Impossible to hit target working from home

Are you doing your washing during week days or at weekends? We have switched using the washing machine and dryer to during the week out of the 4-7 period which increases our week day daily usage enough to get us below the 13.5%

Samr here no way can I meet the target:(  being a low user anyway :( thinking I should use the washing machine and dishwasher in October then I'll have a chance in November 

I work from home myself, often using Samurott which is my ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop with a 180W charger and two 24-inch Samsung displays, yet I still manage to pretty much smash the targets. This is a power hungry setup compared to the average WFH arrangement - so it’s definitely possible.

I agree we don't work from home during the day but do need to use at least 1 laptop between 5 and 7 every night. Where possible we charge the laptop out of the 4-7 period but we do often forget and still manage to hit the target. 

The other thing that also helps my case is that I’m a Community Volunteer with the fire service. The random nature of the role means I can get random periods of time where my usage in the flat is near zero. Not as useful for regular Power Move, but potentially useful for Power Move Plus...

What is power move plus?

If you remember OVO Shift & Save last year, it’s the same thing - and this time you CAN be on OVO Power Move and OVO Power Move Plus at the same time, as well as benefiting from both rewards if you meet multiple goals.

More info at https://www.ovoenergy.com/power-move-plus-coming-soon

Thanks if it goes off our usual usage then we unfortunately won't benefit as we have changed our usage between 4 and 7 all the time now as it works for us. 

But this is why there are different schemes out there as everyone uses electricity differently and we all need to do our bit.

All day I use washing machine dishwasher shower, 4 to 7 airfryer, or microwave lights and TV in the summer we cooked on the bbq so obviously our usage is higher for for cooking

Hi @Merryharry Sounds like you’ll be on course to hit the 4-7 target, although you’ll have to be careful about monitoring consumption 4-7 of the microwave and/or air fryer, both those items can be as much as 2kW, though obviously it’ll vary a bit, they’re not going to be at full tilt every second. But over, say, 40 minutes or so you could be looking at well over 1kWh, I would guess? Whereas a single washing machine load, say, might use around the same and so not really “cancel out” your 4-7 cooking usage?

Interesting to monitor it over a few days or so; we’re not much more than halfway through October (where has that all gone, though, already?!) so plenty of time yet…

Airfryers  and microwaves are only low usage electric items as they take less time to heat up. Best to avoid using them during the 4-7 period. 

Hi Missxtx, 

Sorry to hear you’re struggling with Power Move. I also have a one bedroom flat and it’s very well insulated so I’m lucky.
Have you got a fridge freezer on? As it’s getting colder now I turned mine down last week, just a notch from 5 to 4 and ½ and was amazed at the difference it made. Obviously you don’t want food to go off so just try it a little bit at a time. I also bought a cheap thermometer online which shows me the danger levels when it’s too warm. I also use an iPad instead of a laptop although my laptop has the added advantage of keeping me warm (when it’s on my lap) I have four vents on every window so I’ve stuffed two of them with cotton wool! Who needs four vents for goodness sake! :0 

I hope some of these suggestions work but they’re certainly worth a try. Good luck 🤞:) 
 

Hey @Missxtx, 😊

Some really helpful hints and tips here from other community members! 

Just wanted to add this topic may be useful:

• What's the biggest impact changes I can make to my usage to help me hit my Power Move target? TIPS

When WFH try to:

Finish work and turn your laptop off by 4pm or as soon after as possible

Run appliances such as dishwasher, washing machine and dryer on weekdays before 4pm instead of at weekends

Do the ironing on weekdays after 7pm (or before 4pm if workload permits)

Only use the kettle before 4pm or after 7pm and

Avoid using the oven or microwave for your evening meal until after 7pm.

Taken together, these measures should see you comfortably hit the target. 

I’ve tried to hit target, just impossible.

when you’ve got disabled twins, hoist is electric, feed pump on at 4pm, washer on all day, everyone eats at different times(use the slow cooker a lot). Tv and game consoles on from 4 when they get home….cant tell an autistic boy he’ll have to wait till 7pm doesn’t work.

£250 a month gas and electric for 4bed house is ridiculous 

I have Autistic Spectrum Disorder myself, a fact that is well known on this Forum. Change is hard for us, that much is true. But it’s not completely impossible - you just have to do it gently and carefully.

The current times to AVOID are currently 6pm to 9pm Weekdays - you can use the washing machine at 4pm without penalty as it’ll actually count towards Off-Peak and make your goals easier to reach.

Feed pumps use barely any electricity, with most of them you’re talking just 50w max and many can run off of a battery, so they’re usually pretty lightweight. Even a TV and games console won’t do much damage to your goals. Slow cookers are fine too - as long as you finish up by the target time.

As for electric hoists… I know of quite a few actually. Pretty much all the old Liko Likorall hoists ran on battery and basically recharged using a 12-18V wall charger that you would dock the handset into. Barely used any juice at all because you were just charging the battery. Many of the ones I know about are also battery powered because it makes them more flexible.

Those that are mains powered also don’t use much - you’re talking maybe a couple of hundred watts for 30-90 seconds at a time for pretty short cycles, so again don’t do much to your overall usage. On average, you’d be talking 15-30 seconds for the lifting cycle, maximum 60 seconds for the transfer (assuming it’s electrically powered - zero if you move the user manually) and 15-30 seconds for the lowering cycle. You’re talking something like 0.2kWh of juice for the whole cycle at most - but it’s probably far less.

It’s the HEAVY Stuff like cooking and washing that are what Power Move is targeting.