Cheapest time to run a heat pump in South Scotland
The cheapest times to heat hot water and run the heating on Octopus Agile in South Scotland, for this time of year.
The time to set on the cylinder's timer – a reheat of about an hour to 50°C. Heat for hot water costs more than heat for the house, because the heat pump works harder to reach 50°C.
Weekdays
Done by 7am. 33 per cent cheaper than the day's average (9.9p).
Weekends
Done by 7am. 31 per cent cheaper than the day's average (7.6p).
Tonight, the usual 2.30am start is still the cheapest.
Heating
Cost of each kWh of heat, by hour.
Cheapest 03:00 (4.8p) · most expensive 18:00 (12.4p)
Cheapest 01:00 (3.7p) · most expensive 18:00 (10.7p)
Typical efficiency (COP) here this time of year: 3.5 to 3.9 for heating, at 8–11°C outside.
On a standard price-cap tariff (26.1p/kWh here), the same heat would cost about 6.8–7.5p/kWh.
How this works
Each hour is priced from South Scotland's Octopus Agile prices and adjusted for how efficiently a heat pump runs at that hour's typical temperature, using this time of year's prices and weather. It's a guide to a typical day, not a forecast.
Prices from Octopus Energy's public API; weather from the Met Office (© Crown copyright, CC BY-SA 4.0) and ECMWF (CC BY 4.0). Renewably isn't affiliated with any of them.