HOUSEHOLDS with a major energy supplier can slash energy bills this summer thanks to two hours of free electricity every week.
Ovo is offering the free sessions from next week and homes will be able to use the time for anything from mass meal prep to doing a big load of laundry.
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The free periods of electricity are available to customers signed up to Ovo’s free to join rewards programme Ovo Beyond and start from May 5 until August 31.
Each week, customers can choose when to use their free electricity from week to week choosing from a variety of weekday and weekend times lots.
The sessions aim to avoid peak hours to help reduce pressure on the grid.
Customers simply need to sign up to the reward through the OVO app or account.
Read more on energy bills
The following timeslots will be available each week.
- 9am – 10am on specified weekdays
- 1pm – 2pm on specified weekdays
- 9pm – 10pm on specified weekdays
- 10am – 12pm Sundays
You will need to choose each week within the selection window to secure slots for the following week.
The energy firm is just the latest supplier to offer customers free sessions outside of offpeak hours.
We have reviewed the schemes offered by other providers.
Gráinne Regan, head of Beyond at OVO said: “We launched Beyond to help lower bills and reward our customers for taking greener action.
“So whether people choose to get ahead on meal prep, make a dent in the laundry or charge up the iPad, we want to help cut costs by giving two free hours of electricity every week this summer.”
Ovo Energy’s Power Move scheme will continue to run which rewards customers for reducing their electricity usage during peak hours, typically between 4pm and 7pm on weekdays.
If you successfully reduce your energy consumption during these peak times to below a certain percentage of your daily total (usually 12.5% or 15%), you’re entered into a monthly draw for prizes from £2 to £2,000 of free energy.
Ovo is not the only supplier offering free electriciyt to customers at select times.
Here is what’s available…
British Gas Peak Save Sundays
British Gas’s Peak Save scheme offers customers half-price electricity every Sunday between 11am and 4pm.
More than 650,000 customers have already joined the initiative, collectively saving £13million.
By running two laundry loads during the discounted Peak Save period in stead of other periods, you could expect to pocket an annual saving of approximately £84.
This could save an additional £17.42 per year by shifting my Sunday dishwasher cycle to the Sunday Peak Save hours.
Sign up at britishgas.co.uk/energy/peak-save.html.
Scottish Power Power Saver
Scottish Power’s Power Saver Scheme offers 50% off electricity between 11am and 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
This provides a wider window of opportunity for customers to shift their energy consumption and maximise their savings.
Again shifting two uses of the washing machine usage to either of these two time windows over the weekend, could save £84 annually.
Additionally, by scheduling my two weekend dishwasher cycles during these times, I’d save £35 a year – £17 more than the savings from running a single cycle on a Sunday under British Gas’s plan.
EDF Sunday Saver
EDF’s Sunday Saver scheme encourages customers to shift their electricity usage away from weekday peak hours (4pm to 7pm) in exchange for free electricity on the following Sunday.
You can qualify for up to 16 full hours of free electricity. n
Based on two loads of washing and drying plus one dishwasher cycle, it could save around £200 a year.
However, you need to carefully manage my electricity usage during the week during those peak hours.
Octopus Energy Octoplus
Octopus Energy offers Octoplus members free electricity during times when the grid is at its greenest.
When energy market prices drop, the supplier shares those savings with enrolled customers through hour-long Free Electricity sessions.
The slots typically occur between 1pm and 2pm during the summer months.
Octopus Energy hosted eight of these Free Electricity sessions since the scheme launched last August.
The scheme is therefore a little unpredictable making it difficult to plan household savings.
Also many appliance cycles – such as washing machines and dryers – take longer than an hour, making it tougher to get worthwhile savings.
How do I calculate my energy bill?
BELOW we reveal how you can calculate your own energy bill.
To calculate how much you pay for your energy bill, you must find out your unit rate for gas and electricity and the standing charge for each fuel type.
The unit rate will usually be shown on your bill in p/kWh.The standing charge is a daily charge that is paid 365 days of the year – irrespective of whether or not you use any gas or electricity.
You will then need to note down your own annual energy usage from a previous bill.
Once you have these details, you can work out your gas and electricity costs separately.
Multiply your usage in kWh by the unit rate cost in p/kWh for the corresponding fuel type – this will give you your usage costs.
You’ll then need to multiply each standing charge by 365 and add this figure to the totals for your usage – this will then give you your annual costs.
Divide this figure by 12, and you’ll be able to determine how much you should expect to pay each month from April 1.
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