Is a home battery worth it on Agile Octopus?
Agile sets a new price for every half-hour, published the afternoon before. Prices follow the wholesale market, so the 16:00–19:00 peak is dear and nights, windy days and sunny weekend afternoons are cheap — occasionally below zero, when you are paid to use electricity.
The tariff in brief
| Price pattern | A new price every half-hour, set a day ahead and linked to wholesale prices. |
|---|---|
| Who can get it | Anyone with a smart meter sending half-hourly readings. |
| Octopus product code | AGILE-24-10-01 |
| London average, last 12 months | 20.7p per kWh |
| London standing charge | 39.5p per day |
Octopus public API, fetched 25 October 2026. Import prices shown with the normal 5% VAT (VAT is off bills from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027).
The average Agile day in London
All 48 half-hours
| Time | p/kWh | Time | p/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 17.8p | 12:00 | 15.4p |
| 00:30 | 18.0p | 12:30 | 15.2p |
| 01:00 | 17.4p | 13:00 | 15.3p |
| 01:30 | 17.0p | 13:30 | 15.0p |
| 02:00 | 17.0p | 14:00 | 15.3p |
| 02:30 | 16.4p | 14:30 | 15.4p |
| 03:00 | 16.5p | 15:00 | 16.1p |
| 03:30 | 16.1p | 15:30 | 17.2p |
| 04:00 | 16.7p | 16:00 | 31.4p |
| 04:30 | 16.5p | 16:30 | 33.7p |
| 05:00 | 17.9p | 17:00 | 35.5p |
| 05:30 | 18.1p | 17:30 | 37.0p |
| 06:00 | 19.4p | 18:00 | 38.1p |
| 06:30 | 21.1p | 18:30 | 38.4p |
| 07:00 | 20.4p | 19:00 | 25.6p |
| 07:30 | 21.9p | 19:30 | 25.1p |
| 08:00 | 20.3p | 20:00 | 24.5p |
| 08:30 | 20.3p | 20:30 | 23.5p |
| 09:00 | 19.3p | 21:00 | 23.5p |
| 09:30 | 18.4p | 21:30 | 21.8p |
| 10:00 | 17.5p | 22:00 | 21.1p |
| 10:30 | 16.7p | 22:30 | 19.1p |
| 11:00 | 16.1p | 23:00 | 19.3p |
| 11:30 | 15.5p | 23:30 | 18.2p |
A battery on Agile fills up in the cheapest few hours and covers the peak. Because the gap between cheap and dear changes every day, savings are less predictable than on a fixed-window tariff, and the figures below use the actual prices of the last 12 months.
What a battery saves on Agile Octopus: four modelled homes
London prices, typical-household profiles (Elexon Profile Class 1 shape), battery 95% usable, 90% round trip. “Most to pay” is the 10-year price ceiling with capacity fading to 80%.
| Home | Bill, no battery | 5 kWh saves | 10 kWh saves | 13.5 kWh saves | Most to pay for 10 kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical home, 2,500 kWh a year | £694 | £187 | £210 | £211 | £1,912 |
| Home all day, 3,500 kWh | £907 | £228 | £275 | £283 | £2,506 |
| Electric car, 2,700 + 2,000 kWh | £1,047 | £197 | £254 | £271 | £2,313 |
| Heat pump, 2,700 + 3,500 kWh | £1,458 | £298 | £384 | £414 | £3,495 |
For comparison, the typical home pays £694 a year on Agile Octopus without a battery; Flexible Octopus in London is 27.9p per kWh.
Agile Octopus in every region
| Region | Standing charge, p/day | Average price, last 12 months |
|---|---|---|
| A Eastern England | 48.79 | 21.9p |
| B East Midlands | 54.85 | 21p |
| C London | 39.54 | 20.7p |
| D Merseyside and North Wales | 65.84 | 22.9p |
| E West Midlands | 61.56 | 21.7p |
| F North East England | 70.05 | 21.7p |
| G North West England | 49.98 | 21.7p |
| H Southern England | 62.22 | 21.7p |
| J South East England | 55.79 | 22.8p |
| K South Wales | 62.06 | 22.8p |
| L South West England | 66.07 | 23.7p |
| M Yorkshire | 66.26 | 20.8p |
| N South and Central Scotland | 62.12 | 21.9p |
| P North Scotland | 59.93 | 24.9p |
Frequently asked questions
Is a home battery worth it on Agile Octopus?
In Fortyeight’s model of a London home, a 10 kWh battery on Agile Octopus saves about £210 a year for a typical 2,500 kWh home and up to £384 for the heavier users modelled. To pay back in 10 years it would need to cost under £3,495 at best. Your own data will differ.
Who can get Agile Octopus?
Anyone with a smart meter sending half-hourly readings.
What are the cheap hours on Agile Octopus?
A new price every half-hour, set a day ahead and linked to wholesale prices. Times are UK clock time, as published by Octopus in October 2026.
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