Scottish Power 'Power Saver' events - anyone taking part ?

refluxer

Did anyone else take part in yesterday evening's Power Saver event and if so, what was your target usage for that 90 minute session ?

I opted in, expecting to take simple energy-saving steps like turning the TV off, delaying tea and not using the dish washer or washing machine and was shocked to discover that my target was to 'consume less than 0.15kW' for that 90 minute event, which meant getting my 'live' (current) energy use down to less than 100W.

To put that figure into perspective, many people's homes will use more than that overnight or while they're away - eg. the fridge running, some electrical stuff on standby and everything else in the house turned off, with no central heating running.

Luckily for us, the recent energy crisis meant that I'd put a lot of effort into getting our background energy use down to around 50-60W but that's when we're asleep or not home - it's not so easy achieving that figure when you're home in the winter, needing essential things like lights or the central heating on. The pump on my combi boiler alone uses around 120W when running and I only know that because the heating turned on during the event and I had to run and turn it off

So.... we managed it, but pretty-much had to sit in semi-darkness for the whole time with everything (including the central heating) turned off. And then it dawned on me.... what if everyone didn't get the same 150W target figure ? What if that target was based on what Scottish Power think I normally use between 5pm and 6.30pm every evening ? Because we would normally use a fair amount more than that when home.

I'm now starting to wonder if they've managed to pick a previous evening when I wasn't home for that 'consume less than 150W' target (rather than doing the sensible thing of taking an average over different days) so I'd obviously be interested to hear of anyone else's experience - if SP have messed up and I end up with a tiny reward for (literally) only saving a few watts during that event then I'm obviously not going to be too impressed, to say the least !

Alnat1

There is a set formula for the calculation. SP will take your average use during the Power Saver time over the previous 10 weekdays (previous 4 days if it's on a weekend) and work out what they think you should save using this figure.

refluxer

Alnat1 said:

There is a set formula for the calculation. SP will take your average use during the Power Saver time over the previous 10 weekdays (previous 4 days if it's on a weekend) and work out what they think you should save using this figure.

Thanks for the info - if that's the case and that figure is supposed to be based on our own usage, then something definitely isn't right. 

Fortunately... I've got my smart meters set to give readings every 30 minutes so I've just been on SP's site, added up our usage between 5pm and 6.30pm on the last 10 midweek days and it averages out at 0.958 kWh per day, which is obviously a lot higher than the 0.150 kWh they're claiming we typically use at that time.

We actually managed to use 0.12 kWh during the event last night so, based on my calculations, we saved around 0.84 kWh but on their incorrect average, it'll be just 0.03 kWh !

Netexporter

I got my consumption down to 14W (21Wh for the full session), last night. The previous session I managed 27Wh, which was an 87% reduction in my average consumption in the peak hours.

GoodRPA

In short:
We have participated in the event.
Gamification always sounds like fun, especially with kids.

The event was for 17:00 - 18:30 (90 minutes), but it feels like the data used for calculation was for a slightly offset period.

Our target set by the app was under 0.4kw (app now says our normal estimated usage is 599.2wh)
We've used 69wh (0.069kwh), according to the app .
But I am convinced the period captured is slightly shorter or offset in time, please let me explain why:

A little more details for the last event:
Our fridge decided that it will work extra hard for extra long (around 30m at 100w).
Our room temperature was also low on that day
But as soon as the fridge was off, the consumption was 7w to 12w.
At the end of the event we left home for a walk.

Things that we did (for fun):
- Kept lights off and used flashlights, motion activated lights and candles
- Played UNO with kids
- Kids enjoyed playing with shadow

Things that we did (to get the numbers down):
- Switched off smart speakers (1.5w/h), smart lights/plugs (0.5w/h)
- Paused and then switched off washing machine
- Switched off WIFI router (but I know it would be around  60w/h)

Today as an experiment, we will:
Start early (maybe at 16:00) (due to my suspicion on the offset).
Keep WIFI router on.
Keep the place with no heating prior and during the the event.
Will try to make the fridge cool itself down before the event (and keep it shut).

GoodRPA

On the 2nd event, we are 4w up, With the router on(0.073kwh)

I have a feeling that CO2 calculation in the app is completely wrong.
It suggests that in the last event, we have saved 680watt and suggest that it is equal to 471g of CO2.

The following suggests that it shall be
0.22499 kg CO2 per kWh, so it shall be around 150g


Source: itpenergised.com/new-uk-grid-emissions-factors-2023/#:~:text=The%20transmission%20and%20generation%20(T%26D,CO2e%20per%20kWh.

Scottish power themselves suggests that it is:
382g per kg, which would make it 260g.

Source: scottishpower.co.uk/about-us/performance/fuel-mix

ally.stenhouse

Looks like SP are cheating a bit!! My forecast was 121.2Wh (5pm-6:30pm weekday) - based on previous days with lights on in a few rooms, oven/microwave used for dinners, TV on etc. But with light on in one room, no oven (used gas hob), no TV... I seemingly used 262Wh!?! I have a 1st gen electricity smart meter and wonder if it's actually giving minute by minute readings or if they are basing this on hourly readings?? Just hope they do an event whilst I'm on holiday; then I may have a chance... 

ally.stenhouse

Update: did the maths and see I averaged 4.2KWh per day on the 10 week days before my 1st event. Not taking into account that the event was during a heavy usage period, that averages out to ~300Wh over the 1.5hr event - SP set a target of less than half of that!! Just been on chat with SP and all they can recommend is to contact their energy efficiency folk to reduce my usage!   

SandraB12

They estimated 154 as my target usage. I wasn't in at all and apparently used 198. I'm pretty much usually always in then, lights, TV, microwave or oven on...unachievable is my guess, I've done 3 powersavers and made 1!

refluxer

Thanks for the replies - it's interesting to see that I'm not alone with this issue.

I've taken part in the 3 most-recent events and Scottish Power have predicted my usage to be 221, 207 and 284Wh for those 3 x 60-90 minute sessions, when my actual, average usage (according to their own smart meter readings on their site) has been closer to 1kWh (1000Wh) each time during the same time periods. While I don't (admittedly) tend to cook at that time, the heating and lights are usually on, along with the TV, games console, PC etc.... which collectively, definitely consume more than 200-odd watts over 90 minutes.

Despite this, I was able to save energy (by turning everything off including the heating and sitting in the semi-darkness), but only a few hundred watts off their predictions (in total over the 3 sessions) so I'm fully expecting the rewards to amount to pennies rather than pounds, but we shall see (as they're still calculating). If that is the case though, then it's definitely not worth sitting in the dark and cold for in the future.

Based on my experience so far, I think these energy saving events are only worth doing if you do normally cook and use your washing machine and dishwasher between their peak hours (4.30 to 6.30pm) because if you don't, saving appreciable amounts of energy will be tricky, especially with comically low, inaccurate predictions !

LittleBill

I’ve also done events and consumed less each time .. Points however don’t seem to go up if you do however. I consumed 40wh an hour less on the 3rd event than the 2nd .. 414 below normal as opposed to 373 below in the 2nd .. and I’ve been credited 37 LESS points for consuming less 🤔🤔🤔

Seems a little fishy 🎣