Octopus Go v Octopus Agile
Octopus Go versus Octopus Agile which one is best?
Electric Vehicle owners with moderate to low mileage often wonder which tariff is better: Octopus Go or Octopus Agile. This question is also relevant for higher-mileage customers with solar panels and battery storage. However, the answer depends on various factors such as the time of year, wholesale market conditions, and your flexibility in adjusting your home energy consumption.
You’ll need a smart meter that sends half-hour readings to access any of the Octopus smart tariffs and a willingness to think outside the box in terms of your energy use.
What’s right for you – Octopus Go v Octopus Agile.
It’s important to remember that only you can determine which Octopus smart tariff suits you best. While influencers may offer advice, they don’t know your energy consumption habits, preferences, or priorities when it comes to saving money or using greener energy.
Remember, this is a relatively new area, so no matter which Octopus tariff you opt for, you’re making a conscious decision to choose a greener option that aligns with your current needs and values.
If you’re looking for guidance on selecting the right Octopus Energy smart tariff, here are some details that could assist you in making an informed decision.
The Octopus Energy Agile tariff allows you to use energy when consumption is low bringing down prices to a minimum, sometimes even free. Shift your energy use outside the 4-7 pm peak to save money and use cleaner, greener energy when there is less demand on the grid. Plus “plunge” pricing when wholesale prices go negative could even pay you to use energy!
Octopus Agile April 2024 v 1
The Octopus Agile tariff has a fixed 12-month term. This doesn’t mean that you are stuck on the tariff for 12 months it simply means that the terms of your Octopus Agile tariff will not be changed for 12 months unless you switch to another tariff.
The Octopus Go tariff.
Octopus Go offers a very attractive 4 hours of electricity at 9.0p per kWh between 00.30 and 04.30hrs. You can keep the running costs of your EV down but you can also schedule large home appliances to run during these times, such as your washing machine and dishwasher. When the peak unit price on Octopus Go is 27.12p per kWh (this may vary depending on where you live in the UK) this will make a considerable saving on your energy bill!
You would only really opt for Octopus Go instead of Intelligent Octopus Go if your EV or EV charger isn’t compatible with this tariff.
On Intelligent Octopus Go you’ll get 6 hours off-peak charging instead of 4 hours and your night rate is 2p per kWh cheaper at 7.5p per kWh.
How much does Octopus Agile cost?
The Octopus Agile price per kWh of electricity changes every 30 minutes. The idea is that you shift your energy usage to a time when there is less demand on the national grid. The prices are displayed the day before on the Octopus Energy website. You can find out more information about the Agile tariff on the Octopus website.
Octopus Agile is usually more expensive than Go between 4 pm to 7 pm peak period but cheaper than Go from 04:30 am to 4 pm.
You can look back at both historical prices and current prices for the Octopus Agile tariff on this official Octopus Energy website. This site isn’t widely known but it allows you not only to see pricing but also compare your existing Octopus tariff to Octopus Agile. You can set a time period and it will show you how much you would have paid if you had been on the Agile tariff.
@sarah_go_green @Octopus Energy #agiletariff #smarttariffs #octopusenergy ♬ Little Things – Tiqta
I haven’t found an official Octopus site that does this for any other Octopus tariff but there are lots of third-party apps you can use such as Octopus Compare.
Octopus Agile tariff price on Thursday 25th April 2024
This is the April 2024 v1 of the Agile tariff.
Min: 13.1p per kWh (03.30)
Max: 35.0p per kWh (18.00)
Average: 18.6p per kWh.
Av. Excluding Peak times: 16.6p per kWh
Peak Time 1600 – 1900: 31.7p per kWh.
The prices are based on national average prices per kWh.
Thanks to @energystatsuk for the daily figures
The average Agile price per kWh is 18.6p (25/04/2024)
Points to consider;
- Octopus Agile is capped at £1 per kWh with a daily standing charge of around 61.19p. It could rise very sharply as demand increases in the winter but last month as an example customers are being paid to use energy as they have gone negative!
- Octopus Go is 27.12p per kWh with an off-peak rate of 9.0p per kWh. (depending on your geographical location)
- The intelligent tariff gives 6 hours off-peak at 7.5p per kWh
- You need an EV to be on Octopus Go or Intelligent tariff.
- You may get less for exporting your excess solar on Octopus Go where you are restricted to Octopus Lite Outgoing..
The Agile price should go up and down in price but it could get stuck at around the £1 per kWh peak price. It is a gamble on the amount of wind and demand on the national grid but prices have recently gone negative. This means customers have been paid to use energy, which includes on 24th March 2024 when prices have gone negative!
The Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus Go tariff should bring your average price per kWh down if you load shift as well as charge your EV. If you can shift a proportion of your energy use off-peak you could absolutely smash the Octopus flexible tariff! You just need to get into the habit of turning white goods on late at night or invest in a few cheap timers. Lots of washing machines and dishwashers have timers built in. You have just got to use them!
| OCTOPUS GO Tariff | OCTOPUS AGILE Tariff. - April 2024 V1.⏰ 25/04/2024 |
|---|---|
| 27.12p per kWh | Daily Average Price Cap 18.6p per kWh |
| 9.0p per kWh - Off-peak 00.30 to 04.30 🚘 | Min: 13.1p per kWh (03.30) |
| 62.19p per day standing charge. | 62.19p per day standing charge. |
Octopus Tracker Tariff.
Just to add more options to the mix, if you are considering Octopus Go or Octopus Agile you should also consider the Octopus Tracker tariff which requires no load shifting, is a flat rate which lasts for 24 hours and changes each day and is currently hovering around 14p to 18p per kWh for electricity. You can also combine higher rate export rates when on the Octopus tracker tariff compared to Octopus Go.
