There’s no getting away from the fact that energy prices have skyrocketed. Even if you are the savviest homeowner there’s just no escaping the price hikes over the last 3 years.
There are still ways, however, to save money on your energy bill. You could switch off and use nothing. I know for many this seems like the only option. The standing charge has increased and even without using any energy your energy bill may already to starting to mount up BUT with an Octopus smart tariff you can try and hustle a cheaper price per kWh.
Will an Octopus smart tariff help to reduce my energy bill?
Simply switching to an Octopus smart tariff won’t necessarily save you money. So why would anyone opt to pay more at peak times or when demand on the grid is high?
@sarah_go_green I am hp early doing some laundry because #cheapenergy #intelligentoctopusgo #octopusenergy #evcharging #mumtok @Octopus Energy @GivEnergy ♬ original sound – sarah_go_green
Well, I am on a smart tariff designed for Electric Vehicle drivers. My daytime rate, on the Intelligent Octopus tariff, is above the energy price cap BUT off-peak between 11.30 pm and 5.30 am I can charge my EV for just 7.5p a kWh. I can also shift a lot of my hungrier appliances to come on at night during my off-peak period. Now the hustle here is that by combining the two price periods I can bring my average price down quite considerably. So my overall rate per kWh per day is well below the price cap.
Octopus Smart tariffs if you don’t own an EV.
If you don’t own an EV not all is lost as Octopus Agile is a time-of-use tariff that is designed specifically for this hustle. It is more of a gamble with Octopus Agile as you bet on the fact that prices will drop at some point during the day. You get notified the day before and can plan your energy use based on hourly pricing.
If you prefer a flat rate that changes daily Octopus Tracker tariff is also a good option. You won’t need to load shift but you will be following wholesale energy prices rather than the Energy Price Cap. Over the last few months, customers have saved around 30% on the Octopus Tracker tariff.
Once again what you have to focus on is your average energy price. If you can use more energy when the price drops your average will come down.
The energy price cap changes in July and October 2024.
During the height of the energy crisis, the advice has been to do nothing. The issue now is that wholesale energy prices are increasing. The Energy Price Cap is due to fall by 7% on the 1st of July but it is then predicted to increase by 12% from the July rate in October. This is because of the instability in the world with conflicts playing a pivotal role in forcing up prices.
Wholesale prices could either keep going up or they could drop if the predictions are wrong.
If you feel able to take a more active role in monitoring prices you could save money on an Octopus smart tariff.
About the author: I’ve been a happy Octopus Energy customer for 6 years.
This is me. I can be found on social media as Sarah_Go_Green and I have been an Octopus customer for 6 years. I’m featured on the Octopus website and their YouTube channel as a solar customer. I’ve been on the BBC news, published in the Telegraph for owning part of a wind turbine.
Recently I’ve been in Bloomberg simply for being an energy geek. I love renewable energy and make it my mission to reduce my family’s home energy bills while improving our carbon footprint. I’ve got around 7,000 followers across X and TikTok where I talk about electrifying my home and reducing my Octopus energy bill. I can help you too!
We all need to change how we use energy.
If anything good is to come out of this energy crisis I hope it’s that we have all stopped to consider how we can use less energy. Millions of people will be doing this in the coming months from pure need rather than desire. It is a miserable state of affairs. It highlights why we need energy security in the UK. We need to both produce and manage our energy better so we rely less on other countries for our gas supply.
Customer review.
My website is not managed or owned by Octopus Energy. It is just a website created by, Sarah Go Green. I’m a mum, a home energy geek and a very happy Octopus Energy customer.
You can read further independent Octopus Energy reviews on Trustpilot where 89% of customers give them 5 stars.
Posts by Sarah you may find of interest;
- Compare Octopus Energy Tariffs
- To fix or not to fix Octopus Energy 2024.
- Octopus Energy Smart meter installation.
- More from Sarah on her blog page.
- Energy shouldn’t cost the earth.
