A new app is helping to reward people for using their energy at certain times of the day by giving them Amazon and John Lewis shopping vouchers.
Thanks to the National Grid, five energy companies are currently offering £100 in discounts for off-peak power use. However many homes won't be able to take advantage of the offer, which rewards households for consuming less energy in peak times - usually between 4pm and 7pm.
Energy companies have limited how many people can sign up for the scheme. As a result, energy management firm Equiwatt is offering a helping hand to those missing out, reported The Mirror.
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The National Grid energy saving scheme - called the Demand Flexibility Service (DFS) - allows households who have either been selected by their energy supplier, or who have a smart meter and half-hourly readings to save up to £100 over this winter.
Equiwatt are offering the same £100 in potential savings with no limit to the number of households applying. Households can earn rewards through the free Equiwatt app, which connects to smart meters and smart plugs, alerting consumers to reduce their energy use.
How Equiwatt works
The Equiwatt app will link to smart technologies in your home, like smart meters, smart plugs or smart chargers. Then, it sends notifications for you to take part in energy saving events at peak times by turning off or avoiding the use of appliances – anything from fridge freezers to washing machines – and electric vehicle (EV) charging.
These events, known as ‘equivents’ last for up to one hour. You'll be rewarded for the energy and CO2 savings you make with points that can be redeemed for vouchers on Amazon, John Lewis and other big brands.
Customers can earn up to 400 points in an hour, per event, for cutting down their energy use. One point equals 1p, so 400 points adds up to £4 per equivent. Equiwatt's scheme will give households over 300 opportunities to save peak energy all year round, not just for winter.
Johnson Fernandes, CEO of Equiwatt said: “National Grid’s demand flexibility service is a great initiative that offers a way for consumers to access incentives for saving energy at peak times of demand, while also helping to reduce strain on the grid. But many consumers will miss out on those energy savings and the financial rewards that come with them, as they either are not invited to a supplier scheme or don’t have a smart meter.
"We’re delighted that, through our app, we can offer a greater number of households the opportunity to reduce their energy usage and be rewarded financially this winter.”
Equiwatt customer Rachel said: “Energy bills are going up and up and up, but our energy usage was reduced compared to last year and I really think that’s greatly because of using equiwatt. We started paying more attention to what energy we were using during equivents and beyond. We actually saved money on our energy bills even though the cost of each energy unit had gone up."
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