Price cap increases- To fix or not to fix?

Sometimes l don’t understand how it works but mine was coming to an end. my one starts next week and l think mine is a standard one . It’s is a cheaper one as it all has come down.

In my opinion these saving schemes offered are a gamble, implementing changes as shown below puts you in control of what your energy costs you. I run a 2 bed semi detatched house and my combined consumption throughout this winter, including standing charges and vat is under £100 per month so it can be done.

The only way you can realistically save is to drastically cut down on your consumtion. Not so easy to do if you have a family. I am retired now and live on my own and have done the following:

Throughout the winter indoors, I wear my oodie that keeps me toastie warm

I use a 650w halogen heater instead of putting on the central heating.

I have an electric blanket 200w instead of heating up my bedroom

I strip wash daily and have a long soak in the bath once a week

When I cook, I cook for 8 and freeze 6 (One goes in the fridge and one eaten on the day)

Use the washing machine on cool and full loads only

Dry washing outside even through the winter (I have a canopy that protects the washing from the rain)

Switch over to low energy bulbs and don’t leave lights on.

Doing all of the above I am now using one third of the energy that I used to use, even though the prices have climbed I am actually spending less on energy than before the price hike.

Once you get into the routine it’s not so bad and personally I would rather spend less on energy whilst also helping the environment and have more money to spend on myself.

I hope this helps.

Not really - because you are not comparing the same things at all.

Juffus showed the basic 'Simpler Energy' and the '1 year fixed loyalty'.

You showed '2 year fixed + heating control - Economy 7' and '1 year fixed loyalty - Economy 7'.

The Heating Control tariff includes extra - A Tado Wireless Smart Thermostat kit, paid for over the 2 years (The cost is added to the Gas Standing Charge).
https://www.ovoenergy.com/2-year-fixed-heating-control-terms
Both of yours are Economy 7, do you currently have economy 7?

@Jeffus Are you looking at the wrong tariff information? Your current tariff should be look up from below:

Whether to stay on the cap or go fixed is a difficult decision because there is no clear distinction between the two at the moment and this is unlikely to change for the foreseeable future. It's worth reading the advice from Martin Lewis which is based on sound principles.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/are-there-any-cheap-fixed-energy-deals-currently-worth-it/

The 1 year loyalty tariff is worth considering as there are no exit fees if you switch to another ovo fixed tarrif in the future.

Currently slightly less than the variable tariff.

Hey @Crisse2004,

Some really fantastic, helpful advice from our community members here. If you can, please pop back and let us know what you decide 🙂

Wholesale prices not unsurprisingly on the up today.

High wind drove the day ahead prices lower, double the seasonal average. But these odd days only really help octopus tracker and Agile customers at the moment. As you say energy suppliers buy most of their energy in advance and trade if they  need a bit more or less. Also the CFD contract for difference process mean wind turbines get paid a fixed price at the end of the day anyway, a netting out payment is added to our bills to cover when the price is higher or lower than the fixed price. All the energy suppliers that tried to game the market by not buying ahead when bust. We all paid for this with a levy on our bills. OVO Anytime can make use of low 30min slots in terms of pricing which is good.

Like you, I also think it is unlikely we see the huge spike we saw coming out of covid and the start of the Ukraine conflict, none the less forward electricity prices have risen since the Cornwall Insight figures from the low they were at

This shows the forward electricity prices for next winter and summer and how it has changed over time.

It is just I think the expectation that prices will fall feels a bit out of date to me.

Be interesting to watch the fixed price offers from suppliers over the next month and how world events unfold.

Power Move is OK but is very simplistic as the power move period is fixed every day and there is no downside. Also as you say it doesn't take any account of wholesale prices or pay high usage users any more which would make the most difference longer term. It isn't bad as the high use of fossil fuels and high prices is usually  around the same time every day. But in the future this may change. Even now some local areas (sub stations) have peak usage overnight due to a concentration of EVs. So a move to zonal and nodal (your local substation) load balancing and pricing is on the cards for the future. Without things like this the investment in infrastructure will be eye watering. A level of central control like Intelligent Octopus, OVO Anytime is likely to become more widespread which will also help. This functionality is already mandatory in new EV charges to prepare for the future. This central control may be by supplier, regional or national with some clever tech managing load in many of our homes. The challenge with anything like PowerMove as it scales up is that you can end up with a large peak load in some substations just after the powermove period.

There are a few things like Power Move offered by other suppliers and of course the National Grid Demand Flexibility scheme which is much more targeted.

If this is a subject you are interested in then have a read of this and input to the consultation.

https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications/ofgem-launches-discussion-future-price-cap

We may not be many years away from everyone being on some sort of peak/off peak tarrif as a default option.

By fixing, you can lock in your current standing charge rate and potentially save money in the long run, especially if Ofgem's changes to standing charges don't happen before your fixed term ends.