Tomato Energy - Anbody using?

[Dillsue]

1 hour ago, ProDave said:

I once had a lousy supplier.  It's all very well reciting the DD rules and what they can and cannot do, but that is no great help when you cannot contact your suppliers customer service and when you can they are somewhere between obstructive and ubhelpful.  It is just NOT worth the stress and hassle for save just a few ££ each year on a too cheap to be viable 

If they are taking more than is due/agreed, just cancel the DD. They'll soon be in touch and far more amenable to sort things out.

[mk1_man]

I would love to stay with Octopus, issue is that as I have no EV the best tariff is Cosy at 12.72p / kWh and a 65.84p standing charge.  EON Next and Tomato Energy are the only ones that do the same deal for battery storage instead or with EV.  EON Next at 6.9p for 7 hours or Tomato Energy at 5p midnight through to 6am and then another 4 hours at 14p during the day / evening. Bonus is there standing charge at 44p.  I am not an energy specialist so don't know if this is sustainable but surely the same was said of Octopus when it started and now look where they are.  If Tomato Energy folds I can simply move back to Octopus.  Moving saves me more than 1/2 my existing monthly bill which quickly adds up to a substantial sum and hopefully with reduce the break even point for my 30 kWh of battery storage.

[PhilT]

17 minutes ago, mk1_man said:

I would love to stay with Octopus, issue is that as I have no EV the best tariff is Cosy at 12.72p / kWh and a 65.84p standing charge.  EON Next and Tomato Energy are the only ones that do the same deal for battery storage instead or with EV.  EON Next at 6.9p for 7 hours or Tomato Energy at 5p midnight through to 6am and then another 4 hours at 14p during the day / evening. Bonus is there standing charge at 44p.  I am not an energy specialist so don't know if this is sustainable but surely the same was said of Octopus when it started and now look where they are.  If Tomato Energy folds I can simply move back to Octopus.  Moving saves me more than 1/2 my existing monthly bill which quickly adds up to a substantial sum and hopefully with reduce the break even point for my 30 kWh of battery storage.

Go for it. Interested to know how you get on

[SteamyTea]

3 hours ago, mk1_man said:

I am not an energy specialist so don't know if this is sustainable but surely the same was said of Octopus when it started and now look where they are

They are charging similar to the rest of the big boys, it is generally what happens with 'disrupters'. They get a critical mass of the market, then push prices up.

 

As a lie user the 44p/day standing charge appeals.

 

5 hours ago, Dillsue said:

If they are taking more than is due/agreed, just cancel the DD

Then you would have breached the contract and it may be terminated.

Done that, been there.

[mk1_man]

Have invoked the switch, as of Thursday I should be with Tomato, fingers crossed all goes smoothly.....

 

[Andehh]

Have dropped them a message, as I can't see a way if finding my account or checking direct debit etc. See how long they take to respond!

[mk1_man]

Well so far so good. I switched to Tomato Energy Lifestyle tariff on Wed as scheduled. Now on 5p kWh 00:00 - 06:00 and using this to charge my batteries.  The standing charge is only 44p and the peak rate if I did choose to use it is still below cap rate, whats not to like. 

 

I have shifted hot water heating to midnight and ramped up the temp from 48 degrees to 55 degrees (Vaillant R290) and to be fair not that much of a drop in cop but massively cheaper.  So far managing to run 24x7 off batteries. I have to say there is a lot of bad press about TE but I have found everything great, I called them yesterday and they picked up the phone within a few rings and answered my query.  The MyWatts portal is working fine, a bit clunky but does all you need.  They are supposed to be bringing out a dedicated app early next year.

 

With EON Next appearing to pull the option for battery only users ( I have no EV ) then there is little options other than TE for me but at 5p kWh I would still have chosen them.

[Thorfun]

41 minutes ago, mk1_man said:

Well so far so good. I switched to Tomato Energy Lifestyle tariff on Wed as scheduled. Now on 5p kWh 00:00 - 06:00 and using this to charge my batteries.  The standing charge is only 44p and the peak rate if I did choose to use it is still below cap rate, whats not to like. 

 

I have shifted hot water heating to midnight and ramped up the temp from 48 degrees to 55 degrees (Vaillant R290) and to be fair not that much of a drop in cop but massively cheaper.  So far managing to run 24x7 off batteries. I have to say there is a lot of bad press about TE but I have found everything great, I called them yesterday and they picked up the phone within a few rings and answered my query.  The MyWatts portal is working fine, a bit clunky but does all you need.  They are supposed to be bringing out a dedicated app early next year.

 

With EON Next appearing to pull the option for battery only users ( I have no EV ) then there is little options other than TE for me but at 5p kWh I would still have chosen them.

how much do they offer for solar export per kWh?

[mk1_man]

Not sure, at the moment not a lot but I understand this is something they are looking at.  For export you don't have to be with same company as your import though.  For myself the cost saving of the import massively outweighs export gain.  I have yet to install solar but struggling to make the sums work.  When I need it i.e in the winter months for the heat pump solar production is next to nothing.  I firmly believe battery is a better way forward initially with solar afterwards.  Not sure what other peoples thoughts are?

[PhilT]

2 hours ago, Thorfun said:

how much do they offer for solar export per kWh?

