Shopping for the right tariff (with or without solar)

If you are with Octopus Energy you are permitted to switch between their smart tariffs as frequently as every 28 days (correct at time of writing). This means that selecting the right tariff need not be a particularly high-risk endeavour. Even better, if you have been with Octopus for a while, then the Octopus Compare app will let you compare the effect of various tariffs on your actual smart meter data.

Different types of users will have very different useage profiles. In particular, the following things have a significant effect on your PATTERN of usage. These things can make each tariff considerably more or less attractive:

  • An all-electric vehicle (a PHEV, to a lesser extent)
  • A heat pump
  • Photovoltaic solar panels
  • Thermal solar panels
  • Battery storage
  • Storage radiators
  • Any electric water or space heating

Before you start using Octopus Compare, there is another tool which allows you to take a quick look at all of the Octopus smart tariffs. On the energy-stats.uk Website there are individual pages explaining each tariff. If you go to, for example https://energy-stats.uk/octopus-agile-east-midlands/ and scroll down to the bottom of the page there is a graph showing all of the smart tariffs. You can turn individual traces of the graph on or off. It is a good way of getting your head around the many tariffs. This will give you a good idea which tariffs to focus on with Octopus Compare.

At first glance the graph looks a bit of a mess but, if you turn individual tariffs on or off (on the Website, not the screenshot above) it all becomes a lot clearer.

Some of the tariffs have really low rates for brief periods but very punitive rates at other times. Many users will either be able to MOVE their usage to suit these tariffs. Other users may have sufficiently low daytime usage that the punitive rates are acceptible. For example, an EV owner who has no electric heating and charges their vehicle almost daily may find that their EV usage dwarfs their daytime usage.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Automation tasks underway

I have the following automation tasks underway, in various stages of completion: If there is a suitably inexpensive timeslot overnight, use it to top up the batteries to 100%. Using this, instead of solar, will allow more solar to be exported at 15p/kWh. Inexpensive slots during sunlight hours are not as useful because I can't export at the same time as using electricity from the grid. If there is not a suitably inexpensive timeslot overnight, top up the batteries from the grid during the period coming up to peak time (which is usually fairly reasonably priced). Make sure any battery charging from the grid is definitely off before the 4pm-7pm peak rate starts. When the electricity price goes negative, boost the hot water temperature using the heat pump and immersion heater. This is a way of benefitting from being PAID to use electricity and storing a little of it in the form of hot water. Change the colour of a lamp in the kitchen to reflect the current electricity
Read more

No, YAML ain't, but what is it?

YAML is said to stand for "YAML Ain't a Markup Language". This unhelpful acronym (and brazen use of the old "GNU = GNU is Not Unix" joke) doesn't really help in understanding YAML as it pertains to Home Assistant. Well, in this context, YAML is a way of defining the hierarchical configuration settings that drive Home Assistant. So, suppose we have some settings such as: Lights: Left: Brightness: 4 Colour: "Red" Right: Brightness: 6 Colour: "Green" Fans: Extractor: 2 YAML is just the thing to define such a hierarchical structure. For the moment, don't worry too much what these might represent. Consider, however, that we might want the actual settings (such as 4 or "Red") to be controlled by some variable quantity derived from something else within the system. In this case it would be useful to be able to replace the settings with snippets of Python code. And this is, effectively, what H
Read more

A new strategy, a new approach to automation

As I explained before, I was very wary of automating my system beyond what the inverter could do natively. As a retired elecronics and software engineer there is too much danger that such an endeavour would become a slippery slope. Well, I now have one foot on that slope! What prompted this change of heart? Well, during the last month we had some periods with VERY low Agile prices and it got me thinking about how I use my generated solar power. One way of looking at it is to look at the "opportunity cost" of the solar power generated. The incoming solar power, thanks to the sunk cost of the system, comes in at 0p/kWh. However, I can sell any excess back to Octopus at 15p/kWh. That means that, effectively, any solar that I use is costing me 15p/kWh - inasmuch as I could sell it if I want to. This way of thinking leads me to consider a different strategy: What if I were to charge my batteries on a cheap rate at night and, during the day, export most or all of my solar at 15
Read more