ThatFragranceGuy
Well-known member
This post and thread is long!
Whistle stop summary;
Wholesale prices for oil and gas have dropped but the price cap in on place factors in long term pricing.
Supplier octopus offers you £50 to join them, and you join them at the standard tariff which most the country is now on, meaning you don't gain or lose anything other than the £50 bonus.
Once you join them, you can request to join an octopus Tracker - which is significantly cheaper than the tariffs on the price cap. It's about 50%+ cheaper than the current price cap, and 30-35% cheaper than the new July cap coming soon.
Prices can go up but you can leave the tracker with 2 weeks notice and people will boost this thread if anything happens with prices but they're forecast to go down, not up.
** octopus currently letting 50k people join tracker on July 1st, join how to get in board **
The below info is a bit out of date - as of 26/5 unit rates are 3.4p gas and 16.5p elec - mad savings
Basically you switch to octopus on the standard EPG/SVR rates that all providers are currently offering so same price as everywhere else then you ask to get moved to this tariff which tracks wholesale prices which are about 30% cheaper. They track your request date and back date it so even if it takes a few days, you'll get sorted on the day you asked for it. It's fastest to do this on Twitter, or ring them up, email seems to be slowest.
You can switch back to standard tariff at any time should prices rocket.
If you do want to switch you can get an extra £50 using this link:
share.octopus.energy
Once you've signed up, google octopus tracker and click the link to join.
"EPG rates differ throughout the country but if we can summarise by saying the cost of gas on a standard tariff is 10p for gas and 35p for electric then it will make the comparison of the tracker tariff easier. Below is the price of gas on the tracker tariff in the South over the last three months. Only for a handful of days on very cold days in December did the price go above the cap, otherwise it has stayed the same or has been below and I’ve averaged around 7p over that time (around 30% cheaper than the alternative)"
This would add up to significant monthly savings
I've been on this since February 2nd and prices have been low and we are seeing good savings!
Prices can go up but you've got a buffer from the discount you'll have had before, the £50 switching credit and if prices go above the EPG/svr rates of 10p for gas and 32p for elec then the EPG discount starts to kick in so prices would have to really rocket to pay more. It's a no brainer for me.
Questions!
Do I need a smart meter?
It helps but if you don't have one, they'll still put you on it but use an average figure each month. A smart meter can provide reads daily or even half hourly so you always know what you've spent but it's not necessary
Can I end up paying more?
Technically yes but you'd have to see a huge unit price increase and arguably we're coming to the end of the cold period so I think has prices will drop further but even if they do go up, you've got the buffer of the discount, the £50 credit and the epg discount to protect you, they'd need to go to record levels
Prices are going up in April, will we pay more then?
We shouldn't do, the only impact to the tracker product should be the point at which the epg discount kicks in will be higher because epg will be £500 less generous, we'll continue to pay wholesale so this should then become even more lucrative
How long does it take to switch?
About 3 days
What exact steps do I need to follow?
1. Join octopus using a link
2. Install their app
3. Once your app shows you are live with them, DM them on Twitter @octopus and say you'd like the tracker tariff
4. Accept the terms and conditions
5. Monitor your rates semi regularly
How can I track the rates?
You can;
1. Use the octopus app / website
2. Use an app like Octo-aid
3. Set up iOS alerts
4. Use http://mysmartenergy.uk/Tracker/North-East-England (or the appropriate page if not in the NE)
5. use this google sheets spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...lRIXTYL3yNuJ0zicqqoGLprOCdNbSs#gid=1855828871
6. Set up discord notifications - instructions are on Page 6
How do I set up app alerts on iOS?
iOS Shortcut to Get Daily Notifications of Tracker Prices. Unfortunately not aware of anything similar for android but will keep looking, You'll get alerts that look like this:
For anyone interested in being notified of tracker prices, there are 2 iOS shortcuts (which use the Apple Shortcuts app) that you can add to your phone and set up a simple automation that gives you a notification of the daily tracker gas and electricity prices.
