Struggling to achieve Power Move target!

Well done @Tasa. 

You are doing great but it seems unlikely that using lights or the tv makes much difference but 6.74% is very impressive! 

I’m not even bothering with Power Move any more. Last year, as an experiment, I sat in the dark not wathing TV on those days when I was set a target and managed to save about £20 in total. This year I’m told if I hit my target I’ll get £15 off my £150 a month electric bill (gas was £120 last month, November). Not worth the bother.

I live in a 3 bed semi and am home all day. My background electricity usage (day and night) according to my smart meter display, is about 10p an hour. That’s for my CCTV (11 cameras) and other stuff like routers, PC, laptop a server and switches etc. As I type this on a cold winters evening (gas heating) with lights and TV and Christmas lights on, my electricity is about 24p an hour. How does that compare to other people?

BTW, I use the Bright Ap  on my phone from Hildebrand Technology to see my smartmeter information. Far superior to the little display unit they give you with smartmeter and its free, no adverts.

Tony

One good guide to ‘essential usage’ is what you’re using in the darkest hours of the night. Assuming that you’re routinely switching everything off at the wall before bed, usage between, say, 02:00 and 05:00 should be your benchmark for what to aim for in the afternoon peak period. If you’re using a lot more in the afternoon period, you might want to find out what it is that’s gobbling your electricity. 

For those of you who said you need to sit in the dark, you might misunderstand the concept of a power move. All you have to do is reduce high power usage within that 3-hour time slot. You can still enjoy your TV, turn on the lights, and operate your gas heater, etc. You can even use high-power devices like the hair dryer (for a few minutes, it's perfectly fine) or the washing machine (not the tumble dryer). 

This power move is so easy to achieve. We have hardly ever had lights on in the house anyway other than switching on to go in a room for something and switching off again after we've left..We turned the TV off when not in the room watching and always do the cleaning, cooking and washing etc out of the peak periods  it's so easy, and we also have completed our power move every month since its inception. 

Lights (assuming they are all LED; if not, you should swap them out for replacements) and TVs (not plasma TVs) have very low power consumption, so you can turn them on as usual even within the 3-hour slot.

I use one of these to check the power use of various items, really useful.

If you're cooking, washing and using power hungry devices during the weekdays but  outside of those hours it should not be a problem. There should be no need to switch off lights or TV unless they're all particularly power hungry. 

As for saving 10% off the bill that sounds good to me. 

To be honest all of the answers have been posted before on similar questions. I'm not sure what @Sleepysusie is trying to achieve by posting again although the answers get another airing which is not a bad thing. You can't please all of the people all of the time.

This is a bit of a mystery which is currently being investigated at OVO.

I changed it to half-hourly on my account (Firefox browser on my laptop, not the app) when I first joined Power Move at the end of October, others report that they have changed it online too.

But it seems that the option isn’t always there, or isn’t always visible for some people.
(I can’t find it anymore now in my account).
Nobody appears to know just why it’s behaving like that.

EDIT- Click this for one explanation of what can cause it and how to fix it:
 

Just had another email saying unfortunately you didn’t meet your target between 4:30pm to 6 pm on Friday 1st December how could I us less energy I was out all day till 7 pm come on OVO just cut your prices and stop giving customers unreachable targets 

It does seem to be a bit of a moveable jobby, this updating to half-hourly button.
 

At the moment it is visible after a bit of a search (via Safari browser, I haven’t checked on the OVO app): my online OVO account has the half-hourly button visible via the “path to zero” link from the home page, then by clicking on the “discover Power Move” and then finally the “Update to half-hourly” button. I didn’t try clicking it, though.

@Nukecad & @waltyboy

Thanks both for your replies trying to elucidate the mystery of the seemingly moveable "update to half-hourly meter reading" button. This just gets curiouser and curiouser!

Routinely I use Firefox browser on a desktop PC for all of my online stuff with MS Edge as a reserve option. I do not have the app. I've just checked my Ovo account using  both Firefox and MS Edge. On the homepage menu in neither browser do I find a "Path to Zero" link though I do recall it being there previously. It's weird that it's available to some but not to others.

I'm not going to concern myself any further with the issue.

Thank you @Mike K …and as @Nukecad mentioned earlier, it is a mystery that is getting investigated by OVO.  Clarity will come soon, I’m sure!!

Best of luck to you…

I’m not trying to achieve anything, I just don’t agree with this stupid way of cutting off my appliances, I’m 65 and I am Not Retired, unable to. My home has Dimplex Quantum storage heating fitted by my local council and far too expensive to run. No gas as they ripped it out. I have two  electric panel heaters which are more controllable, and a fan heater. Still £12 to £14 per day now the weather is colder. I’m ok, just… but I really feel for those on a very limited income. Saving pennies with this farcical scheme is an insult.

Also, though I actually got an email telling me I’d been credited £15 in September and sitting in the dark for an hour the other week credited £2.00, nowhere on my OVO account do I see these credits. 

It’s not a scheme to save money, it’s a scheme to help lower the carbon emission of electricity generation.

