I have read several comments, and it seems that like me, many are frustrated with the fact we never achieve our target! I don’t use a washing machine at peak times, I only use the oven perhaps once a week for less than 30 mins, I often delay firing up the central heating so the pump is not pulling power, and we watch TV with one small table light on. How much more do I have to switch off? It’s a big con!
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We joined the power move scheme in the winter and did the best we could by avoiding as much electricity consumption during the peak hours. We are low consumers generally. Typical electric consumption is around 6kWh per day during the heating season. We achieved no rewards at all because there wasn’t much more we could have done. Background use that we can’t shut down pushed us outside the limits.
In May we shut down the oil boiler and activated the immersion heater. At this point of the year our electric consumption more or less doubles. The immersion timer is set for two 1 ½ hour periods a day. One at night, one mid afternoon. Of course, that changes the arithmetic and in May we achieved a reward under Power Move. This is daft. We get a reward for doubling our electric consumption.
as an aside why do you switch off your oil boiler? Its cheaper to heat water by oil than by electric unless you’re using a cheap off peak tarrif
Can I cut in here re the immersion? Do you need 2x1.5 hours every day? Do you ever run out of hot water? Have you tried lowering the temperature or running it for a shorter time?
Our only way of heating hot water used to be an immersion on a timer, I had no idea what temperature it heated to I just knew it was hot. The little adjuster on the thermostat was very hit and miss. Our electricity bill was high, mostly due to that.
Now we have a heat pump I have a sensor on the tank which tells me the temperature. Knowledge is power !!
Ps. the heat pump is so much more efficient that it uses about the same amount of electricity for both hot water and heating as just our old immersion!!!
One of the unintended consequences of Power Move seems to be that the easiest way to make the target percentage is to actually increase your overall consumption. I am not sure how it affects my CO2 production but I always leave my oil boiler heating my hot water in the summer as it seems to be cheaper then immersion - uses very little oil.
Its the only way in our household.
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I agree with the OP, it (Power Move) seem to operate a little perversely when usage is already quite low. It is looking at a ratio between two quantities, so in theory, you could be rewarded for making the denominator (i.e. the total) bigger, not smaller. Though it would be a discount on a bigger bill.
If you are a light user and can make it work then the reward (fixed amount) is a bigger percentage of your total bill. For me, as a heavy user, it's a much smaller percentage. I could say this is unfair as I've shifted many more kWh out of the peak compared to a light user but actually I'm very pleased that the lighter users are getting a better deal because you have certainly had to put more thought, effort and perhaps inconvenience into achieving that.
Peter
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