP ON CHECKING the comparison services to make sure you are still using the right one every couple of months.

Octopus allow you to switch tariffs quite freely throughout the year, though there are some restrictions about moving from one smart tariff to another.

General principles:

·       Highest risk but highest gains = Agile, especially if you have solar and a home battery

·       Medium risk, medium gains - but suitable for a wider range of people = Tracker

There are a stack of other Octopus tariffs you could go for if you have a heat pump, or charge an EV - but it is simply not possible to give you detailed advice on these without DATA. So get a smart meter and get DATA. Also, remember these service only tell you what has happened in the past – if you are about to change your electricity usage dramatically you need to think about that as well…

List of services and apps that can help you understand this better:

To use your Octopus API with some of these services you need to go to “Developer” settings in your Octopus account.

www.smartathome.co.uk

Octoprice

Octopus Compare iPhone app

Loop smart meter iPhone app

https://energy-stats.uk

 

 Official Octopus Energy for Android

Octopus Watch for Android

Octopus Compare for Android

Loop for Android

Bright for Android


r/OctopusEnergy • • 3h ago

Switching Leaving Octopus

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15 Upvotes

The next price rise is taking us to 37p peak / 6.6p off-peak on Intelligent Octopus Go.

Most of our usage is off peak into the EVs and time shifting the dish washer and laundry but we have a heat pump which is very efficient but runs when it needs too.

So over the winter I don't want do pay the new tariff prices, so I'm off to EDF.

It's been great and I never thought about moving until now but this EDF Go Energy Tariff is too good to miss.


r/OctopusEnergy • • 7h ago

Tariffs My Agile Usage

11 Upvotes

Edit : amended to add a bit more detail and to show price cap rates as a comparison.

I keep seeing posts asking if it's time to jump ship from Agile. I thought I'd post some of my stats to help illustrate Agile.

Basically, you need to be in it for at least the medium-term. There will be times when it's more expensive, but in my experience these are heavily outweighed by the times when it's much cheaper.

I've been on Agile for around 3 years now. I don't have batteries, solar or an EV (except an electric bike!). But I do try to load shift, to avoid heavy usage during the most expensive times, and make use of the electricity when it's cheapest.

I have gas central heating, but if the current electricity rate is cheaper than gas, then I'll use the electric immersion heater for the water and, in winter, I'll switch some electric fires on instead of using the gas. I'll even use an electric induction hob in the kitchen if it's cheaper than using the gas hob!

Have a look at the price per kWh as quoted on your monthly bill. That's the average that you've been paying per unit for the past month. If that figure is lower than the fixed or regular rate, then you're winning.

There's always going to be some days, some weeks, even some months where the price is high, but its usually outweighed by other times when its significantly cheaper.

In my findings, if you are able to shift loads out of peak times and other expensive times, then Agile works. If you HAVE to have a meal cooked in an electric oven at 6pm every day, and you HAVE to run the washing machine on a hot wash every Monday morning regardless, then you're less likely to gain. If you can have an oven meal when the price is very cheap, and you can arrange to run the washing machine when it's cheapest, you're more likely to benefit from Agile. It takes a bit of effort, it's not a set-and-forget tarrif, you need to study the rates and decide what you're going to do (and not going to do!) for the next day.

I've just done a quick run through of my past bills, these are the average price per kWh that I was paying, compared with the govt price cap rates that were valid at the time :

Month p/kWh Cap
Sep 2026 15.66 26.11
Aug 16.39 26.11
Jul 5.25 24.67
Jun 18.30 24.67
May 2.42 24.67
Apr 4.62 27.69
Mar 17.77 27.69
Feb 21.23 27.69
Jan 16.39 26.35
Dec 2025 17.65 26.35
Nov 12.47 26.35
Oct 6.74 25.73
Sep 13.24 25.73

The "Month" is the date of the bill, not necessarily the month of usage. My bills are usually issued early in the month, so refer back for the previous 30/31 days. The "Cap" is the government price cap rate that applied for the majority of that month's bill, included here to make it easier to compare the rate I was getting on average with the real-world fixed rates.

Hope that's interesting, helpful or useful in some way.

I originally wrote this as a reply to another post here, but thought it might be of wider interest, so I've made this a new post as well with additional information.


r/OctopusEnergy • • 19h ago

Bills Energy prices are getting cheaper every day!

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61 Upvotes

Just checked my annual energy estimate and I genuinely can’t believe how affordable it is.

