Zero Bills Homes | Octopus Energy

An Octopus smart tariff that guarantees eligible Octopus customers no home energy bills for 5 or 10 years.

Why join Octopus Zero Bills?

No home energy bills for 5 or 10 years guaranteed

Yup, it’s real. Zero energy bills and zero stress – just sit back and relax in your cosy,
comfy home.

Enjoy lower carbon

living

Run your home on clean energy and breathe in cleaner air, thanks to your heat pump.

Get real-time data at your fingertips

See exactly how your home is using energy, and get real-time updates at a glance
in our free app.

Already own a Zero Bills property?

Not already an Octopus customer? Sign up here and come back when you are ready.

How does Zero Bills work?

To be eligible for Zero Bills, you must live in a Zero Bills-approved home.

If you're in a Zero Bills home, sign up to Octopus and our Zero Bill's tariff.

Connect your battery and heat pump to the Octopus App.

Set your home preferences.

Enjoy zero home energy bills for 5 or 10 years guaranteed!

Good to know : There is a bespoke fair use cap for each property. If you exceed the fair use cap, you’ll have to pay the difference on our standard variable tariff – there will still be no standing charge.

The tech behind Zero Bills

Illustration of a solar panel and a pink battery with a lightning bolt, surrounded by five orange stars in an arc.

Battery & solar

Kraken, our clever tech platform, makes your solar panels and battery work smarter. It charges and discharges at just the right times so we can work to keep your bills at zero.

Heat Pump

Heat pumps pull warmth from the air outside to heat your home and water inside. They’re up to four times more efficient than traditional boilers, meaning cosy homes and a lighter carbon footprint.

Smart Meter

Smart meters send us live data so we can see how your home uses energy and optimise your system accordingly. No more meter readings, no more estimates – and with the Zero Bills tariff, no more energy bills for your home.

EV Charger (Optional)

Got an EV? EV charging isn’t included in Zero Bills, but you’ll still have access to our Intelligent Octopus Go tariff (the UK’s most popular EV tariff), giving you super-cheap overnight charging.

FAQs

We guarantee to offer Zero Bills for either 5 or 10 years. For new build homes, Zero Bills begins from the point of first occupation. For existing properties which have been upgraded by Octopus to the Zero Bills spec, this begins once the retrofit works are complete and the tech is all connected. The length of the guarantee is based on our agreement with your developer or installer. Limits, exclusions and T&Cs apply.

Claims explained

Cut carbon emissions by around 80% with a heat pump:
This is the typical reduction in heating carbon emissions using an electric powered heat pump compared to a gas boiler, based on the following calculation: 

Gas CO2 = (A*D) = 2.42 tonnes per year 

Electricity CO2 = (A/B*C*E) = 0.40 tonnes per year

Carbon saving = 2.01 tonnes or 83%

Where A - E are: 

A - 11,500 Ofgem medium gas usage 

B - 330% typical seasonal coefficient of performance from a fleet of Octopus low temperature heat pumps 

C - 85% typical gas boiler efficiency from a BEIS study 

D - Gas fuel emissions of 210 gCO2/kWh (SAP 10.2)

E - Electricity fuel emissions of 136 gCO2/kWh (SAP 10.2) 

These are typical install efficiencies for gas boilers and low temperature heat pumps installed in real homes. See our heat pump savings blog for the full set of calculations and assumptions.

Octopus Cosy heat pumps can deliver several units of heat for each unit of electricity. For every 1 kWh of electricity you put in, you could get an average of 3.3kWh heat out, which is an efficiency of 330%! All our heat pumps are tested independently by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and their energy efficiency ratings, called Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (SCOP), are publicly available on the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) product database. When we design a system, we design to a 3.4 SCOP in-situ standard.  

Heat pumps don't create heat, but move existing heat from nature into your home (like an air conditioner or refrigerator, but in reverse). When you burn stuff to generate heat (like gas, oil, or wood), you are instead creating heat by converting matter to energy - so you can never get more than one unit of heat for each unit of energy you burn. Gas boilers in UK homes are only around 85% efficient, so for every 1 kWh of gas you put in, you get around 0.85kWh of heat out, which is nearly 4x less efficient than a heat pump.

These are typical install efficiencies for gas boilers and low temperature heat pumps installed in real homes. See our heat pump saving blog for the full set of calculations and assumptions.

Research shows that using a heat pump to power heating and cooking emits less harmful nitrous oxide (which has been identified in the report as a contributor to asthma and other respiratory illnesses) when compared to using a gas boiler for this. For more info see Sustainable Markets Initiative Cleantech homes report.