Gas icloud.com/shortcuts/f5e2b9aa94964f4da0513b3ddaa4edee
Electric icloud.com/shortcuts/f3ce2ba605a34794b2a5d726f0d11d25
Once you add these two shortcuts to your shortcuts app, you can do the following:
1. Click on the “Automations” tab
2. Click the + at the top right corner and select “create personal automation”
3. Select “time of day” which is the first option
4. Choose the time of day (put the time as 10 minutes from now so you can check it works when done and then you can change it after testing) and how often you want it repeated - I chose 8am daily but you can change it any time.
5. Click “next” and in the search bar at the bottom type “run shortcut” and select it
6. Now you will see the words “Run Shortcut” at the top with “Shortcut” written in blue
7. Click on that blue font “Shortcut” text and scroll down the list until you find “Gas price tracker” and then click “next”
8. Toggle off the option which says “ask before running” and then select done
Now you can close the app and if you remember what time you set the automation to run, you can wait until that time to make sure it works and the notification of today’s gas price comes to your phone.
Now you can repeat the same steps above if you want the same automation for electricity daily prices.
By default, the URL used in the shortcut will not be for your region, there is a single letter code for each region, so you will need to open the shortcut by clicking on the 3 dots for each shortcut icon and edit the letter that appears before /daily in the URL to whichever region you’re in.
This is an example of the URL that you will see when you open the shortcut to edit it: https://octopus.energy/api/v1/tracker/G-1R-SILVER-FLEX-22-11-25-F/daily/current/
By default it will say F/daily in the URL, I changed mine to A/daily as my region is North East of England. If you don't live in the NE Google octopus DNO regions and use the right letter!
You can see what letter your region needs in the attached screenshot.
Hope that helps!
share.octopus.energy
Link again - you'll get £50 credit by joining with a referral link.
If you get stuck either DM me or ask in the thread.
Whistle stop summary;
Wholesale prices for oil and gas have dropped but the price cap in on place factors in long term pricing.
Supplier octopus offers you £50 to join them, and you join them at the standard tariff which most the country is now on, meaning you don't gain or lose anything other than the £50 bonus.
Once you join them, you can request to join an octopus Tracker - which is significantly cheaper than the tariffs on the price cap. It's about 50%+ cheaper than the current price cap, and 30-35% cheaper than the new July cap coming soon.
Prices can go up but you can leave the tracker with 2 weeks notice and people will boost this thread if anything happens with prices but they're forecast to go down, not up.
** octopus currently letting 50k people join tracker on July 1st, join how to get in board **
The below info is a bit out of date - as of 26/5 unit rates are 3.4p gas and 16.5p elec - mad savings
Basically you switch to octopus on the standard EPG/SVR rates that all providers are currently offering so same price as everywhere else then you ask to get moved to this tariff which tracks wholesale prices which are about 30% cheaper. They track your request date and back date it so even if it takes a few days, you'll get sorted on the day you asked for it. It's fastest to do this on Twitter, or ring them up, email seems to be slowest.
You can switch back to standard tariff at any time should prices rocket.
If you do want to switch you can get an extra £50 using this link:
Octopus Energy
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
share.octopus.energy
Once you've signed up, google octopus tracker and click the link to join.
"EPG rates differ throughout the country but if we can summarise by saying the cost of gas on a standard tariff is 10p for gas and 35p for electric then it will make the comparison of the tracker tariff easier. Below is the price of gas on the tracker tariff in the South over the last three months. Only for a handful of days on very cold days in December did the price go above the cap, otherwise it has stayed the same or has been below and I’ve averaged around 7p over that time (around 30% cheaper than the alternative)"
This would add up to significant monthly savings
I've been on this since February 2nd and prices have been low and we are seeing good savings!
