Here’s how participants of our Power Move trial, which took place over the winter of 2022/23, got their peak usage levels down enough to hit their target.
What worked for you?
Here’s how participants of our Power Move trial, which took place over the winter of 2022/23, got their peak usage levels down enough to hit their target.
What worked for you?
It seems like you’re doing everything right apart from the cooking & making cups of tea, which are massive electricity users. I get round the not cooking between 6 & 9 by cooking a big pan full on the hob in off-peak times (including the weekends now!) & freezing it in portions, then take out what you’ll need in the morning to defrost ready to warm up when you get home from work. That way you’ll massively reduce your 6 to 9 usage.
If you have to cook between 6 to 9 maybe simply cook enough for the next day as well & pop the rest in the fridge then you’re only cooking every other day & halving your usage then.
I also make a pot of tea earlier & fill a thermos to drink in peak time. If you aren’t home in time maybe you could fill a thermos at work?
First thing power move ISN'T about reducing your carbon foot print or reducing your consumption.
That’s not strictly true. Sure, you can reduce your carbon footprint by using less electricity overall - but you can also reduce it by making changes to when you use it. Because most people in this country make tea, cook dinner and watch TV between 6 PM and 9 PM, the national demand for power is highest. This means that the electricity generators have to use more fossil fuels (primarily gas and sometimes even coal) in this period, so pumping up the carbon emissions. By reducing demand in this period and shifting it to earlier or later in the day, the amount of fossil fuels needed is also reduced and along with it our collective carbon footprint.
Between 6 and 9 I make my dinner and a cup of tea, and some nights I watch tv.
There you have it. Cooking (with electricity) and boiling the kettle use lots of energy. The TV not so much, but a significant amount nonetheless, depending on how big it is and how old it is - newer ones consume in general a lot less than older ones.
If you can’t bear to do without a hot meal in this peak period, you could prepare it earlier and heat it up in the microwave (which uses a lot less energy than the electric stove) when your stomach tells you. If you could think of drinking instant coffee instead of tea, you could fill a thermos flask with boiling water before 6 - it will still be plenty hot enough two or three hours later. And you may be surprised to discover what you don’t really miss by not being glued to the telly for those three hours.
I’m old - and sitting down to a hot meal in the early evenings is a comfort to me. As for the telly - I rarely have it in before 8 anyway, and am much more likely to listen to my solar powered radio.
I can afford to cook and eat when I want to, knowing I’ll probably miss their targets. But it troubles me that there will be other old people who will scrimp on food just to try to keep their bills down.
Which is precisely why we STRONGLY advise two things in relation to Power Move:
If a Forum Volunteer such as myself - or one of the Forum Moderators - spots signals related to either of these two things (or both!), this is exactly the advice we’ll give. If needed, we can signpost them to resources both at OVO and elsewhere for further assistance.
We also constantly monitor the Forum for any signs of energy rationing behaviours from visitors. If we spot that, we’ve got arrangements in place to flag it up and get OVO’s attention.
This stance is shared by ALL Forum Volunteers, Forum Moderators and OVO’s internal teams. We don’t ever want to see cool stuff like Power Move ruining someone’s life, which is why there are safeguards in place like these.
Which is precisely why we STRONGLY advise two things in relation to Power Move:
If a Forum Volunteer such as myself - or one of the Forum Moderators - spots signals related to either of these two things (or both!), this is exactly the advice we’ll give. If needed, we can signpost them to resources both at OVO and elsewhere for further assistance.
We also constantly monitor the Forum for any signs of energy rationing behaviours from visitors. If we spot that, we’ve got arrangements in place to flag it up and get OVO’s attention.
This stance is shared by ALL Forum Volunteers, Forum Moderators and OVO’s internal teams. We don’t ever want to see cool stuff like Power Move ruining someone’s life, which is why there are safeguards in place like these.
Thank you - I’ll stay for now, as I did save money earlier in the year, but I will miss targets and eat well enough this summer. And these replies have confirmed what I already thought - I can’t do much more without making my life miserable.
I’m far from flush with funds, but can afford to look after myself. I am concerned for those who can’t.
The only other thing you can do, and this is general advice to anyone who is a low user and having difficulty meeting the target, is to use the In House Display (IHD - paired with a smart meter) to go round the house and temporarily switch off all the items you have to make sure you know what is taking power. People often forget the router and the aerial amplifier (in a weak TV signal area) but maybe other devices such as the older style dumb phone power supplies which take a few watts unlike the modern smart phone ones which barely take anything at all (when not charging). Track down those extra power vampires that are on 24/7 and make sure they are only on outside of the peak. A surprising one in the summer for me is the boiler pump which takes 90 watts when heating the hot water tank. If you can schedule hot water heating outside of the peak it may just make a difference. Some people only just miss a target.
