Orchard Cottage electricity, September 2026
The house has an MG4 and a British Gas Hive Mini charger. The household chooses when the car charges. The planned 30 kWh battery can charge every night on a timer.
British Gas’s present two-rate tariff ends this month. It is the yardstick in the table: £1,776 a year as we use power today. A green difference is cheaper than that. “Saving with battery” is that tariff’s own ordinary bill minus the bill once the pack is filling overnight. Payback is the £3,750 kit divided by that saving. Click a column heading to sort.
Once the battery is charging overnight — EDF GoElectric
About £825 a year. Cheap electricity from 11pm to 6am for the whole house. The MG4 and the Hive Mini are accepted. You keep the timers. The kit returns its cost in about 2.7 years against EDF without a pack, or 3.1 years against British Gas Economy 7 at £2,035 (about £1,210 a year). There is a £75 fee if you leave early. Daytime units are 34.12p, so this tariff belongs with the battery, once it is in service.
Until then — British Gas Fixed Economy 7, to September 2027
About £2,035 a year. Seven cheap hours overnight. You keep the timers. The MG4 and Hive Mini are accepted as they stand. Fuse’s variable night rate is £2,073 if you prefer a price that can move with the market.
The battery kit
Two packs, 30 kWh delivered, and a 6 kW Deye inverter (August quote). Charge the packs first in the cheap window, then the car, so they share the night. Wiring, the meter at the incoming tails, and the UK Power Networks application sit on top of the figures below.
| Batteries | 30 kWh, delivered | 3,000 |
| Inverter | Deye 6 kW hybrid — confirm the August quote | 750 |
| Hardware | Kit only | 3,750 |
| Years to recover vs British Gas E7 | £2,035 ordinary bill to £825 on EDF with the pack (£1,210 a year) | 3.1 |
| Years to recover vs EDF ordinary use | £2,210 to £825 (£1,385 a year) | 2.7 |