Cosy Octopus review (August 2026)
Cheap electricity in set blocks through the day, built around heat pumps.
Updated for August 2026
Tariff snapshot
The important details in one place
- Current tariff issue
- Cosy Octopus
- COSY-22-12-08
- Price changes
- By time band
- The same scheduled price periods repeat each day
- Against the price cap
- Choose a location
- Compares today’s regional average unit rate with the applicable cap rate
- Estimated annual cost
- Choose a location
- Shown after an electricity region is selected
Key tariff facts
- The same scheduled price periods repeat each day
- Variable-rate tariff
- Compatible smart meter required
- Electricity tariff
- Regional unit rates and standing charges
Current product options
Current versions of Cosy Octopus
Suppliers can offer more than one version at once. Choose a region to compare the current regional rate and standing charge for each version.
- Rates shown
Cosy Octopus
COSY-22-12-08
Variable rates
Cosy Octopus 12M Fixed
COSY-FIX-12M-26-06-25
12-month fixed term
The short answer
Who Cosy Octopus is most likely to work for
Cosy is built around a heat pump's day: cheap blocks in the early hours, late morning and early afternoon, so the house and the hot water are heated when electricity is cheapest and coast through the expensive evening.
With electric heating you can schedule, the cheap bands can reduce running costs. Without enough use in those bands, the peak rate can outweigh the saving and a flat tariff may work out cheaper.
Cosy Octopus is shaped for heat pumps. Rather than one cheap window overnight, it puts several cheap blocks through the day, so a heat pump can run hard when electricity is cheap and coast the rest of the time.
There is also an expensive block in the late afternoon and early evening, when demand across the country is highest. The band schedule above shows the current shape and prices for your region.
In its favour
- Cheap bands land where heating demand actually is
- Three separate cheap windows across the day
- No hardware compatibility requirement
- No exit fees
Against it
- Expensive outside the cheap bands
- Really only suits electric heating
- Bands are fixed, so they do not follow cheap prices
- Needs a smart meter on half-hourly readings
How it works
How Cosy Octopus sets its prices
The day is divided into repeating bands: several cheap blocks, a standard rate between them, and a higher peak in the late afternoon. The same shape repeats daily, so there is nothing to check.
The design assumes heating that can be run in bursts and stored — a heat pump warming the house or a cylinder during a cheap block, then coasting. A home with thermal mass or a hot water cylinder gets more out of it than one without.
Because it is banded rather than half-hourly, the saving comes from arranging your heating around a fixed schedule rather than from watching prices.
Things to watch
The main trade-offs
A gas-heated home gains very little. The bands are built around a large electric heating load, and without one you are paying for complexity you cannot use.
The late-afternoon peak coincides with cooking and coming home, which takes discipline to avoid.
A poorly insulated house cannot coast between blocks, so the heating runs at peak anyway and the tariff works against you.
Live tariff data
Cosy Octopus prices for your area
Electricity rates and standing charges differ by distribution region. Enter your postcode or choose your electricity region before local figures are shown.
Household fit
Who Cosy Octopus might be good for
The right answer depends on your equipment, routine and tolerance for changing prices—not just how much electricity you use.
Likely to suit
- Homes with a heat pump that can run hard during the cheap blocks
- Households with thermal storage — a hot water cylinder or a well-insulated home
- People willing to set heating schedules around a fixed daily shape
Less likely to suit
- Homes heated by gas, which gain little from cheap electricity blocks
- Anyone who cannot avoid the expensive late-afternoon peak
- Poorly insulated homes that cannot coast between the cheap blocks
Before switching
Check the requirements and what will affect the result
What you need
- A smart meter sending half-hourly readings
- A qualifying low-carbon heating system, such as a heat pump, confirmed during sign-up
- Available across Great Britain, priced by distribution region
What drives what you pay
- Whether your heating can actually be shifted into the cheap blocks, which depends on the system and the controls
- How well the building holds heat between blocks — insulation does more here than on most tariffs
- How much you use during the late-afternoon peak, which is the most expensive band
- The standing charge, which applies regardless
Match the tariff to your home
Your largest electrical loads can change the answer
A specialist tariff can be better aligned with one large device, but its eligibility and expensive periods still matter. These are comparisons to make, not automatic recommendations.
