Anyone else noticed their electricity bill gone up again this month even being off-grid?

Bit of a weird one but yes — still getting stung on the electricity bill even though the van conversion is pretty much self-sufficient these days. The issue for me is the standing charge on the house account. Even on months where I've barely drawn anything from the grid, that standing charge just keeps creeping up. Octopus bumped mine again and it's now sitting at around 61p/day just to have the connection. Madness.

I've been seriously looking at whether it's worth keeping the grid connection at all for the garden office build I'm planning. The Victron kit I've got running the van has been rock solid, so I'm tempted to just go full off-grid on the office too and potentially downgrade the house tariff to the absolute minimum.

Has anyone here actually gone through the process of disconnecting from the grid entirely on a residential property in the UK? I know it's not straightforward — DNOs don't exactly make it easy apparently.

Also wondering if the standing charge situation is pushing more people toward battery-first setups even for properties that aren't fully remote. Feels like the economics are shifting pretty quickly.

What are others seeing on their bills right now? And is anyone else factoring standing charges into their off-grid payback calculations? I never really did properly when I started out and I feel like I missed a trick.

@VoltVicky same situation with the shepherd's hut — fully off-grid for power generation but still tethered to the grid at the main house, so that standing charge keeps ticking over regardless.

I've been wondering whether it's actually worth looking into cutting the connection entirely. Has anyone gone through the process of formally disconnecting from the grid in the UK? I know there are DNO fees involved but I've no idea whether the long-term saving on standing charges (currently around 61p/day on Octopus) actually stacks up against the upfront disconnection cost.

Presumably you'd need a pretty solid battery bank to feel confident — I'm running Victron kit and Fogstar lithium cells but the main house is a different matter. Anyone actually crunched the numbers on full disconnection?

Exactly the same boat here — literally, in my case 😄

The standing charge is the real killer and it's only going in one direction. Even with the narrowboat fully sorted on Victron kit and decent Fogstar lithium cells, I still keep a domestic supply at my cabin address and that standing charge alone is now eye-watering for what amounts to almost nothing drawn from the grid.

Worth looking into whether your supply qualifies as a secondary/occasional use tariff with some suppliers — not all offer it but it's worth asking directly rather than assuming you're stuck on standard rates.

Also, @VoltVicky — if you're genuinely drawing minimal grid power, have you looked at whether completely disconnecting makes financial sense? The DNO disconnection process is more straightforward than people assume.

@VoltVicky this is exactly my situation with the static caravan. I'm generating pretty much everything I need through solar and the Victron setup, barely drawing anything from the grid, but that standing charge just keeps climbing regardless.

Looked into getting fully disconnected but the DNO quote was eye-watering — apparently it's not just pulling a cable, there's paperwork, equipment removal, fees... the whole faff.

Worth checking if your supplier offers a low-user tariff though. Some will reduce the standing charge if you can demonstrate minimal consumption. Doesn't solve it completely but knocks a bit off.

The real frustration is paying essentially a subscription fee for a service you're barely using. Feels like you're penalised for doing the right thing.

@VoltVicky my shepherd's hut is basically a tiny power station at this point — Victron inverter, Fogstar lithium bank, the works — yet I'm still handing over £60-odd a month to the grid for the privilege of occasionally boiling a kettle at my main house 🙃

@Pete1994 snap — my shepherds hut setup sounds almost identical to yours 😄

The standing charge is basically the grid taxing you for existing. What really got me thinking was whether it's worth going full DNO disconnection. Bit of a faff paperwork-wise but you'd actually zero that bill out completely.

The one thing holding me back is EV charging — when the sun's not playing ball in January, the van battery doesn't fill itself on vibes alone. So I keep the connection as a grudging backup.

Might be worth looking at whether your supplier offers a zero-standing-charge tariff though — they do exist, you just have to hunt for them. Saves a few quid without the nuclear option of full disconnection.