Here is a quote for Octopus Go on 24th April 2024. It is a good deal in the current climate for charging off-peak. (The day unit prices on the 1st April 2024 will reduce to around 27.17p per kWh and the standing charge will go up to around 61.19p per kWh. It will vary depending on where you live.)
To find the most up-to-date Octopus Go rates in your area use this link. (If you decide to sign up come out of the quote and use the referral link. Otherwise, you’ll miss out on the £50 credit)
If you switch away from Octopus Agile you can’t switch back for 30 days but that’s fair enough!
So the winning Octopus Smart tariff is……
I won’t take away the last 2 minutes of your life without giving you my opinion. 😆 It’s all very personal to your needs but with any additional equipment such as solar panels or battery storage, if you want to plug your EV in and forget about it Octopus Go or Intelligent Octopus Go is more likely to be the one for you! But it depends on so many factors such as your mileage, market conditions, green tech available at home or smart devices such as home assistant.
You need to make the most of the 4 or 6 hours of very cheap energy. If you get the washing machine whizzing and dishwashers running off-peak this will bring down your average price per kWh quite dramatically.
If you just want a flat rate and significantly lower than the Energy Price Cap make sure you look at the Octopus Tracker tariff for both gas and electric!
If you throw in the battery storage and solar panels the answer would depend on the time of year and how much you export to the grid. You can read more on my Octopus solar export tariff reviews.
Trying to be greener with your energy use.
No one can determine what is best for you. Each person’s living situation and requirements are different, and while some may have the means to invest in resources like solar panels and battery storage, others may not. The key is to make an effort to reduce consumption and shift usage to periods when the national grid is under less strain.
If you have the luxury of solar panels you can think of switching tariffs twice a year and have a spring/summer and autumn winter tariff. If you have battery storage even better make sure you check out Octopus Flux as you can time your export and make some extra money to reduce your energy bill.
When it comes to managing energy usage, it’s crucial to make thoughtful decisions about when and how you utilise it, regardless of any additional equipment you may have. Even small adjustments can have a significant impact on your monthly expenses.
In terms of home energy consumption, Octopus Agile half-hourly pricing seems to be the direction we’re heading in. It’s important to recognise that we can’t simply switch on devices whenever we please without considering the consequences. Even if you have a home battery, it’s essential to evaluate whether using the stored energy is the most efficient choice.
Take some time to reflect on these points. It’s worthwhile to sit down and assess what would work best for you, as the potential savings could be substantial.
Octopus Agile Pricing.
| Octopus Agile Tariff. | Average price kWh | Cheapest price 30 minutes. |
|---|---|---|
| National Average Price of Energy. | Energy Price. | Energy Price. |
| Average price per kWh over 7 days. | ||
| Thursday 25/04/24 | 18.6p per kWh | 13.1p per kWh (03.30) |
| Wednesday 24/04/24 | 17.9p per kWh | 13.2p per kWh (00.30) |
| Tuesday 23/04/24 | 18.5p per kWh | 13.5p per kWh (04.30) |
| Monday 22/04/24 | 18.8p per kWh | 14.0p per kWh (02.30) |
| Sunday 21/04/24 | 17.1p per kWh | 11.2p per kWh (05.30) |
| Saturday 20/04/24 | 17.2p per kWh. | 10.8p per kWh (15.00) |
| Friday 19/04/24 | 12.7p per kWh | 4.8p per kWh (13.30) |
If you don’t own an EV and are using Octopus Agile as an alternative to a standard Octopus tariff it’s still a great way to focus your mind on shifting your energy. This tariff is fantastic for helping to make the grid greener.
Whenever you discover this post if you are asking yourself Octopus Go versus Octopus Agile remember you are asking yourself this question as you are not sticking to the norm and going with a standard tariff. Standard tariffs at the moment are ridiculously high! Switching to a smart tariff at least gives you the freedom to try and bring your overall energy bill down. You may be trying to be greener or save money or both but it’s all a learning curve and one we have to do to give the planet a better future!!
Read both my reviews on the Octopus Agile and the Octopus Go . 💕 I’d also suggest you look at Intelligent Octopus which is a beta tariff.
It’s great to see so many customers on Twitter getting excited again about the Octopus Agile tariff. We have threats of blackouts in the future and time of use tariffs most definatly have their place. If you can shift your energy use to when their is less demand on the grid not only will you save money but you can help stabalis the National grid.
Octopus Watch App
You can find some great apps and devices using Octopus Energy API.
I would strongly suggest looking at the Octopus Watch app. Watch refers to keeping an eye on something rather than needing a smartwatch to access it!! 😁
I would say this is one of the most useful apps to consider if you are switching to the Octopus Energy Agile tariff. This app allows you to download up to 3 months of historical data. You can use it to set Agile pricing alerts and interact with Siri. It’s a good app but the fun really starts in the subscription version.
(Find this app at google play)
(find this app in the app store here) (find this app on the Amazon store)
Octopus Watch with Subscription.
(£1.99 + £7.99 per year/£0.99 per month)
This is really if you want to help shift your usage to make energy greener. You can set alerts so you know when the lowest carbon period is. It really depends on how much you want to play around with your energy usage and shift. The predictive reports are great too. If you want to plan and work out which day would be best to charge your car or do your weekly wash then the predictive option helps a lot. Of course, these energy prices are just predicted. However, they have shown to be 90% accurate, which is good enough for me. Here is the smarthound website.
