Unfortunately the easiest big electricity use that you can move out of peak time is cooking by electricity, (that's a big part of why it's  peak time - everyone is cooking then), so if you mainly cook on gas you can't do that.

I have only electric appliances here so just moving my cooking outside of peak for most weekday evenings does the job.

About the best I can suggest is if you can pre-cook the stuff that you do in the air fryer and just re-heat it when needed.

I'll often precook food in the microwave and then later quicky brown/reheat it in the air fryer. That would work well with things like burgers for the kids, but of course some things lik battered fish you can't do that.

Thinking of the kids, have you tried throwing hot dog sausages in the air fryer with some frozen oven chips? Microwave some beans at the same time and your meal only takes 10 minutes to cook.(I like it but I'm a 64 yo kid.

@Bob2 @Jackie Chapman 

I see Blastoise186 and Firedog have both left some advice and screenshots of the latest Power Move challenge times, but I just wanted to add a couple of things onto this.

On the Power Move homepage, the spring challenge times & £ are included on the page, see screenshot below of this:

You can also see more detail on the spring challenge on the challenge terms page. Additionally, the email sent out at the beginning of the challenge detailed a full breakdown of the % splits and the £ per split, see screenshot of email below:

We’ve already fed this back to the team so maybe it could be more clear next time, but the new times and £ were set out at the beginning of the challenge.

In my previous comment, I was not referring to the screenshots. I was referring to the point that I was not informed about the time change. You email us to let us know that we haven't met our target. How about letting us know by email when the peak times are changing....

Power Move Flex actually cost me money. 

I turned on both 3kw elements of my immersion heater during a power up hour last week. Together with other appliances, I used nearly 9kwh at a time where I typically use barely anything.

According to your summary email however, I only shifted 0.18kwh, giving me 5p back. So rather than save money, I've actually lost big time compared to running overnight as normal during cheap rate. 

As a result I have zero faith in the flex model and will not be engaging with it any further. Not a good way to build trust with your customers for future dynamic pricing. 

Wrong place, I’m afraid. This group only deals with Power Move, currently enjoying the Spring Challenge. Posts about Power Move Flex belong in a different group, in a slightly ineffectual attempt to avoid confusion between the frustratingly similarly-named schemes.

Gonna be honest here. Power Up events are about you moving existing usage INTO that slot that you would have otherwise used at some other time of day. They ARE NOT about you firing up absolutely everything in the house that you wouldn’t have otherwise used.

Consider it more of a discount off of your usual rate. If you play the game as intended, you do actually make a saving.

I already posted this message today, but maybe in the wrong place on this very large website and forum, so here it is again; 

“I THINK I’VE CRACKED IT;

I’ve only just been invited to join power move despite being an OVO customer for years, so I’m still getting over my hurt feelings as being last to get an invite to the party; maybe just to make up numbers. I’m also away in Spain for a holiday, so not really used any juice nor had a chance to compete for the prizes. But I return later today so here’s what I plan to do;  

1. Buy wooly hats and fleeces for the whole family and insist that they wear them from 6pm as I think my target savings time is 6-9pm and as all heating, including the central heating system pumps and motorised valves will be switched off. If I switch off at 5.59pm for three hours it will take till past bedtime to crank the temperature up again so there‘s no real point switching it again at 9,01pm but I’ll have to burn some juice after 9pm to comply with the rules  

2 Absolutely no TV, radio, WiFi or electronic devices from 6-9pm . Smartphones and laptops will be allowed on battery mode but the Router will be off so everyone will have to use mobile data. Lighting will be kept to a minimum so reading books and newspapers will be rationed; we’ll probably have a rota to share the reading lamp  

3 People will be allowed to shower as we have a pressurised gravity fed hot water storage tank not a Combi nor electric shower, but hair dryers will not be allowed and nor will electric toothbrushes.