Hey @Amanda Jones,

If you’re referring to Power Move Plus, the following information should help explain:

How do you calculate my personal target?

We calculate your personal target using ESO’s methodology. For more information see DFS Participation Guidance Document. 

For working days – Your personal target is calculated using the half hourly electricity usage data taken from your smart meter over the last 10 working days (Mon - Fri excluding bank holidays) before an event. Days where there’s been a Power Move Plus event will not count towards the target. You must have at least 5 working days worth of data for a target to be calculated.

For non-working days (Saturday, Sunday & bank holidays) – Your personal target is calculated using the half hourly electricity usage data taken from your smart meter over the last 4 non-working days. Days where there’s been a Power Move Plus event will not count towards the target. You must have at least 4 non-working days worth of data for a target to be calculated.

This means, as your usage changes over the course of winter, so does your personal target.

Hey @Syd,

You can find out more by heading over to our FAQ page this will explain in detail, what the scheme is and how it benefits the environment,

Is Power Move Plus part of the ESO's Demand Flexibility Service (DFS)?

The Electricity Systems Operator (ESO) is currently running a Demand Flexibility Service (DFS). This is in collaboration with energy suppliers to help customers reduce their bills this winter and reduce demand on the grid at peak times.

Power Move Plus encompasses the ESO’s Demand Flexibility Service with notifications you’ll receive being triggered by ESO. 

For more information on the ESO’s Demand Flexibility Service and how it links with Power Move Plus please see here.

Why is it better for the environment to not use electricity during peak times?

Generating renewable energy releases less carbon into the atmosphere than burning fossil fuels. But did you know that, even though you’re on a greener energy plan, more or less carbon is released depending on what time you use the energy?

Here’s how:

When it’s windy or sunny, renewable power is pumped into the energy grid and used in homes across the UK. But if we need more energy than the wind or sun can supply, we have to top up with fossil fuel power.

At times, lots of energy is being used by a lot of people at the same time. During those peak times or days, it's more likely we'll need to top up the system with fossil fuel energy, and it’s expensive to turn on fossil fuel generators. So it’s kinder to the planet to shift our non-essential energy use away from times of high demand, even if we’re on a green energy plan. This helps the country avoid having to top up with fossil fuels.

I’ve done a bit of testing and believe I’ve found why that’s happening.

It gets technical but that is to do with how those particular sections of the website are coded.
Modern browsers such as Edge Chromium and Firefox see that type of coding as a privacy/security risk and so block it.

Firefox does now usually block “Path to Zero” by default. (they tightened the protections a couple of versions ago)
To stop Firefox doing that you can go into Firefox Settings>Privacy & Security>Manage exceptions and make the OVO account Homepage an Exception to the blocking.
You may/will also have to do similar in any adblocking and anti-tracking extensions you may be running and make it an exception in those too.

Edge doesn’t usually block “Path to Zero” by default. (Yet).
If you are not seeing “Path to Zero” in Edge then it wil probably be because you have Tracking Protection set to ‘Strict’ - that will then block it just as Firefox does.
If you want to leave it at ‘Strict’ then go into the Edge Settings>Privacy etc.> Exceptions and make the OVO account Homepage an Exception to the blocking.
Alternatively just change the Tracking Protection from ‘Strict’ to’ Balanced’.
Again you may/will also have to do similar in any adblocking and anti-tracking extensions you may be running and make the OVO account Home page an exception in those too.

PS. I’m not sure about the settings in Google Chrome itself, but suspect that they will be the same as with Edge.
(I don’t have Chrome on my machines so can’t test it).

@Nukecad

Thank you for your comprehensive explanation. In my view you've gone way above and beyond what I could have reasonably anticipated.

I have had the Ghostery extension installed for some years now for ad blocking and tracking protection. I think that I've understood how to implement your proposed remedy but will not be doing so simply because the original problem is not one that I have. I only joined this thread in an attempt to assist another poster. Nonetheless, you have my gratitude.

What would incentivise me to try and hit the target would be if they raised the target to a realistic 20pc. What's the point of a target that's unachievable?

The whole scheme needs reassessment 

This is not an independent scheme run by Ovo whereby they can change the target to whatever they like. It is defined by the ESO’s Demand Flexibility Service. They set the target and they set the reward. All Ovo does is sign up to the DFS so that their customers can benefit from the rewards if they meet the DFS’s criteria.

Plenty of good examples and tips have been given here on how to do this if you have a pattern of useage that is flexible in the way that the DFS requires. Perhaps re-reading some of the success stories on here will help you adapt your usage. If not you have lost nothing. If you don't think it’s worth the effort then you don't have to change anything.

In which case, feedback needs to be sent to DFS that their parsimonious scheme is not incentivising customers, because its criteria are unachievable.

We have shifted all cooking, washing, ironing etc to outside the 4-7pm and still can't hit target

In short, the 13.5% is too low and the scheme is a con

Power Move is an OVO scheme 

Power Move Plus is a National Grid ESO scheme 

You are talking about Power Move which is an OVO scheme.

Is there a Degree awarded for all that faffing just to save pennies?