Battery-only installations are growing in popularity in the UK, thanks to falling battery prices and the rise of time-of-use tariffs, which let you import cheap electricity at off-peak times.

With just a bit of scheduling, this allows people to save hundreds of pounds per year on their electricity bills.

In this guide, we’ll go through the ins and outs of the best battery tariffs on the market, tell you how easy (or difficult) it is to sign up to them, and make recommendations based on your preferences.

If you would like to see the savings you could get from a solar & battery system, just answer a few questions below, and we’ll provide an estimate.

What are the best battery tariffs?

The best battery tariffs are Good Energy Heat Pump, British Gas Charge Power, and Agile Octopus.

When you’re choosing between battery tariffs, the off-peak rate will usually be the most visible statistic presented by suppliers – but to maximise your savings, it’s worth looking deeper.

You should also consider a tariff’s off-peak hours, peak rate, and standing charge, as well as any other conditions – including exit fees.

We’ll keep regularly updating this list, as energy companies change their tariffs or introduce new ones to meet the rising demand.

94% of new solar panel installations in the UK include a battery, according to data from Flexi-Orb and EPVS, which has led to a rise in battery tariffs – and we expect this to continue.

How do battery tariffs work?

Battery tariffs provide you with daily off-peak hours, when you can import electricity from the grid at a cheaper rate.

You can charge your battery to full during these times, then use this electricity to power your home for the rest of the day.

With a large enough battery, you can cover most or all of your usage in this way – so even though the off-peak rate only lasts a few hours, you’re effectively using it most of the time.

Joining a battery tariff is relatively simple, too. If you’re switching from a different supplier, you may have to join a standard tariff first, but the whole process shouldn’t take longer than a few weeks.

Setting up your battery to charge at off-peak times should also be pretty straightforward, and a good installer will help you put this schedule in place.

So you can easily take advantage of appealing import tariffs – and though you can’t yet sign up for any export tariffs with a standalone battery, this could change soon.

The best battery tariffs: explained

Here are all the most important things to know about the three best battery tariffs, including all their off-peak and peak periods, the thankfully limited eligibility criteria you’ll face, and what your savings might look like.

We’ll also tell you how to sign up for each tariff. You may have to switch suppliers to get the best rate, but that one step could cut your electricity bills by hundreds of pounds per year.

1. Good Energy Heat Pump

Despite having ‘heat pump’ in its name, this tariff has always been open to all households, all the way back to its launch in November 2024.

Its 10p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) off-peak rate has risen to 14p per kWh since then, but this is still the lowest offering around. It’s also active for seven hours per day, which is the longest of any battery tariff.

You can fill your battery from 5am to 9am, use this low-cost electricity for the rest of the day – and you get another off-peak period from 1pm to 4pm.

As it’s best to only cycle your battery once per day, we wouldn’t recommend using this 1pm-4pm spell to charge up again – but you should use it to run energy-intensive appliances.

Having these seven off-peak hours should allow you to cheaply run your dishwasher, oven, washing machine, and tumble dryer – even doing multiple loads of laundry – without constantly checking the clock.

It’s also more than enough time for you to fill your battery, considering the average model charges to full in around two hours, according to our research.

The tariff’s peak rate is also decent, though its standing charge is the highest on this page, as is its £75 exit fee for switching suppliers.

Full tariff profile

How to switch to Good Energy Heat Pump

You can switch to Good Energy Heat Pump straight away online – you just need your address and bank details, as you would while switching to any tariff.

If Good Energy doesn’t currently supply your electricity, the sign-up process will be the same, but there may be a delay as the move goes through – which is normal.

It should only take three weeks at most for the two suppliers involved to sort it out though, thanks to the Energy Switch Guarantee.

All the major energy companies have signed up to this series of standards, which was created by trade association Energy UK.

2. British Gas Charge Power

Charge Power is more of a standard time-of-use tariff, with a single five-hour long off-peak period per day.

Even the fact that it lasts from 12am to 5am is typical, as it matches the majority of the best EV tariffs on the market.

Launched in January 2026, this fixed-rate tariff offers slightly higher rates than Good Energy, and at worse times. 12am-5am is simply less convenient for most people than the off-peak periods Good Energy offers.

But if five hours of unbroken off-peak electricity suits your household better than two separate periods of time that add up to seven hours, Charge Power could be the right choice for you.

Plus, it comes with a lower standing charge and exit fee than Good Energy Heat Pump.

You can schedule your high-energy devices to run during off-peak times on either of these tariffs, but Charge Power is the simplest version of that.

Full tariff profile

How to switch to British Gas Charge Power

If you’re already getting your energy from British Gas, the switch should be quick and easy to carry out online. In fact, the supplier says you can “switch in minutes”.

If you’re switching energy companies, you’ll need to join British Gas’s standard variable tariff first, then make the switch to Charge Power.

Once again, you’ll just need your home and bank details to sign up.

3. Agile Octopus

This tariff is completely unlike the others on this list.

On Agile Octopus, every 30-minute period of the day has its own price, to reflect the shifting nature of the wholesale electricity market.

Every day around 4pm, you’ll find out what the next day’s prices will be – and while that may all sound intimidating, there are some things you can reliably expect.

The most expensive period is always 4pm to 7pm, and the cheapest times tend to be at night.

Octopus has also put some safeguards in place. If the wholesale price spikes, the tariff has a £1 per kWh price cap – and if the market explodes, you can leave at any time with no exit fee.

The unpredictability goes both ways, too. Agile’s rate can fall below zero, meaning you could get paid to use electricity, in a phenomenon Octopus calls ‘plunge pricing’.

To make the most of this tariff, you should keep an eye on the daily prices and shift your usage accordingly – which can just mean checking your Octopus app before you schedule the dishwasher.

If you don’t regularly check the prices and simply spread your electricity usage across the day, you’ll still save around £263 per year, on average – but if you do, you could save loads more.

For more information, read our full guide to Agile Octopus.

Full tariff profile

How to switch to Agile Octopus

It should take just a few clicks for households already on Octopus to join Agile.

New customers will need to wait a bit longer after signing up online, with Octopus saying “it generally takes us around 14 days to connect to a smart meter so we can read it remotely”.

This is well within the three-week industry limit for switching suppliers.

Summary

The best battery tariff depends on your electricity usage habits and how willing you are to change them to maximise your savings, but it’ll most likely be Good Energy Heat Pump.

However, some households will prefer the simplicity of British Gas Charge Power, while you could save the most on Agile Octopus – as long as you’re willing to pay attention and be flexible.

In any case, signing up to a battery tariff should save you hundreds of pounds per year on your electricity bills.

If you would like to see the savings you could get from a solar & battery system, just answer a few questions below, and we’ll provide an estimate.

FAQs