4 Obviously we will have to rearrange meal times as traditionally we eat quite late; so, as people will probably also rearrange their sleeping times we will simply move everything forward by a few hours; breakfast at 5am, lunch at 10.30 and dinner at about 5.30.  That will take some getting used to, as here in Spain we eat late; last night’s Salmorejo, Fabada Asturianos, Postres y Queso started at 9.15pm and finished around 11. Although maybe as an occasional treat I will stage a midnight feast when home? In fact, as we may have to take long walks from 6-9pm to keep ourselves amused without TV, WiFi etc, that’s an idea worth floating to the family to keep them on board. 
4 Washing machines aren’t usually in action in the evening so that’s not an issue, and we already don’t have a tumble dryer, preferring to use a clothes line except when it’s raining heavily but I’ll leave a note on the door asking evening visitors not to use the doorbell between 5.59 and 9.01pm as that’s wired into the domestic supply. 
any further tips and hints are welcome; any ideas out there?”

A

@alexmac Hi,

This is the right place for Power Move.
No worries, we all have problems finding things at new-to-us places.

I’ve been doing Power Move since November and have hit the maximum reward every month (up to now).

Although I was thinking similar thoughts at first, I’d now say most of your proposed measures sound OTT to me, and won’t really help unless you are very borderline on the PM target.

One thing that Power Move does (should) do is make you much more aware of which appliances and activities are power intensive and which you don’t really need to consider.
I now have a list of just how much power each appliance I own uses, even down to the mains powered smoke alarms (3 Watts) and the neons in some of the kitchen sockets, (under 1 watt each), I didn’t have that before.

Personally just moving my (electric) cooking out of the Power Move times has been enough to meet the target and get the maximium reward since I joined last November.
(Yes I did do some of the other stuff at first but soon realised it wasn’t needed or even helping much).

That doesn’t mean not eating during the PM hours, cook things outside the hours and quickly microwave/reheat when wanted. (5 mins of microwave isn’t a lot of power used).

Even occasionally cooking (using an Air Fryer and microwave) inside PM hours is not a disaster, it might put you over target for that day, (I’ve been 20%+ when doing fish and chips in the air fryer during PM) but the challenge is over the whole month so being below target on other days will compensate.

I don’t do anything else particularly differently, the (gas) heating stays on and I’m often watching film/TV on my laptop..

No device charging during PM hours - unless using a PowerBank that of course was charged outside the hours.
Kettle use during the PM hours is avoided, but not shunned altogether, that might be different if you have a large’ish family.
I don’t own a hairdryer but that does sound like something not to use during PM.

Unless your TV is a power guzzler then that can stay on. (Personally I watch catch-up or downloaded content on my laptop).
A wifi router uses very little power (mine is 11 watts) so turning it off won’t make much difference (and constantly turning it off/on can cause the system to think there is a fault and slow your broadband to compensate).
Similarly my 10+ year old laptop only uses 15 watts when plugged in with the batery already at 100% or removed. (I have another, older, laptop that uses 30W).
My main lightbulbs are 8.5 watt leds so not much saving by turning those off, although I do tend to use a 4W rechargable wall light most of the time.

The trick is to move/avoid the big use such as cooking by electricity, and don’t fret too much about the smaller stuff that moving isn’t going to make much difference anyway.
Just boiling a 1000W kettle of water once or twice can wipe out all the little savings made elsewhere over 3 hours, so it’s better to keep using the low power stuff as you like but unplug the kettle so you are not tempted to flick it on unthinkingly.

Gotcha Nuke-head; so all I have to do is not mix up OVO’s simple range of promotions 

• ‘Beyond (which I don’t plan to upgrade to til they correct the threat that it will cost me six quid a month; an error still on their App?)
• Plan Zero 
• Power Move
• Power Move Flex or
• Power Move Plus’ ...

Plus. as you suggest I’m being “OTT”, I should maybe not bother with the wooly hats, not starve the family of any vestige of televisual or digital pleasure, nor force them to eat early, take brisk walks to keep them warm nor sneak a peek at the TV from 6-9pm, nor ban use of the doorbell… Just as well; I was facing a revolt>

The new version of OVO Beyond carries no charges - they’ve been eliminated for it. Only the Greener Energy and OVO Foundation add-ons will charge you these days.

If you use Beyond to buy stuff, you will obviously be charged for those things, but it’d be pretty clear that you’re about to buy something and it’s easy to back out without committing to them. But the core experience itself is free.