I went round my house and found everything taking power except for an annoyingly untraceable 1 watt drain. Then it suddenly went to zero when the backlight on the IHD timed out.
MAKE SURE you switch essential things back on again afterwards. Happy hunting!
Peter
I agree with you it’s hard to reduce between 6 and 9 pm. Sometimes we have our dinner at eight thirty. So cooking at eight so wouldn’t score any points there. but washing l might put on earlier or later. ironing maybe early as well. l am not going to worry myself about it.
I do see where you are coming from. but switching things off seems a bit like hard work. l might have my router on but not on my iPad all the time otherwise it gives me a headache because you are looking down on it. telly on but why should you go without just to save a bit.
As a light user it is extraordinarily difficult to meet the target ...
I’m not sure about that. I could only be regarded as a ‘light user’, but it depends a lot on what we think a light user is. Ofgem has its own classes, based on national (or perhaps GB) data:
Generally, PC2 means electric heating while PC1 means non-electric heating
Ofgem figures from Decision on revised Typical Domestic Consumption Values for gas and electricity and Economy 7 consumption split (ofgem.gov.uk)
So, my 1050 kWh/year (2.9 kWh/day) is officially very low. I’ve still managed to meet the target comfortably every month since July last year, so it can’t be that difficult. My principal weapon is the 9 kW electric shower: it’s never used in the peak period.
Has anyone noticed or even documented a change in peak-period consumption as the weather changes?
Many PM participants have grown used to switching off everything that’s not absolutely essential during the peak period, so any perceived change will be in ‘essential usage’ - including fridges and freezers. When the temperature in my kitchen rose above 20° for the first time this year a few weeks ago, I thought I noticed both the fridge and the freezer working a bit harder. However, the variation in peak-period usage is so erratic that I’m having difficulty comparing ambient temperature and essential electricity consumption. Those with sensors everywhere may be able to help here …
The chart is a quick attempt to see some sort of pattern. Beware the scales, fudged to exaggerate the trends if there are any. I may have to play with max/min daily temperatures to explain the difference between usage in the quiet hours (in this household, that’s 03:00 - 06:00) and the 18:00 - 21:00 peak period. In warm weather, it’s a lot warmer at 6 PM than it is at 6 AM, so I’d expect the fridge and freezer to reflect that. It might also be better to split the chart in two, with one for quiet hours v. temp and the other peak period v. temp, because otherwise the quiet hours curve is boringly flat. Anyway, spot the trends!
I think you may have to look at more ‘micro’ patterns as the typical fridge and freezer operate in bursts
So it will depend on the frequency of these as to any increase in a particular time slot.
I don’t have a separate monitor for this appliance but I know its signature and at present am getting approx 15 min on/off cycles, coupled with varying off times, depending on the time of day.
You could easily monitor via an energy version of a smart plug which would give a more definitive view but again, you would be better making a direct comparison between dates.
I think you may have to look at more ‘micro’ patterns as the typical fridge and freezer operate in bursts ...
Yep, I realize that. That’s why I had a look at the quiet hours (3-6AM) specifically, where I see quite neat ~hourly peaks, fridge and freezer presumably in sync early on and drifting apart as the night progresses:
It’s going to be really fiddly to prove my conjecture, so I’m not sure I’ll do it. The gut feeling abides, though, that fridges and freezers can make a significant difference to the PM target zone consumption, and their negative impact is probably greater in warmer weather in poorly-insulated dwellings like mine.
It won’t be a problem if this month’s weather continues in its current vein!
The power move where you can get £10 credit .im living abroad ,paying standing charges only and a small amount of electric ,in July my husband went back to the uk and used a bit extra now tell me how am I supposed to use 13% less electric when we are not even there
Hi
Based on what you’ve said, you are NOT eligible for Power Move credits because you’re not actively playing the game as intended. You need to be shifting power usage around from Peak to Off-Peak slots during the same day - not just nuking absolutely everything all day and/or flatlining your usage all day.
The clue is in the name Power Move, not Power Shutdown.
I think the question should be - why on earth do you think that Power Move would have any relevance to someone in your circumstances ?
