Guides

Plain-English reading on Agile and appliance timing

Cheap Hours answers one question — "what do I set the delay timer to tonight?" — in five seconds. These guides are for everything around that question: how the Agile tariff actually works, why appliance timers are so confusing, and what the timing habit is really worth in pounds.

Understanding the tariff

• Octopus Agile explained: how half-hourly pricing works

  Where the 48 daily prices come from, the 4pm publication rhythm, the 100p cap, and who the tariff does and doesn't suit.

• The fourteen Agile regions

  Why London and North Scotland pay different pence for the same half hour, the full A–P list, and three ways to find your letter.

• Plunge pricing: the days electricity goes negative

  Why the grid sometimes pays you to use power, when negative half hours tend to appear, and how to actually catch one.

Timing your appliances

• Appliance delay timers explained: "starts in" vs "finishes in"

  The three timer conventions manufacturers never agreed on, and the finish-time arithmetic that lands washes in the wrong prices.

• The cheapest time to run a washing machine

  The overnight and midday windows, aiming the finish at your alarm clock, and what a load costs in pence.

• The cheapest time to run a dishwasher

  Why the after-dinner start is the expensive habit, and why eco mode and cheap hours multiply rather than compete.

• The cheapest time to run a tumble dryer

  The appliance most worth timing, making the best of 3h/6h/12h buttons, and the overnight safety question answered honestly.

The bottom line

• How much can you actually save?

  Worked examples with every assumption on the table: what a year of delay buttons is worth, and the honest caveats.