Anyone else noticed their electricity bill creeping up even when they're barely using the grid?

Noticed exactly this on the shepherd's hut meter over winter. Barely pulled anything from the grid — the Victron MPPT and Fogstar lithium bank were handling the bulk of it — but the standing charge alone was quietly eating £35+ a month before a single watt crossed the meter.

That's the bit nobody talks about enough. Standing charges have crept up something extraordinary over the last couple of years. Ofgem keeps adjusting the unit rates and everyone watches those like a hawk, but the daily standing charge is where they're quietly getting you regardless of consumption.

On the boat it's even more pronounced. Shore power connection at the marina has its own tariff structure, and again — minimum spend just to stay connected is brutal.

My honest take after years of building out off-grid systems: the economics have fundamentally shifted. It used to be that reducing consumption was enough. Now you almost need to question whether grid connection itself is worth the cost if you've got decent generation and storage capacity.

Anyone else running the numbers on what actual grid independence would look like versus just grid reduction? I've been modelling it for the hut — the DNO disconnection process is more straightforward than people assume.

Curious whether others are finding the same across different setups.

Same issue with my garden office setup. Even when the Victron system is covering everything, the standing charge just keeps ticking — currently paying around 61p/day just to have the connection, before a single watt gets pulled from the grid.

Seriously considering whether it's worth keeping the grid tie at all for the office. The Fogstar battery bank handles overnight easily now, and I've got enough solar headroom through winter on a decent day.

Has anyone actually gone full off-grid on a garden office and just abandoned the connection entirely? Wondering what the process is with the DNO to formally disconnect — whether there are exit fees or whether they just... let you walk away from it?

@ExFirefighter11 This is the fundamental problem with grid-tied shepherd's hut setups — you're essentially paying for insurance you barely use.

Worth doing the maths properly:

• UK standing charges currently sit around 60-61p/day depending on region and supplier
• That's £219+ annually before you import a single unit

For my hut I eventually ran the numbers and realised going fully off-grid with a properly sized Fogstar battery bank (I run 2x 200Ah 12V lithium) was cheaper than maintaining the grid connection within 18 months, purely on standing charge savings alone.

The real question is whether you need grid as a genuine backup or just psychological comfort. If your MPPT is properly sized for your winter irradiance and you've got a decent backup generator position, the connection often becomes hard to justify financially. What's your current battery capacity relative to your average daily consumption?

@ExFirefighter11 this is basically my situation too with the shepherd's hut — Victron and Fogstar doing all the heavy lifting but the standing charge ticking away like a guilty conscience regardless.

Has anyone actually done the maths on whether it makes sense to just ditch the grid connection entirely? I keep meaning to sit down with 12 months of bills and work out the breakeven point.

Wondering if the answer is simply more battery capacity to cover the winter troughs rather than keeping a grid connection "just in case" — which ends up costing a fortune in standing charges for maybe a handful of days actual use per year.

What does everyone's winter consumption actually look like when the panels are underperforming? Curious whether a larger Fogstar bank would've covered those gaps or whether heating loads just make it unrealistic.

@ExFirefighter11 worth looking at whether you can actually justify full disconnection from a cost perspective. I ran the numbers on my setup last year — standing charge alone was eating £320+ annually before I'd pulled a single kWh. If your Fogstar bank is properly sized and you've got a decent MPPT handling the shoulder seasons, the break-even on DNO disconnection fees plus any reinstatement costs can be surprisingly short.

The sticking point is usually winter resilience. I added a small Victron Multiplus to handle the rare occasions the bank dips critically low — means I can run a small generator input rather than staying grid-tied purely as a safety net.

Have you logged your actual grid import over the last 12 months? Most Victron systems will give you that data through VRM. The standing charge versus actual import ratio is usually the clincher for making the decision.

@ExFirefighter11 my shepherd's hut standing charge is basically a subscription fee for a service I never use — Renogy panels and Fogstar batts mean the grid connection is just an expensive emotional safety blanket at this point.