If you have an EV
An EV tariff may be simpler if most of your flexible electricity is car charging. Intelligent Octopus Go schedules compatible cars or chargers; Octopus Go and EDF Go Electric use fixed overnight windows.
If you have solar without a battery
The import tariff and the rate paid for exported electricity are separate decisions. A straightforward export tariff can be more useful than a peak-weighted battery tariff when generation is exported as it happens.
If you have solar and a home battery
A paired import/export tariff may fit better because a battery can charge in a cheap period and discharge or export in a more valuable one. The gross rate spread is not the same as profit after losses and degradation.
If you have a heat pump
Cosy Octopus already accounts for heat-pump use. Compare its discounted periods, any peak penalty and how easily the building can retain heat between them.
Alternatives
Other smart tariffs from Octopus and EDF to compare
These are other smart-tariff comparisons from the two suppliers, not a claim that every option suits the same household.
Agile Octopus
Agile can be cheaper for a heat pump that is genuinely controllable half hour by half hour, but it requires active management. Cosy gives a fixed, predictable shape you can set controls against once. For most heat-pump households Cosy is the lower-effort choice.
Review Agile OctopusOctopus Go
Go concentrates everything into one overnight window, which suits a car but not a heat pump that needs to run during the day too. Cosy spreads the cheap periods across the day for exactly that reason.
Review Octopus GoFlexible Octopus
Flexible is one rate all day. If your heating cannot be shifted into Cosy’s blocks, Flexible is simpler and probably cheaper, because you would be paying Cosy’s peak without collecting its troughs.
Review Flexible OctopusOther Octopus Energy tariff reviews
Browse every other Octopus Energy tariff covered on Energy Review. Availability, eligibility and price structure are explained on each review.
Regional comparison
How prices differ across Great Britain
Cosy Octopus unit rate and standing charge by region
The average price per unit on 2026-08-11, including VAT. The table also shows the daily standing charge.
Hover a region for its figure, or select one to load its prices.
Tap a region to load its prices.
| Region | Per kWh | Standing charge per day |
|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | 22.60p | 51.1p |
| North East England | 22.73p | 61.5p |
| Yorkshire | 22.77p | 61.7p |
| West Midlands | 22.81p | 57.3p |
| Southern Scotland | 23.29p | 62.8p |
| North West England | 23.59p | 44.9p |
| London | 23.77p | 42.4p |
| South Wales | 23.78p | 54.9p |
| Eastern England | 23.81p | 52.2p |
| South West England | 23.84p | 56.3p |
| Southern England | 23.85p | 47.7p |
| Northern Scotland | 23.89p | 56.3p |
| South East England | 24.09p | 52.8p |
| Merseyside and North Wales | 25.01p | 68.0p |
Northern Ireland has a separate electricity market and is not covered by these regions.
How to switch
Moving to Cosy Octopus
- 1
Open to new and existing customers with a smart meter on half-hourly readings; new customers join Flexible Octopus first.
- 2
Octopus checks the qualifying low-carbon heating system during sign-up; the tariff is not a general time-of-use product for a home with no eligible heating system.
- 3
No exit fees, with the standard 30-day lock-out on smart import tariffs after leaving.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cosy Octopus only for heat pumps?
It is designed around them. A home with electric heating or good thermal storage can benefit too, but a gas-heated home usually gains very little, because there is no large electric load to move into the cheap blocks.
When are the cheap blocks?
The current bands, with times and prices for your region, are in the schedule above. Octopus has adjusted the shape over the life of the tariff, so the live schedule is more reliable than any fixed times quoted elsewhere.
What happens during the peak band?
Electricity costs noticeably more than the standard rate, typically in the late afternoon and early evening. Avoiding heavy use then is the main discipline the tariff asks for.
Do I need to change my heating controls?
Usually yes. The saving comes from running the heat pump during the cheap blocks and coasting between them, which normally means setting a schedule rather than leaving it on a thermostat alone.