What if your house had no energy bills? | See how Zero Bills Homes work

Flexibility & smart energy Green

Wouldn't it be lovely if you never had to pay an energy bill for your home again?

Thanks to smart tech, clean energy and clever design, that dream is already a reality. All across the UK, hundreds of people are living in homes that do not just use less energy; they generate, store and manage their own. And the result is simple: no home energy bills.

These are Octopus Zero Bills homes, where the average home is saving over £1800 each year. And they are not prototypes or dreams from a distant future. They’re here and people are living in them today. We spoke to a few customers living in real Zero Bills Homes to give you an inside look at what it’s actually like.

Watch Zero Bills Homes in action:

The making of a Zero Bills Home

A Zero Bills home is a regular house with good insulation to make it energy-efficient, and it's then fitted with solar panels, a heat pump, and a home battery. These technologies work together to power the home, and our tech platform, Kraken, manages it all to make sure the energy is used in the smartest way possible.

When the sun is shining or the wind is blowing, the home can store clean, cheap energy in the battery. Later, when demand on the grid is high, that energy can be used in the home or even sold back to the grid.

The result is a house that works for you and for the planet. And it's so simple. As one customer told us: “With a heat pump we got a very consistent temperature. We’ve set it to 20°C and it stays there – all around the house is nice and cosy warm.”

Another resident summed it up perfectly: “Basically, you just turn things on. It’s so simple… you don’t have to go and switch from solar power to battery power, the system changes automatically.”

Are there really no bills?

Yes. Residents do not pay a penny for the energy their home uses and there are no standing charges, for at least 5 (but usually 10) years. There is a generous fair use allowance, which is the amount of energy usage included in the guarantee (set at roughly double the average household usage). The only exception is that electric vehicle charging is billed separately at our super low Intelligent Octopus Go rate, which automatically charges your car at the cheapest rates, creating a complete clean energy ecosystem.

We had electricity and gas at our old place, and that was about £330 per month and now we pay nothing. It’s incredible.
Zero Bills customer, Jodie

Certainty in uncertain times

Beyond the pounds saved, there’s a deeper benefit for both buyers and renters: security.

“It’s very reassuring… with all the uncertainty in the current climate economically and with bills constantly going up, I still have to pay nothing,” one resident said.

Zero home energy bills means long-term financial peace of mind, completely removing the worry around future energy prices.

It's about more than savings

Of course, not paying an energy bill for your home is a game-changer. But these homes do much more than save money. They also help to balance the grid, reduce carbon emissions, and show what is possible when clean tech is built into homes from day one.

For some, it's a way of living out their values. One resident told us: "I grew up in Brazil, and my dad has always been very environmentally conscious. That played a big role in deciding to move into a zero-bill home."

We are working with partners across the UK and the world to bring this to life. We have already launched sites in Germany and New Zealand, and we are working with social housing providers and local authorities to make these homes affordable to the people who need it most.

We have even completed our first retrofit by turning a Victorian mid-terrace home in London into a Zero Bills home, proving it can be done for older homes too.

Our goal: 100,000 Zero Bills homes by 2030

The future is arriving fast and our aim is to make Zero Bills Homes the new normal. By working with developers, councils and innovators across the industry, we plan to build 100,000 Zero Bills homes by 2030.

It is not too good to be true. It’s proof we can build a future where clean, affordable energy isn't a luxury. It's simply the standard.