I have seen lots of comments like this, I think that maybe OVO should explain better what they are trying to do as obviously quite a number of people do not understand what this is all about. It would seem that they think they should get a £10 discount even though they are using very little electricity in the first place. I have managed to qualify in the past but not every month, I do tend to avoid using power in the evening but do not let it dictate my life. What I do find irritating is when OVO fail to collect data from my smart meter I then get an email telling me I cannot claim any discount for that month. This has happened to me three times this year. Since it was OVO who installed the smart meter I think it’s a little unjust to refuse to pay out on something that they installed and I have no responsibility for. However, in my case, we have an all electric house and an electric car so £10 does not represent a large proportion of my bill. It just irritates, especially when Loop manages to get all the data!
It’s arguably already pretty well spelled out. It seems like a Problem exists between keyboard and chair issue because it’s already seriously transparent and I just can’t see how OVO can spell it out any more clearly at this point.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink, even if you totally drown it in the blue stuff.
I think the question should be - why on earth do you think that Power Move would have any relevance to someone in your circumstances ?
Because I joined it before we moved abroad that’s why a year before and still never got any credits when I did everything I was supposed to do
Hi
Based on what you’ve said, you are NOT eligible for Power Move credits because you’re not actively playing the game as intended. You need to be shifting power usage around from Peak to Off-Peak slots during the same day - not just nuking absolutely everything all day and/or flatlining your usage all day.
The clue is in the name Power Move, not Power Shutdown.
I joined it when it first started we only moved abroad in April and I never got any credit and I never just nuke everything all day I did shift power usage when I was on it ,I just needed advice not ,some of these sarcastically put answers ,but thanks for clarification as ovo hasn’t even responded ,none of you work for ovo just advise on your knowledge maybe if I had time I could read it all but since I’m living my life and don’t spend most of my time on line reading *edited by mod*
Hey
If you took part, you should see this as credits on your energy statement, and you would have also received emails letting you know the outcome each month.
As
I am desperately trying to work out what I am doing wrong.
I do nothing after 6pm in large appliances other than the fridge freezer . We only have limited lights on, all power saving bulbs. No heating. Only two tvs on and one playstation.
I make sure everything is done by six.
The only explanation I have is my usage is so low that any changes aren't making a difference. I really don't know what else to try
As a single person who lives alone, works nine to 5. Has turned off everything. Uses minimal energy. Apparently I'm still "not reaching my target" sorry but how can using £32 energy a month on everything as average, including trying to fit in with ovos advice, still equate to having to pay £150 a month DD. It's all a rip off. As many have said, what do we have to do. You're going to get people turning fridges and freezers off. Sitting in darkness and having accidents in the home just to qualify for a discount they will never get.
This is something that comes up quite frequently on the Forum so we first need to change how you look at the challenge.
Power Move IS NOT ABOUT REDUCING YOUR USAGE. It’s about moving Peak usage to Off-Peak.
Here are a few tips that I have on how you can hit your targets:
You need to MOVE usage out of the PEAK slots and into OFF-PEAK slots every day e.g. do your cooking later in the evening.
We're always on hand to give advice as volunteers and sometimes it's hard for us to keep answering the same questions. I hope this helps you understand how to look at the challenge better and if we can share any more advice then let us know with a comment.
Good luck with your targets and welcome to the Forum!
I am desperately trying to work out what I am doing wrong.
… the fridge freezer ... limited lights ... two tvs on and one playstation.
That’s what! You’d be surprised how much power lights (even LEDs), TVs and games consoles can draw.
Have a look at your online account’s Usage pages. Take a typical day’s figures from the table below the Day bar charts. Add up the six figures for 2.00am to 4.30am. These three hours in the middle of the night should give a good indication of the household’s essential energy consumption. Anything above that is optional. Divide this total by 3 to find out what the essential background draw is in kW
Then check how much the stuff you are running could actually be using. These are typical figures I took from here:
Appliance | Rating (watts) |
Fridge-Freezer | 100 – 300 |
Games Console | 100 – 200 |
LCD TV | 25 – 175 |
LED Bulb x 5 | 30 – 50 |
So you could be drawing 550 W (0.55 kW) over and above the essentials. That would equate to 1.65 kWh if these things were constantly in use from 6-9 pm. If your essential background power draw is a modest 150 W, your total weekly usage would have to be 140 kWh for your 6-9pm usage to amount to less than 6.5% of the total. That is a lot of energy, and it’s not likely that you’re using that much. So it’s not surprising that you’re not achieving the Power Move target.
Your IHD can tell you how many kW you’re drawing at any given time, so check what the figure actually is a few times during the Power Move peak period.
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