Octopus Flux review (August 2026)
An import and export pair built for homes with solar and a battery.
Updated for August 2026
Tariff snapshot
The important details in one place
- Current tariff issue
- Octopus Flux Import
- FLUX-IMPORT-23-02-14
- 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
The short answer
Who Octopus Flux is most likely to work for
Flux is designed around a battery: charge cheaply overnight, use your own solar through the day, and export into the paid evening peak when export rates are at their highest.
Without storage most of the benefit disappears, because you cannot hold generation back for the peak. Solar alone is better served by a straightforward export tariff.
Octopus Flux is a matched pair of tariffs for homes that both generate and store electricity. Import is cheap overnight and expensive at peak; export pays least overnight and most at peak.
The two halves are designed to work together. A battery charged cheaply overnight and discharged into the grid at peak earns the difference on both sides, which is why Flux without a battery is a much weaker proposition.
In its favour
- High export rates in the evening peak
- Cheap overnight import for charging a battery
- Import and export priced as one coherent product
- No exit fees
Against it
- Needs generation, and in practice a battery
- Day import rate is higher than a flat tariff
- Requires an export MPAN already in place
- Needs a smart meter on half-hourly readings
How it works
How Octopus Flux sets its prices
Import follows a banded shape: a cheap overnight block, a standard rate through the day, and a higher peak in the late afternoon and evening. The current bands and prices are in the schedule above.
Export mirrors it. You are paid least for electricity exported overnight and most for electricity exported during the peak, which is when the grid values it most.
The saving comes from the gap between the two. If you charge a battery when import is cheapest and export when export pays most, you gain twice: once on the electricity you did not buy at the peak rate, and again on what you are paid for exporting.
Things to watch
The main trade-offs
Without a battery, Flux is usually the wrong choice. Solar generates around midday, not during the export peak that pays most.
The peak import rate is high. A household that uses a lot of electricity in the early evening can lose more on import than it gains on export.
It needs a battery system that can be scheduled to charge and discharge at set times, which not all installations do well.
Moving onto Flux replaces any deemed Feed-in Tariff export payment. The generation payment can continue, but exported units are then paid through Flux.
Live tariff data
Octopus Flux import 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. These are the selected import product’s rates. A paired export schedule is shown only when the exact configured export product is also open for this region; the site never guesses a match from a shared family name.
Household fit
Who Octopus Flux 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 solar panels and a battery that can be charged cheaply and discharged at peak
- Households able to export at the times Flux pays most for it
- People comfortable scheduling a battery around a fixed daily shape
Less likely to suit
- Solar homes without a battery, which cannot shift export into the paid peak
- Homes with no generation at all
- Households that use a lot of electricity during the expensive evening peak
Before switching
Check the requirements and what will affect the result
What you need
- Solar panels and a home battery installed and operational at the property Octopus supplies
- Working smart metering for both import and export, sending half-hourly readings
- Octopus import and export accounts in place before the Flux switch completes
- G98 or G99 distribution-network certification and an MCS certificate available if Octopus requests them
What drives what you pay
- Battery capacity, which sets how much you can shift between the cheap and expensive periods
- How much you generate, and how much of it you would otherwise use yourself
- Household consumption during the peak import band, which is the most expensive electricity on the tariff
- The season, since you will generate far more in June than in December
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
Octopus Flux already targets a home with storage. Compare who controls the battery, the import/export bands and device compatibility rather than looking at one headline rate.
If you have a heat pump
A heat-pump tariff may align its cheaper periods with space and hot-water heating. Whether it wins depends on insulation, controls and how much heat can move away from expensive periods.
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.
Intelligent Octopus Flux
Both aim to shift battery charging and export around their import and export rates, but Intelligent Flux lets Octopus schedule a compatible battery. Intelligent Flux is temporarily unavailable, so standard Flux is the current product to assess.
Review Intelligent Octopus FluxAgile Octopus with Outgoing
Pairing Agile import with Outgoing export gives half-hourly prices on both sides and more theoretical upside, but requires far more active management. Flux is the packaged, fixed-schedule version of the same idea.
Review Agile Octopus with OutgoingA standard export tariff
A flat export rate pays the same whenever you export, so it does not reward timing. If you cannot shift export into the peak — typically because you have no battery — a flat rate is simpler and may pay more overall.
Other 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
Octopus Flux 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 | 24.22p | 51.1p |
| North East England | 24.36p | 61.5p |
| Yorkshire | 24.40p | 61.7p |
| West Midlands | 24.44p | 57.3p |
| Southern Scotland | 24.96p | 62.8p |
| North West England | 25.27p | 44.9p |
| London | 25.47p | 42.4p |
| South Wales | 25.47p | 54.9p |
| Eastern England | 25.51p | 52.2p |
| South West England | 25.54p | 56.3p |
| Southern England | 25.56p | 47.7p |
| Northern Scotland | 25.59p | 56.3p |
| South East England | 25.81p | 52.8p |
| Merseyside and North Wales | 26.80p | 68.0p |
Northern Ireland has a separate electricity market and is not covered by these regions.
How to switch
Moving to Octopus Flux
- 1
You need solar and a home battery, with import and export smart metering on half-hourly readings. Octopus can apply for an export MPAN if one is not yet in place.
- 2
Flux is taken as a pair — the import tariff and its matching export tariff go together, so switching moves both sides at once.
- 3
Requested from the dashboard for existing customers; new customers join Flexible Octopus first. No exit fees.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a battery for Octopus Flux?
In practice yes. Solar generates around midday, while Flux pays most for export during the late-afternoon peak. Without storage you cannot move generation into the window that pays, and the high peak import rate works against you.
How do the import and export rates relate?
They mirror each other. Import is cheapest overnight and dearest at peak; export pays least overnight and most at peak. The value comes from the spread between them.
What are the current Flux bands?
The import bands with times and prices for your region are shown above. Octopus has adjusted the shape since launch, so the live schedule is the reliable source.
Is Flux worth it for solar without storage?
Usually not. You would pay the high peak import rate without being able to collect the high peak export rate, so you get the downside without the upside.