If you are an energy customer with Octopus then you might have noticed their new initiative to give customers one free hour of electricity. Here’s everything you need to know as well as how to get the most from the one hour of free electricity.
What is the one hour of free electricity?
This is an initiative from energy provider Octopus, where their customers can sign up to be notified of any upcoming free electricity events.
These events take place when the grid has lots of green, or renewable energy.
How does the free electricity work?
You will need to sign up for free electricity and then the day before the session you will get an email telling you when the free electricity is available.
How it works is that you will pay for the electricity that you normally use during that time period, but anything over your normal usage for that hour will be free.
Within a week you will get an email to let you know how much free electricity you earned, and then it will be credited to your bill within two weeks.
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How to use up more electricity
The key with these sessions is that you will get any extra electricity usage, above your normal usage, for free.
That means that to get the most benefit, you should use as much electricity as you possibly can.
There are so many ways to use more electricity during these sessions, and these are some of our top tips.
Laundry
Running your washing machine and tumble dryer during these sessions can be a great way to amp up your electricity usage.
You can take it a step further by timing it so that a wash load goes into your dryer at the same time as you need a really hot wash in your washing machine – think about things like baby clothes, bedding, towels or pet bedding that might warrant a hotter wash than usual.
Batch Cooking
A free electricity session is a great time to get your batch cooking done, especially if using an electric hob and oven.
You don’t need to cook all your meals for the next month – it could even be as simple as boiling some eggs for snacks or boiling the kettle to make pots of jelly.
Don’t have the energy or ingredients to batch cook? You can bake a ton of jacket potatoes and freeze them.
Charge Your Devices
I don’t know about you, but we now have so many things that need charging that we’ve set up a charging station in our kitchen.
You might automatically think about charging your phone(s), but what about headphones, power banks and bluetooth speakers?
This is also a good time to charge up any laptops, tablets and other portable devices like e-readers.
Amp it up by thinking about any cordless/rechargeable DIY tools or craft tools you have in your home, such as drills.
Charge your Electric Vehicle
If you have an electric vehicle then this free electricity session is a great time to get it charged.
Many people are switching to electric vehicles to save on fuel costs and help the environment, so if you are one of those people, get it charged!
Turn your computer on
Want to get started on that side hustle? Or maybe you’ve got some admin to catch up on.
Or even if you just want to spend some time playing computer games, use your computer during the free electricity session to amp up your usage.
Get Cleaning
Using your free electricity hour is a great time to clean your home or car(s) using electrical cleaning gadgets.
This could be as simple as vacuuming, or you could get out your steam cleaner, steam mop or other electrical cleaning gadgets.
If all else fails, you could get some ironing done (whilst having the TV or radio on).
Get Warm
If you or your home are cold, this is a great chance to get warm!
Turn on those electric blankets, electric throws and heaters to warm your space whilst you can.
Dry your hair
Using your hair dryer can consume energy, so if you need to wash your hair then use your free electricity hour to get your hair dry. Take it one step further and use your hair appliances to style your hair too.
Install console updates
Whenever my husband needs to install his console updates or new games, they seem to take hours and hours.
Using the free electricity session is a great chance to get these done and consume more power.
Don’t forget to stop any extra energy usage after the free electricity session is over by unplugging and turning off anything you no longer need to use.
