Energy tariffs

[JSB]

Hi folks, my energy tarrif is coming to an end soon and there seems to be so many options, such as simple credit applied to your account (Engie) , cheaper off peak energy from a few providers etc. In addition some offer ev chargers which don't appear to be cheaper than going direct to an installer.

I'm sure plenty of folk will have already looked into this, any suggestions or recommendations will be much appreciated.

Also, I'm not sure if it's worth having a charger installed, I'm not convinced it's for me but would welcome any suggestions and advantages I may not have considered.

Cheers.

 

[NightPHEVer]

I had installed - and for a year used - a Rolec (16 or 32 amp) charge unit that was fitted to my garage via the grant system. It's the installer that gets the 'grant' not you, basically the price of the charge unit is subsidised - assuming that this arrangement still exists. I think mine cost me about £200. I've moved house since. I've still got the Rolec but have yet to have it fitted to my new house.

I don't actually have a garage big enough for my PHEV at the moment so the PHEV lives outside. I've used the standard Mitsubishi supplied charge unit (with a purpose built extension lead) for the last year and although it's a bit of a faff with the wire as I haven't got it particularly well arranged (I had my Rolec nicely fitted to an mdf panel in my garage and had the wire suspended from the ceiling, so it was easy to use and I didn't get tangled up in the wire if I went into the garage) it all works fine. If I did have a big enough garage and also had the standard charge device as equally considered and arranged as the Rolec used to be, then I guess it would also be fine. The standard charger takes 5 hours and the Rolec 3 - that's about the only significant difference.

I also now have a 6 year old house so the wiring is bang-up-to-date (the garage has its own dedicated supply) and the 3-pin plug of my standard Mitsubishi charge device doesn't get in any way hot - even when used on the extension lead. On some older wiring systems - in my experience - the plug can get hot. I still prefer the Rolec though.

As for tarrifs - not sure. IMHO all the suppliers are equally disorganised and useless, and electricity is way too expensive - especially if you happen to have a ground source heat pump.

 

[ChrisMiller]

It all depends - do you typically charge overnight? Then an off-peak deal may be advantageous, particularly if you don't use a lot of electricity for other purposes. Some suppliers can provide cheap(er) access to charging points, so if you use them a lot, that could be a significant factor in your choice.

Knowing your electricity usage patterns will help you make a good decision.

 

[SimonC]

I'm planning to move to octopus who have a 5p per unit tarr8f between 130am and 5am, with no increases charge during the rest of the day.
That should be enough to get it cahrged overnight for me.

 

[user 3575]

I'm planning to move to octopus who have a 5p per unit tarr8f between 130am and 5am, with no increases charge during the rest of the day.
That should be enough to get it cahrged overnight for me.

I am with them good company

 

[JSB]

I'll have a look at Octopus, is a smart meter required for their tarrif as I don't have one?

 

[MartinPHEV]

I have a dual tariff meter (economy 7) but don't have enough off-peak usage to make this worthwhile even with the PHEV plugged in a night. Some suppliers will let you report both readings but just charge you a single rate. Only a few seem willing to do this. I'm using So Energy which is a well regarded little company and has decent rates. If you want all the hard work of selecting a supplier done for you then load your usage data into https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheapenergyclub

 

[Jojoxx]

I just got a revised rate off my current supplier ( eon) and it was going up to 18p so i asked for an economy 7 meter to be told i couldn't have one as i didn't use enough ??? Anyway i asked about different suppliers on the phev Facebook page and i was recommended bulb so i have switched and they are going to fit me an economy 7 meter in a month plus my daytime use has gone down to 14p win win plus its green apparently

 

[greendwarf]

I had installed - and for a year used - a Rolec (16 or 32 amp) charge unit that was fitted to my garage via the grant system. It's the installer that gets the 'grant' not you, basically the price of the charge unit is subsidised - assuming that this arrangement still exists. I think mine cost me about £200. I've moved house since. I've still got the Rolec but have yet to have it fitted to my new house.

Are you "allowed" to take the unit with you when moving? I thought the purpose of the scheme was to increase the number of properties wired for EVs. :mrgreen:

 

[Annex]

We're with Tonik and they have their own EV team. They have a new tariff coming on 1st April which will give 2550 free miles but think that may be for a Nissan Leaf so not sure what we would get. They are also saying they will install a 'free' charger but until they confirm the rate, we can't make a comparison

 

[NightPHEVer]

Actually, now you come to mention it I don't really know. I kept mine as I assumed that the fitting 'grant' was in my name and therefore I wouldn't be able to get another one in my new house.
A Rolec Wallpod currently seems to cost around £350 retail (I think that's a bit cheaper than they were three years ago?) But if the 'grant' was to the address then of course I would in fact be eligible for another one. Hmm.

My previous property is still wired for EV supply - it's just that I left a 13amp socket on the end of the 32amp cable (the power supply to the 32amp cable was reduced accordingly) instead of the Rolec. Although the people who bought my house didn't seem the slightest bit interested in EVs - they didn't even notice the Wallpod. They had two diesel cars and probably did about 75,000 miles a year between them.

5p a KW/h is certainly cheap - I'm currently paying 13p for a 'cheap' economy 10 unit via the dubious medium of e.on. e.on are a very un-lovely supplier who are a bit of a shambles really. UPDATE April 4th 2019: e.on have just put it up (again) to 16p for the 'cheap' rate and 22p for the not so cheap rate! Very few providers will do an economy 10 or 7 deal in Scotland though. Electricity here in Scotland seems even more expensive than it is in England. I'm currently considering Solar water-heating panels (20p per KW/h RHI £4500 installation cost) to subsidise the cost of my very 'green' ground source heating system (I don't get RHI on my ground source as it was installed mostly by the previous owner of the house, not by an approved installer).

I don't know how the government ever expects anybody to want to go 'green' when electricty costs so much compared to gas and oil. Especially as they've just stopped the feed-in tariff on electric solar panels. I suppose it's no surprise that a lot of power stations run on gas. We have a lot of wind turbines in Scotland but it doesn't make the electricity any cheaper. I reckon home-based micro generation (batteries) is likely to be the only solution long term. Presumably electricity will just get more and more expensive as diesel/petrol sales eventually fall, (don't hold your breath!) as the government won't be gettng as much tax revenue from diesel/petrol anymore.

 

[ThudnBlundr]

The 5p per unit night-time tariff is great, but there's a significant corresponding uplift in daytime prices. On typical usage, it's seldom worthwhile, as the savings overnight are mainly cancelled out by the extra cost during the day. We tend to charge one car overnight, and the other during the day, so I really can't make a financial case for changing to a split tariff - unless we spend many thousands on batteries which can be charged at cheap rate and used during the evening peak.