Yeah, thanks, BlastTheBoys, but I’m old fashioned and until OVO remove the line in their App (in the “Help” tab, if you search BEYOND - and “Upgrade to OVO Beyond”) which clearly says “free for 3 months then six quid a month”, I ain’t gonna believe some random geezer or gal off the inter web, no matter how good they are at “zapping security bugs”. But I really appreciate your help…

Hi @alexmac 

Sorry to hear the app reads that you'll be charged after 3 months, OVO Beyond is completely free and you can even check this and more out on the dedicated home page here.

Will I be charged to use Beyond?

“No, you won’t be charged to join or use Beyond or to download the app. It’s completely free for OVO customers”.

I’ve also spoken with the app team on this who’ve confirmed the Beyond feature is entirely free of charge. The help article relates to our old ‘Beyond’ product (now Greener Energy and this does carry a cost) and we will be updating this help page in line with the new ‘Beyond’ feature soon. We’re really sorry for any confusion that message has caused, but the OVO Beyond is free within the free OVO Energy app.

I hope this clears that up for you.

The first step to avoid a revolution is to work out just how much energy each of those activites use.
You can judge that by turning things on and off and seeing how the energy use changes on your In Home Display.
(Or Smart Plugs can monitor how much whatever is plugged into them uses).

Then ‘Move’ the big energy use activities out of the Power Move hours, and don't sweat the small use stuff (unless you get very borderline on the target).

Always remembering that Power Move is not about reducing your electricity usage overall (that has it's own benefits of course), it's about 'Moving' your higher energy use activites and doing them outside of the peak times.

PS. You don’t mention if you do your cooking on electricity or gas?
It can be a struggle for those who cook on gas to meet the Power Move targets, cooking on electric is usually the major high energy activity that you can move out of peak hours, because cooking is something that you do almost every evening.

Oh; problem. I cook on gas. With two electric ovens. Which I only use on Sundays, preferring one pot meals like Risotto, Paella which are quick to cook on the hob from scratch ( well, not literally scratch.  I usually use rice, onions, peppers, both fresh and from a jar- really cheap in ALDI, any random meats - chicken, rabbit , pork, or fish and prawns, but sadly, not clams nor mussels as ‘er indoors don’t do bivalves, liberally seasoned with salt, pepper, chili, pimentos, or if I’m feeling flush, saffron…) 

And I wasn’t learning much from the Smart device; last time I looked it said my bill was £3,849.78 which was depressing so I unplugged it to save energy and the OVO App tells me what I’ve used so I log my KwH, but monthly (not hourly as  that would mean a ginormous spreadsheet and I’m not that geeky)  

So Power Shaft or Beyond the Flex, or Flex beyond infinity and Over the rainbow or whatever those clever OVO marketeers have come up with probably ain’t for me?

So I guess this forum isn’t really for me either… a pity, as you are all obviously lovely people…

Well Power Move can be done if you cook with gas, but being honest I don't think that I'd even try that myself.

Oh, and weekends/Bank Holidays don't count for Power Move.

Previous threads/posts here just tend to confirm that it's difficult for those who cook with gas (and have gas heating) because Power Move is all about moving electricity use and you just don't have that big electric cooking use to move.

Maybe if you have an electric vehicle there is room there to charge outside of PM hours? I'm not sure how EV charging and Power Move interact.

So sorry but PM is probably not for you, but at least now you don't need to risk a family coup to find that out.

Don't give up on the forum though, have a look round, it's not just for Power Move, as you found when looking where to post

I have an issue with Power Move that I’d love help with. I had solar panels installed last year and I work from home. There are some days when I don’t consume any power in the summer months. Ever since hitting the sunny months I’ve not qualified for Power Moves due to an error with the system not reporting my readings. A technician has been out to verify that the meter is running correctly - which it is. He suggested that the lack of reading data may be because on those days I’m not actually using any power and so the system throws out an error. 

So ironically - despite using no energy - I don’t qualify for Power Move. 

Can Ovo look into this? I don’t have time to be on the phone to them about it!

Good news this month;

last month, I earned a Power Move credit of £1.43, presumably for my first part month!  OK that may seem small change to some of you, but that’s One Pound Eight Shillings and Sevenpence in real money.
 

