We tried everything to reduce our usage but still didn't meet the Power Move target, any hints and tips?

We gave up, too much effort for not much return. 

I have noticed from various threads/posts on this forum that if you cook using gas then you are probably going to struggle to meet the target.

It's the moving of cooking by electricity out of the 3 hours that appears to have the biggest effect, so if you don't cook with electricity then what else is there to move?

Electric kettle? Boil a pan on the gas instead- but still use the electric kettle outside of the 3 hours to keep that usage up.

Personally all my cooking is electric and so I'm finding that just cooking outside of the 3 hours easily meets the target for me. (It's my first time on Power Move so I am monitoring it daily using my own spreadsheet (not the one posted elsewhere)).

Most days this month I have been below 6% just by cooking earlier/later. If I cook within the 3 hours (at weekend) then I miss the target - BUT:

A small tip for those who do cook with electricity and who like to eat between 4 and 7. - I did a trial ysterday and made chicken and vegetable rice for my evening meal. I cooked it from scratch in the afternoon, microwaved a chicken thigh, boiled the rice and veg, put it all to one side. Then at about 6pm I chopped the cooked meat into the cooked rice/veg and used the microwave to re-heat it all. 4 minutes of microwave use in the 3 peak hours didn't affect the target percentage by much at all (the actual cooking had been outside those hours). The same technique could be used on anything microwaveable. Of course that does rely on you being at home to cook things in the afternoon.

A couple of comments:

When you check your usage (kWh, not cost) for the target period, have a look at what you’re using during the three quietest hours of the night as well. This will tell you what your ‘background’ usage level is (unless you have, say, an immersion heater that heats up during the night). Any difference between the two figures is what you could potentially dispense with, apart perhaps from lighting.

Kettles, toasters, microwaves and - worst of all - electric showers are killers - don’t use them between 4 and 7.

Talking of showers, many bathrooms have an extractor fan that works when the light is switched on and for a few minutes after it’s switched off. Check your IHD to see just how much it’s consuming - you may be surprised.

Fridges and freezers have to work harder as the room they’re in gets warmer, as it will during the afternoon in most houses (unless the freezer is in an outhouse, say). Again, this can make a significant difference, especially where older, less ‘efficient’ appliances are concerned. 

Many others have pointed out that, because the scheme ignores weekends, any essential weekend usage that could be moved to a weekday will improve the target percentage if it’s shifted to a weekday outside of the target hours. Do the weekly wash on Friday evening or Monday morning instead on on Saturday; the same with hoovering and any other power-gobbling activity that you might normally do at the weekend but could move to sometime during the week, just outside of the 4-7 window. You’ll have a more peaceful weekend and possibly a £15 carrot at the end of the month to compensate for that weekday housework.

Hey @GilDean,

Really great advice given here by waltyboy! 

I’d love for us to get to the bottom of this!

Thank you for the advice above. I feel that the effort involved to save a few pounds is just too much. We have saved more than that by looking at our overall usage.

We will  just live our lives doing what we want when we want , whilst looking at our environmental responsibilities as a couple as an overall commitment and not just between 4-7pm on weekdays.

How on earth are you.paying £180 a month we are 3 bed semi, 2 people living here we pay £70 a month, and been advised to reduce to £5 a month as in credit. We went on to the fixed rate in July.

Hi @Merryharry 

I haven't read all the posts. 

£180 - Looking at the post from @Will R  it sounds like it includes heating so may include gas or electric heating perhaps. I obviously don't know. Using the revised Ofgem Typical Domestic Consumption Values and dual fuel, the average customer now pays £152.83 a month

Do you mind me asking what your £70 includes? Is that all your energy? 

I'm getting a little suspicious of these savings. I joined as soon as they were available. I don't charge devices between 4 and 7pm, don't use washing machine, eat before 4pm so no oven used. I made a big effort to cut down but received an email telling me the Smart metre didn't take my reading in that time period and therefore I wouldn't be eligible for the saving. I called OVO, they checked my account and saw I had met the saving and refunded me the £15. Now I've had another email saying I'm not on track for the next one. The Smart metre is their equipment and their responsibility to make sure they're working correctly. I don't leave plugs left in the socket I take them out,  no standby, fill my kettle with what I want, one cup or two cups, lights are never left on in rooms not being used. Everything they suggest I have done,  so I'm getting suspicious. I'm not only participating in this for the personal saving but also for not wasting resources. 

Yes gas and electric, don't use gas in the summer, and cut back on electric use, in the summer, which is why now I can't cut back any more :( so now penalised for trying to save between 4 and 7:(

I for one can promise you that it is possible, even if you have already stripped your energy consumption back to bare basics. My daily electricity spend is currently averaging 30p a day, so I have very little to work with in terms of moving use away from the 4-7 slot, but I am still hitting the target with plenty to spare.