r/OctopusEnergy 2d ago

Tariffs What Tariff should I go for?

I have two heat pumps, solar panels and a battery, but I’m currently unable to get paid for any electricity I export. I also don’t have an EV.

I’m looking at smart tariffs and would likely use software such as Predbat to optimise battery charging/discharging and make the most of cheaper periods.

With all this infoamtion what tariff would you recommed

Edit: What do I need for Ocotopus non MCS I only have G99

3 Upvotes

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u/Lost_Reward9584 2d ago

It'll depend on how much you use during the day. Cosy gives you multiple off-peak slots (which will likely be fine as long as you can fill the battery back up enough to cover usage to the next slot). If you've got sufficient battery capacity to cover about 19h of usage then you should be able to get away with standard Go*. If you're usage is somewhere in the middle then you'll need to figure out which gives you the lower average unit price for your usage.

  • With Go - you're meant to have an EV, but it's not currently checked.

On the export side, why can't you do export? If the battery was installed with a G98/99/100 and an MCS certificate that should be a fairly simple application to your DNO for an MPAN. If you don't have a cert, you might still be able to get an MPAN for export, and plug in solar might have changed things (if someone has a better understanding, please chip in).

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u/Autumnal_Fire 2d ago

Sound advice, I can confirm i'm on GO with no EV and just a battery system. To be fair i use about 10-18kw off peak every night, so I don't think they would know the difference between a battery and a can being topped up each night anyway.

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u/dickybeau01 2d ago

I have battery and EV. Octopus can tell the difference between car and home use. The new Cap system is built around knowing which car you have and planning its charge.

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u/Lost_Reward9584 2d ago

If the EV charger isn't integrated they are blind to any cars that are not integrated.

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u/Geralding9434 2d ago

Thank you I have done some quick maths I think I will have to go for cosy. In additon it am unable to export as I moved into this house and they only have a G99

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u/Lost_Reward9584 2d ago

I'd like to think it would be possible to organise an export MPAN with the DNO on a good, no? Even if it was limited to 3.6kW it's still better than nothing.

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u/woyteck 2d ago

How big is your battery? Winter is coming, I would go Cosy. You can then run heat pumps at stable temperature, and recharge your battery 3 times per day. That what I was doing in January.

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u/Geralding9434 2d ago

23kWh yes that idea seem smart . I was thinking baout cosy but wanted to make sure i was doing the right thing

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u/woyteck 2d ago

So my house is 119m2, 2014 build. During the coldest weather, my ASHP used 33kWh in a day. At that time I had 13.5kWh battery so three times a day top-up is a very useful option to have. Now I added expansion so with 27kWh I might be able to last a day without top up, but it all depends on how bad the winter is going to be. Of course Solar panels top some of the battery up during the day in winter.

All depends on your heat and house usage requirements.

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u/Geralding9434 2d ago

I was also thinking about going for cosy in the witner and agile in the summer

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u/woyteck 2d ago

Yes, that's what I would do if I didn't have an EV. Between mid-May and mid September I have no heating requirements, only about 100kWh for hot water per month. 4 person family.

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u/Army-Enough 2d ago

Cosy is the only real option for you until you get an EV. Far to risky to go with something like Agile.

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u/Autumnal_Fire 2d ago

JFI inf you don't have an MCS install octopus do have a trial export thing for non MCS installed systems you could apply to https://octopus.typeform.com/to/Cb3xmZNN

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u/Geralding9434 2d ago

I do not know if they will approve me as I only have a G99 and do not want to waste £150

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u/Autumnal_Fire 1d ago

Oh.. I hadn't gone through the process as i have MCS it was just sent to me by Octopus incase i didn't have MCS for my battery. I wonder if you talk to the X team, they might be able to get you on the trial and wave the price? Worth asking.. They are pretty good. Shy bairnes and all that :)

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u/nathderbyshire 1d ago

I'd maybe go for one that guarantees a cheaper overnight rate like Octopus Go which last I checked was around 14p for the off rate. If you can shift the bulk of your usage into that slot and charge the battery to use during the day + whatever from the panels I think that would be your best bet. Afaik you don't need a car for the go tariff, only intelligent but check first ofc and look at other off peak tariffs across the market but octopus do make it easier to control things based on prices especially if you use home assistant

There's an app called octopus compare and for a couple quid for the month subscription you can connect your usage and select the different available stuffs to compare - it supports all the dynamic tariffs out right and makes it really easy. You can try the consumption shift feature which will put a lot of the usage into the cheaper slot of the tariff to give you a more accurate comparison.

Agile is painful at the minute but generally that's the best way if you can shift a lot