Put another way, in the days when petrol for my Lambretta was five bob (25p)a gallon, it would have bought me 5.72 gallons of fuel; exactly 26 litres, or more than enough to take me to Brighton and back from Brixton to hang out with the Mods  

so good on you OVO

That isn’t how Power Move works.

You have to have the energy use to move out of peak hours.
(Or at least use some energy at other times than the peak hours and use less or none in peak).

I am very disappointed by mower move due to the inaccuracy.   I calculate my numbers each, day, based on the data supplied on the Usage page of my account.   Sometimes they match yours, sometimes they are very different.  A few weeks ago someone from OVO re-checked the ovo calculation at my request  and confirmed that the reason it was wrong was because sometimes the data arrives late and a whole day (often a weekend) has to be discounted.  There is nothing I can to do influence data arriving on time so I should not be penalised when it’s late.  My meter is on the outside of a detached house.

Whilst I understand that data can arrive late, there is no reason that the percentages cannot be re-calculated once it has been received.  You have clearly received it at some point, as it’s on my screen.   Please upgrade your system to allow re-calculation - the maths is quite simple.

I agree with the above, although it isn't a problem that I have had myself (yet, fingers crossed).

I have had times when half-hourly data hasn't shown on my account for a few days but it hasn't affected my PM spreadsheet by entering it late - I still align reasonably with the OVO half-month and month end figures.

We can easilly update our calculations/spreadsheets when the delayed data becomes available so why can't the Power Move team?

It seems to be a limitation in how the figures are being calculated day to day?

However unless the half-hourly data hasn't been recieved at all then it will all be there at the end of the month so available to calculate then.

Hey @Fern3 & @Nukecad,

I hear what you’re saying, and I raised this with the Power Move team yesterday. They’ve said it’s a fair assessment to make. To give some context on their end, they’ve implemented a “cutoff point”, as this affects the data shown in the mid-month and end-of-month updates regarding whether someone is on target. If they were to delay customers receiving these updates to days after and they’re below target, then it could affect their progress to meeting it as the data wouldn’t be accurate. 

They’re exploring a way to speed up this process and create a better experience. I’ve told them that we have a very passionate Power Move community on the Forum, and if they would ever like to trial some improvements before releasing them to the wider Power Move network, then we’ll shout out for some volunteers. 

I know this doesn’t help you with the issues you’ve had with delayed data just now, but the team is aware of it and is actively working on improvements. 

Let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll follow up with them if needed. 

It’s nice to be heard, thank you.

Thanks @Chris_OVO , that feedback from the PM team is interesting.

Maybe you would pass this suggestion back to them:

I don't see any real issue with the mid-month update:
Just add a note to the update email that if some days data has not yet been received at OVO then the half way percentage may not be accurate but that the 'missing' days data will be added to PM if it becomes available before month end.

The end-of-month update is sent after the month end anyway..
I don't believe it would be an big issue if it was simply stated that if the half hourly data for any particular day had not been received at OVO by month end then that paticular day is too late to to be included and qualify for that months PM.

Doing it that way would give a clear, end-of-the-month, cut-off point for the receipt of the data at OVO.
ie. A once-a-month cut-off point rather than the current once-a-day cut-offs.

Now the other question of those who can see their HH data in 3rd party apps when OVO haven't got it from DCC yet is a different issue entirely.

Hey @Fern3,

Of course that’s our aim with the community! We try to bridge the gap between you as the user and the different non-typically customer facing teams such as Power Move. If you tell us “hey I think this is an issue or this could be done better” then we take that feedback (we normally share the link to the conversation with the team so they can read it in your own words) and they can follow up on it. 

and to @Nukecad,

I’ll pass this along on the thread so thank you for the suggestions 

Power move is bullsh1t. Every month I get an email saying that my smart meter hasn’t sent enough data and there is no indication about what the issue could be and nobody has followed up. Ovo installed my smart meter so if it’s not sending enough data for power move, how can i be sure that the data for my bills is correct? if the connection is sporadic, don’t the smart meters store the data and send when the connection is established. It feels like a “heads i win, tails you lose” game by Ovo. I’m not happy that this has been happening for months and cant even see a way to leave Power Move. Please help