Battery verdicts by tariff
A battery is only as good as the gap between your cheap and dear hours. Each page below shows the tariff’s pattern, who can join, and what 5, 10 and 13.5 kWh batteries save for four modelled homes.
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Flexible Octopus
One price all day. London: 27.9p all day. Anyone. Octopus’s standard variable tariff, tracking the Ofgem price cap.
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Agile Octopus
A new price every half-hour, set a day ahead and linked to wholesale prices. London: averaged 20.7p over the last 12 months. Anyone with a smart meter sending half-hourly readings.
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Octopus Go
Cheap 00:30–05:30. London: 9.9p to 36.3p. Needs an electric car (Octopus Go terms).
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Intelligent Octopus Go
Cheap 23:30–05:30 (smart charging can add other cheap slots for the car). London: 6.9p to 37.9p. Needs an electric car or plug-in hybrid with a compatible car or charger (IOG terms, clause 2.3.1.3). A battery alone does not qualify.
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Cosy Octopus
Cheap 04:00–07:00, 13:00–16:00 and 22:00–00:00; peak 16:00–19:00. London: 14.8p to 45.4p. Needs a heat pump, electric radiators or an electric boiler.
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Octopus Flux
Off-peak 02:00–05:00; peak 16:00–19:00 for import and export. London: 17p to 39.3p. Needs solar panels, a home battery and an MCS certificate; import and export are taken together.