Are there conditions to the free electricity offer?

There’s no need to guess what hours you joined in for, or what energy you used during those hours.

The Free Energy dates and hours you can get from the app, it lists all of the dates that you actually joined up for.
The kwh usage for those hours you can get from the half-hour electricity usage on you online account or in the app.

I've now done a spreadsheet for my own hours/usage and (after playing about with possible options and tariffs) I've concluded the following:

To calculate your Beyond Free Energy credit:
They are using a maximum of 1kWh free per hour selected.
They are using your own tariff rate, ex-VAT.
(Don’t forgrt that if you are on a variable tariff the rate changed on 1st July)

My sheet calculated credits do not quite match the actual credits I've been given, June and July are respectively 2-pence and 1-pence different.
However I'm putting that down to the fact that OVO will be using 3-decimal places for kWh figures whereas I'm only using 2-DPs, which could easily explain the difference.

For what it's worth here is a screenshot of my spreadsheet with my Free Energy progress to date:

I think that was a very good effort to show that the Free Energy credit is actually based on a calculation rather than a random amount alluded to by some comments. It does take time and effort to understand what is being offered and to know what to do in order to maximise your return. I'm sure some people are put off when the expected returns don't materialize.

Thomas Edison. People don't realise how close they were to success when they gave up.

What fun!

I’m sure we’ve been told how to determine which month a particular week’s figures belong to, but perhaps it doesn’t matter when working out the monthly result.

Rounding errors are a nuisance. For example, I’m fairly sure OVO calculates its ex VAT tariffs to six places of decimals (in £, that is) but publishes them with four. The VAT inc. figures shown in quotes consist of either the six-digit figure or the four-digit one + 5% rounded to four. Either way, there’s liable to be a difference of 0.01p one way or the other. It would always be the same if rounding were applied consistently, but that’s obviously too much to expect. Since you’ve ended up within 2p three times, that’s pretty conclusive. 

You could easily eliminate rounding errors in your own calculations simply by using the three-decimal figures available via the API*. The earliest time I can get mine is sliding later and later; a few months ago I could get them at 08:30 (BST) most days. Now I have to wait until after 10:30 to get them. OVO doesn’t collect them until sometimes 24 hours after the event, so n3rgy is my preferred channel ATM. I think MHHS is clogging up the pipes …
  

*   smartpaymapi.ovoenergy.com/usage/api/half-hourly/nnnnnnn?date=2025-08-13 . Adjust by substituting the OVO account no. for nnnnnnn and changing the date as appropriate. Since it’s only one day at a time, this is most useful as a daily routine. n3rgy will retrieve up to 90 days’ data, while Bright will retrieve all data available from the meter, up to 400 days’ worth. 

If the figures quoted on the bill are ex VAT as now appears likely, then it’s quite right for them to be deducted from charges before VAT is calculated, unlike all other discounts and rebates that can appear on bills. The wording of the placeholder text below becomes IMO suspect as well as confusing ...  

We are referring the the beyond free offer. Where we select our chosen two hours and then add it to the calendar to remind us to put the washing on.

Not saving us anything though. 

For July I opted into at least 4hours.

 

There’s no need to guess what hours you joined in for, or what energy you used during those hours.

The Free Energy dates and hours you can get from the app, it lists all of the dates that you actually joined up for.
The kwh usage for those hours you can get from the half-hour electricity usage on you online account or in the app.

I've now done a spreadsheet for my own hours/usage and (after playing about with possible options and tariffs) I've concluded the following:

To calculate your Beyond Free Energy credit:
They are using a maximum of 1kWh free per hour selected.
They are using your own tariff rate, ex-VAT.
(Don’t forgrt that if you are on a variable tariff the rate changed on 1st July)

My sheet calculated credits do not quite match the actual credits I've been given, June and July are respectively 2-pence and 1-pence different.
However I'm putting that down to the fact that OVO will be using 3-decimal places for kWh figures whereas I'm only using 2-DPs, which could easily explain the difference.

For what it's worth here is a screenshot of my spreadsheet with my Free Energy progress to date:

 

Sorry where are you finding how much you used for those hours?  I know what I have opted in for as the app tells me, and I save to my cslender
 

I can’t see that level of detail in the app

Look under Usage. You can select any day going back a long time. Below the bar chart, click View as table to see the figures the chart is based on.  I had a free hour on Sunday 10-11; this is what I see in the table, having had a luxurious lie-in and having delayed my morning shower for a few hours:
  

[Some might say the table’s upside down ...]

Firedog has show how you can get them in the app.

Personally I get then from my online account though.
I prefer the bigger screen, and it’s easier to cut/paste them into a spreadsheet or document on the same computer if/when I want to do that.

Login to you account and select ‘Usage’ on the left.
Change to ‘Day’ and ‘Electricity’.
You can use the arrrows to change days (Tip- if you are looking for past months then switch into ‘Month’ and change it, then switch back to ‘Day’ when you are in the month you want).
The half hourly figures are in the list underneath the bar-chart.

Alternatively you can hover your cursor on one of the bars on the chart and it will show the usage for that half-hour:

Thanks all, it seems like there is definitely something wrong with our meter possibly the time isn’t set quite right.

Take Tuesday 8th July we had free hours at 9am-10 and 9pm-10pm

we definitely didn’t use much electricity between 7am and 7.30, the washing machine wouldn’t have been turned on till 8.30 at the earliest as this is when I get back from nursery drop offs.

Likewise 17.30-18.00 we wouldn’t have been using the electricity as this is when I finish work and go to pick up from nursery.

so we don’t start showers etc. till 18.45 or cooking dinner till 19.15 once in bed as he gets dinner at nursery.

seems like the time is 1-1.5hrs out 

4.26 kWh seems an awful lot to be using in half an hour at 7 o’clock in the morning. It’s the sort of usage you might expect to see if someone took a really long electric shower, or perhaps two more reasonable ones. I don’t think a washing machine could use so much, even if it were set to boil.  The same applies to the 17:30 figure: there would have to be something drawing ~8 kW to rack up 4.24 kWh in half an hour. It’s normally only heating equipment that is so power-hungry, although nowadays it could also be an electric vehicle having its battery charged. I think you’d have mentioned that.

As you noticed, there’s no sign of any attempt to use more than usual at 9 o’clock, morning or evening. We can’t see the date in your screenshot - you’re sure you’ve got the right one?