Octopus tariffs for pensioners, which one?

[Moxi]

The wife's mum n dad live in our adjacent two bed annex (house)

We had a 2.7kWp inroof system added with a pair of 2000 Pylontech's and a solis 3.6kW hybrid inverter, they were transferred (Bought?) from shell recently and are now with Octopus . They don't get FIT's on the system we had installed and their two batteries tend to fill up by lunch most days from the panels so the rest just trickles out to the grid for gratis.

The were put on the standard Flexible Octopus tarrif which is 23.23p/kWh and 64.97p/day standing charge We have requested that a smart meter be fitted so that we can access a better tariff for them. I was thinking about Agile for them and then I just need to make sure I keep their batteries topped from cheap power/ solar so that they can coast through the peak pricing points using the batteries only. They are not tech savvy so I will have to monitor and manage things by popping round during the day etc so if anyone has hints for remote monitoring and control that would also be great but bear in mind I am not at all up to speed with IECA elements.

Not being overly familiar with either smart meters or the Octupus offerings I wondered if anyone had any other ideas / advice / guidance. The parents have LPG GCH and DHW, they are sparing with the heating which I am trying to address as mum has arthritis and a warmer house would be better for her joints.

Thanks in anticipation.

Moxi

[dan_b]

I think Agile and "Not tech savvy" is not a good combination - unless you can manage it for them, the constantly shifting prices and need to alter their use accordingly could be quite stressful?

I'm on the "Octopus Tracker" tariff which only changes rate every 24 hours, so you only need worry about the day ahead, and the standing charge is quite a lot less at 48p/day.

Is there a reason why they/it doesn't get FiT payments? Could they go on Octopus Outgoing to get something for the export?

[Moxi]

Hi Dan,

I was just looking at Outgoing and it took me a few minutes to figure out that it runs in tandem with an import tariff of our choice Hence my request from people with more experience of Octopus.

I've just gone and looked at the tracker but the standing charge for them is still 64.9 and the rate is 22.96p/kWh so in my mind that doesn't make the transition to a smart meter worth the risks.

That's why I mentioned the agile as it was the only tariff that looked like it offered a real incentive to change - knowing it needs me to monitor it sufficiently to ensure the batteries are topped off ready to run the house at peak periods. Then as you say let solar go out to outgoing at 15p/kWh all the other stuff looks like its linked to EV's or heat pumps and again doesn't fit their consumer profile (in all day in all night) - maybe I need to get them a bigger battery to consider this ??

edit

It was installed after the FiT scheme ended, we never bothered with seg as it was better to use the power in the home, its only the contemplation of a cheap smart meter tariff that makes export a consideration - and even then it would not be a major element.

Moxi

[Krill]

How much power do they use in a day?

[Moxi]

Typically they use between 4 and 10 kWh per day from October to March.

Moxi

[dan_b]

The tracker tariff changes daily based upon the wholesale price of that 24 hour period.
I've seen it as low as 12p and it has only so far gone as high as 21p for me. Typically it's in a relatively narrow 16-19p window most days. Definitely lower overall than a regular tariff (so far!)
I guess standing charges do vary across the country - where in the UK is it?

Hi Dan,

I was just looking at Outgoing and it took me a few minutes to figure out that it runs in tandem with an import tariff of our choice Hence my request from people with more experience of Octopus.

I've just gone and looked at the tracker but the standing charge for them is still 64.9 and the rate is 22.96p/kWh so in my mind that doesn't make the transition to a smart meter worth the risks.

That's why I mentioned the agile as it was the only tariff that looked like it offered a real incentive to change - knowing it needs me to monitor it sufficiently to ensure the batteries are topped off ready to run the house at peak periods. Then as you say let solar go out to outgoing at 15p/kWh all the other stuff looks like its linked to EV's or heat pumps and again doesn't fit their consumer profile (in all day in all night) - maybe I need to get them a bigger battery to consider this ??

edit

It was installed after the FiT scheme ended, we never bothered with seg as it was better to use the power in the home, its only the contemplation of a cheap smart meter tariff that makes export a consideration - and even then it would not be a major element.

Moxi

[Moxi]

Parents IL are next door to me so North West Wales (Gwynedd) - one of the more expensive standing charge regions due to our rural topography I suspect.

On the tariff page for todays North Wales tracker page they are showing the days cost as 20.5p/kWh but its a third party page so I could be wrong, historically the price doesn't seem to be much more than a few pence per day below the flexi rate we have the parents on at present.

This is going to need a deep dive to figure out if theres any benefit ?

Thanks for the input so far

Moxi

[Krill]

Typically they use between 4 and 10 kWh per day from October to March.

Moxi

Is it worth looking at adding an extra pylon tech and just going with Flux? Set to charge each night to 100% and they will probably use only cheap rate. Can't help the standing charge though.

[Moxi]

Hi Krill,

Yes its starting to look like another Pylontech on their stack would be the right option, I could treat myself to another battery at the same time maybe

Thanks for the contributions.

Moxi

[Thebeeman]

I'm not connected other than as a customer but give the link below a call for Pylontech prices. I recently purchased a 5Kw for £1200 inc vat but not delivery.
callidus.co.uk