Looks like it's only offered as part of the Tomatopia package, where they install solar panels and batteries for you, and charge or credit you accordingly based on their version of the "agile" tariff

[sharpener]

1 hour ago, mk1_man said:

I firmly believe battery is a better way forward initially with solar afterwards.

 

Yes, battery combined with a tariff like Cosy is a real game changer.

 

I really struggled to find an installer who would add a second tranche of solar to my Victron battery inverter system. There were various excuses ranging from we only do combined systems to we would not want to face the split warranty liability. But I expect we do not understand why you would want to connect directly to your 48V battery and we would make less profit comes into it too.

You might be better off getting it all done together. At least plan it carefully and seek an assurance they will come back and fit the solar later.

 

If they are still trading.

[Thorfun]

5 hours ago, PhilT said:

Looks like it's only offered as part of the Tomatopia package, where they install solar panels and batteries for you, and charge or credit you accordingly based on their version of the "agile" tariff

I wonder if you even own those panels. anyway, I don't really care as I'm not interested in anything like that. I get 15p/kWh exported with Octopus which is more than I pay for my imported cheap electricity on Cosy.

[Andehh]

As an update they rang me a few days after I moved to check I was happy and any questions!

 

All went through fine. Definitely looking cheaper then octopus cosy a week on in.

 

 

They don't have an app, but you can check their non-mobile optimised your usage. It does update quicker then the octopus app.

[PhilT]

1 hour ago, Thorfun said:

I get 15p/kWh exported with Octopus which is more than I pay for my imported cheap electricity on Cosy.

Me too. It seems to defy the laws of economics. I wonder how long it will last

[ectoplasmosis]

I've just switched to Tomato Lifestyle, coming from Octopus Tracker. Switchover should be happening today...

 

ASHP, but no batteries/PV/EV. Looking to load-shift the dishwasher, washer-dryer, and boost the ASHP set point during the 1am-6am 5p/kWh period.

[JoeBano]

I might have to look. I’m on octopus agile and tomorrow it’s hitting 91p/kWh at its most expensive slot! Most of the day is around 40p/kWh 

[ProDave]

11 minutes ago, JoeBano said:

I might have to look. I’m on octopus agile and tomorrow it’s hitting 91p/kWh at its most expensive slot! Most of the day is around 40p/kWh 

OUCH.  I guess that's because of the high pressure and lack of wind?  Which is NOT unusual in winter.

[JoeBano]

I have no idea why it’s that high. Most expensive slot today was 48p/kWh which is a tad higher than normal. I keep having days where I’m paying more than 23p/kWh average, so it’s time to have a look around. 

Edited Tuesday at 21:58 by JoeBano

[ProDave]

29 minutes ago, JoeBano said:

I have no idea why it’s that high. Most expensive slot today was 48p/kWh which is a tad higher than normal. I keep having days where I’m paying more than 23p/kWh average, so it’s time to have a look around. 

This is what worries me about the future, when even more of our energy comes from wind, and a winter high pressure means not enough wind.

 

And imagine a day when we are all forced to have a smart meter and forced to be on a variable tariff?

 

EDIT:  If I check tomorrows prices for my own region, Northern Scotland, it will be over £1 per kWh tomorrow afternoon.

 

Kind of ironic the region with most of the windmills would pay the most.

[SteamyTea]

7 hours ago, ProDave said:

This is what worries me about the future, when even more of our energy comes from wind, and a winter high pressure means not enough wind.

Except we are adding more storage and better management.

That has to be paid for somehow.

 

But imagine of it was the other way around and all we had were renewables and someone came along and said we can off the same with natural gas.

We would have to issue drilling licences, drill holes, get planning permission for pipes and onshore terminals, build all the infrastructure, deal with all the safety aspects, change all the heating systems in houses and so forth.

And after 60 years, deal with the associated pollution and climate change.

 

[ProDave]

3 hours ago, SteamyTea said:

Except we are adding more storage and better management.

Of course we are, and I can see storage smoothing out the peaks and troughs as demand changes throughout the day.

 

But these winter anticyclones are not unusual, and can typically last 1 to 2 weeks.  That is going to be a LOT of storage to last a week.  Or make the price so high everyone turns their lights and heat pumps off and shivers in the dark.........  In front of the backup WBS.

 

This is why I just cannot see an electricity grid working without some other input, even gas power stations mothballed on care an maintenance ready to be fired up in such weather conditions.

[mk1_man]

Its been a week since I migrated to Tomato and couldn't be happier.  Yesterday I used 33kWh at a cost of £1.65  House is nice and toasty, plenty of piping hot water so the other 1/2 is happy also 🙂 

[PhilT]

41 minutes ago, mk1_man said:

Its been a week since I migrated to Tomato and couldn't be happier.  Yesterday I used 33kWh at a cost of £1.65  House is nice and toasty, plenty of piping hot water so the other 1/2 is happy also 🙂 

Impressive. How much was your 30kW battery installation?

[mk1_man]

I now have 2 x Sunsynk 5Kw CATL batteries and  4 x AO Lithium 5Kw's   total investment has been £3600 for the batteries. All purchased on 18 month 0% free credit card with logic that I can deduct 18 months of tariff savings off the cost of the batteries before they become a real cost.

 

[ProDave]

And tomorrows Agile prices up to £1 per kWh for even longer than today.