Prices can go up but you've got a buffer from the discount you'll have had before, the £50 switching credit and if prices go above the EPG/svr rates of 10p for gas and 32p for elec then the EPG discount starts to kick in so prices would have to really rocket to pay more. It's a no brainer for me.
Questions!
Do I need a smart meter?
It helps but if you don't have one, they'll still put you on it but use an average figure each month. A smart meter can provide reads daily or even half hourly so you always know what you've spent but it's not necessary
Can I end up paying more?
Technically yes but you'd have to see a huge unit price increase and arguably we're coming to the end of the cold period so I think has prices will drop further but even if they do go up, you've got the buffer of the discount, the £50 credit and the epg discount to protect you, they'd need to go to record levels
Prices are going up in April, will we pay more then?
We shouldn't do, the only impact to the tracker product should be the point at which the epg discount kicks in will be higher because epg will be £500 less generous, we'll continue to pay wholesale so this should then become even more lucrative
How long does it take to switch?
About 3 days
What exact steps do I need to follow?
1. Join octopus using a link
2. Install their app
3. Once your app shows you are live with them, DM them on Twitter @octopus and say you'd like the tracker tariff
4. Accept the terms and conditions
5. Monitor your rates semi regularly
How can I track the rates?
You can;
1. Use the octopus app / website
2. Use an app like Octo-aid
3. Set up iOS alerts
4. Use http://mysmartenergy.uk/Tracker/North-East-England (or the appropriate page if not in the NE)
5. use this google sheets spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...lRIXTYL3yNuJ0zicqqoGLprOCdNbSs#gid=1855828871
6. Set up discord notifications - instructions are on Page 6
How do I set up app alerts on iOS?
iOS Shortcut to Get Daily Notifications of Tracker Prices. Unfortunately not aware of anything similar for android but will keep looking, You'll get alerts that look like this:
For anyone interested in being notified of tracker prices, there are 2 iOS shortcuts (which use the Apple Shortcuts app) that you can add to your phone and set up a simple automation that gives you a notification of the daily tracker gas and electricity prices.
Gas icloud.com/shortcuts/f5e2b9aa94964f4da0513b3ddaa4edee
Electric icloud.com/shortcuts/f3ce2ba605a34794b2a5d726f0d11d25
Once you add these two shortcuts to your shortcuts app, you can do the following:
1. Click on the “Automations” tab
2. Click the + at the top right corner and select “create personal automation”
3. Select “time of day” which is the first option
4. Choose the time of day (put the time as 10 minutes from now so you can check it works when done and then you can change it after testing) and how often you want it repeated - I chose 8am daily but you can change it any time.
5. Click “next” and in the search bar at the bottom type “run shortcut” and select it
6. Now you will see the words “Run Shortcut” at the top with “Shortcut” written in blue
7. Click on that blue font “Shortcut” text and scroll down the list until you find “Gas price tracker” and then click “next”
8. Toggle off the option which says “ask before running” and then select done
Now you can close the app and if you remember what time you set the automation to run, you can wait until that time to make sure it works and the notification of today’s gas price comes to your phone.
Now you can repeat the same steps above if you want the same automation for electricity daily prices.
By default, the URL used in the shortcut will not be for your region, there is a single letter code for each region, so you will need to open the shortcut by clicking on the 3 dots for each shortcut icon and edit the letter that appears before /daily in the URL to whichever region you’re in.
This is an example of the URL that you will see when you open the shortcut to edit it: https://octopus.energy/api/v1/tracker/G-1R-SILVER-FLEX-22-11-25-F/daily/current/
By default it will say F/daily in the URL, I changed mine to A/daily as my region is North East of England. If you don't live in the NE Google octopus DNO regions and use the right letter!
You can see what letter your region needs in the attached screenshot.
Hope that helps!
Octopus Energy
The UK's most awarded energy supplier. We're doing energy better - for you and the environment.
share.octopus.energy
Link again - you'll get £50 credit by joining with a referral link.
If you get stuck either DM me or ask in the thread.
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