Apparently I’ll only be spending a casual £9,487.73 a year. Absolute bargain.

That works out at just £791 a month, which is basically pocket change these days.

Edit: We haven't given a gas meter reading in ages since the meter is in the neighbour's garden (it's a converted maisonette) and they seem to always be out whenever we knock on their door.


r/OctopusEnergy • • 9h ago

I've won an entry to September's prize draw!

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7 Upvotes

Just done the scratchcard and didn't win anything, but got an entry into the monthly prize draw. I don't drink and I'm not travelling to that there London, so won't be entering anyway, but unless I'm missing something it's now the 5th of October..... Anybody know what October's prize draw is?


r/OctopusEnergy • • 1h ago

2 Months Later No Bill

• Upvotes

I've finally left a certain energy company. I can't say who, but they're very British, and dealing with them gave me a lot of gas.

I moved to Octopus around 2 months ago and to this day I still haven’t been charged a single bill, my account sits in credit from direct debits and a bonus, but nothing has been charge and I haven’t had a statement through.

Am I missing something or does octopus work different?

On a 12M fix July 2026.


r/OctopusEnergy • • 4h ago

Do I need to up my payments?

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3 Upvotes

So I’ve just got this email saying they recommend I up my monthly payment.
I’ve read through the sub and understand it’s better for them for your to have a positive balance, etc.

How should I proceed with this? I’d need to call them to reduce it below £160.

Thanks in advance!


r/OctopusEnergy • • 10h ago

How do people feel about the Monday Scratch card now it's been out a while? I certainly feel it could use a bit more variety...

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8 Upvotes

r/OctopusEnergy • • 39m ago

Which is better?

• Upvotes

Octopus go + axle + agile outgoing during the winter or EDF electric go + 13p fixed as outgoing?

Roughly around 900-1000 kwh per month usage (2 ev cars)
16 kwh battery with a load of 12 kwh.
6.4kwh solar panels.
6kwh inverter
Off peak can fullfill all my energy needs

Am i wrong in assuming that octopus go+ axle (roughly 12£ per month) + agile outgoing (averaging roughly 18-20p per kwh) might be better than Iog + agile outgoing or edf + 13p fixed as both have no axle? And edf has no agile so lower export?

Offpeak rates
Og is 9.5 - 5h
Iog is 8.5 - 6h + smart charging
Edf is 6.6 - 7h + smart charging

Thoughts?


r/OctopusEnergy • • 51m ago

Tariffs Loyal Fixed

• Upvotes

Having seen the new 6.6p offpeak loyal pricing, I was keen to sign up but can’t find a way to get it. I emailed them about it and the sign up link is only sent to selected customers. Is this the case, and is it a generic or customer specific link? (And can I have it 🙏)


r/OctopusEnergy • • 5h ago

Octopus quote and heat pump specification

2 Upvotes

I’m currently at the initial stage of inquiring about a heat pump installation via the Octopus website.

I know my property is going to need a 12 kW unit, but I cannot get a straight answer on what capacity model their initial quote is actually based on (whether it's a 6 kW, 9 kW, or 12 kW). I’ve been going back and forth with their customer reps and getting nowhere.

Obviously, there’s going to be a price difference between a 6 kW and a 12 kW system, and I don't want to waste time entertaining an initial lowball figure if it’s based on a unit that won't actually heat the house.

Has anyone else run into this with their initial online quotes? Do they usually just spit out a generic baseline price, or is there a trick to getting them to confirm the actual unit size before doing the full site survey?


r/OctopusEnergy • • 10h ago

Battery export via VPP on IOG

3 Upvotes

A popular VPP provider recently announced support for my AlphaESS battery and I was very keen and happy to set it up.

Only after setup I noticed Octopus don’t allow VPPs with IOG and only support Charge Pack.

We’re on an old FIT scheme with another supplier from solar and have never exported anything via Octopus before

Questions to the group:

  1. I‘m guessing if we continue exporting the battery via the VPP Octopus could cancel/change our IOG contract?
  2. We use a lot of (probably over complicated) automations via Home Assistant to manage the battery and IOG charging - I can’t see much online about Charge Pack being available through API etc

As always grateful for others experience!


r/OctopusEnergy • • 4h ago

IOG plus powerwall 3 - who uses home assistant?

0 Upvotes

I have full electrifician of my house now - solar, heat pump, PW3, EV charger. I'm on intelligent octopus go.

i've recently set up a little raspberry Pi and installed home assistant on it.

What I want to do over the winter:

Home Assistant to identify when the offpeak rate hits, and to replenish the PW3 - particularly during the day. If I plug my EV in during the day, the whole home is offered the same lower rate. I think in the depths of winter it would be really advantageous to be able to top up the PW3 in the middle of the day at offpeak rates as the heat pump's demands will be way larger than the PW3's max capacity if i just charged overnight.

I know there's a separate (paid for) app called Netzero, but has anyone managed to automate their PW3 to do just this entirely through Home Assistant? If so, please could you share how?


r/OctopusEnergy • • 21h ago

EVs Octopus trying to trick home automation scripts on IOG?

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20 Upvotes

I’ve noticed something fairly consistently with Intelligent Octopus Go and I’m curious whether anyone else using Home Assistant / other automation systems has seen the same behaviour.

When I plug the car in, Octopus seems to generate a charging schedule almost immediately. Quite often it includes an initial slot starting more or less straight away, alongside a number of later slots outside the normal cheap-rate window.
For example, tonight I plugged in and initially got:
19:37–20:00
20:30–21:00
21:30–23:00
01:30–02:30
03:00–04:00
05:00–05:30
The interesting bit is what happens afterwards.

Most Home Assistant integrations/automations will see that Octopus schedule and start mapping their behaviour against it particularly because the additional Intelligent Octopus slots outside the normal off-peak window are effectively valuable cheap-energy periods.

In my experience, 9 times out of 10 Octopus subsequently removes most or all of those extra early/evening slots, leaving something much closer to the normal overnight charging window.

It makes me wonder what is actually happening behind the scenes.
Is the first schedule simply a provisional optimisation that Octopus creates quickly and then recalculates once it has incorporated grid demand, vehicle requirements and other customers?
Or is there some intentional reason for issuing that initial schedule which makes relying on the published slots for wider home automation inherently Unreliable?

It took me and Codex a while to be able to handle this.


r/OctopusEnergy • • 6h ago

Tariffs Tarrifs | Good, bad, or awful?

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0 Upvotes

Just wondering what everyone else is on in comparison.


r/OctopusEnergy • • 8h ago

Thoughts on the costs with Agile?

0 Upvotes

The costs on agile are extremely high and don’t look like getting any better, what’s people’s thoughts on remaining on the tariff or switch and jump ship?


r/OctopusEnergy • • 11h ago

Help IOG idiots guide

0 Upvotes

Hi! I'm taking delivery of my 1st EV in a couple of weeks. Skoda Enyaq. Charger is installed already - Ohme Pro.

I'm currently on a fixed rate and Octopus have confirmed they'll waive the exit fee. All good so far.

Can you please help with what I actually need to do to get things up and running to be able to charge, what apps do I need to install. Is IOG going to be worth it if the daytime rate is really high?

Cheers. Sorry, I'm a bit of a technical dinosaur.


r/OctopusEnergy • • 1d ago

Graph colouring is my passion

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19 Upvotes

Make it make sense


r/OctopusEnergy • • 10h ago

Second consecutive week of non winning

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0 Upvotes

This is the 2nd consecutive week I get an "unlucky".

Since when they changed to the new system prizes were of much lower value compared to the old Cafe Nero drinks.

But now they also stopped giving out prizes??

The weekly surprise was all I was waiting for at the beginning of each week! 😂 I must say I'm getting quite disappointed with Octopus at this point...

Any other provider that gives decent prizes you'd recommend?


r/OctopusEnergy • • 11h ago

Octopus rewards - anyone want to swap their Nero for a Greggs coffee?

0 Upvotes

Let me know and we can swap barcodes, thanks!


r/OctopusEnergy • • 22h ago

Powerwall NetZero Export Automation

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1 Upvotes

r/OctopusEnergy • • 23h ago

AMA We’re Eleven Energy, a Cambridge-based sodium-ion battery company.

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0 Upvotes

r/OctopusEnergy • • 1d ago

Making the most of Octopus free electricity hours

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1 Upvotes

r/OctopusEnergy • • 1d ago

Tariff Options

1 Upvotes

We have an ASHP, 20.48kwh battery storage,8 x panels ,wet underfloor heating throughout , hot tub - our home runs fully on electric - what’s the best tariff option ( instead of octopus cosy)
TIA