After bills increased again at the start of last month, many households across the country continue to struggle with the cost of living crisis.
April 1 was dubbed ‘Awful April’ thanks to household bills like energy, water and council tax increasing.
Some energy companies have also been forced to pay out £7million for overcharging around 34,000 customers.
While summer is approaching, one energy supplier, OVO Energy, is offering customers two hours of free electricity each week.
But how will this work for customers who use the energy supplier?
We take a look below.
Who is eligible?
The free electricity is only open to people who are signed up to the company’s reward programme, OVO Beyond, which was set up in May 2024.
For those who are not signed up already, you can do so through the OVO app.
When are the free hours?
Customers are able to choose their time slots from week to week but they will only be offered off peak slots.
It will run from May 5 until August 31 and equates to a maximum of 34 hours of free electricity this summer.
So for those who work in the office or are not in the home much this might not be beneficial.
What are the peak hours of energy use?
Peak energy use times tend to be in the morning when people are getting ready for work and school between 7am and 9am, according to British Gas.
Popular times also occur during the evening around 4pm to 7pm as people get home and make evening meals.
Demand during these hours can lead to strain on the electricity grid and increased prices.
Late at night or early morning tends to be when less energy is used by households across the country.
There are hours in the late evening and on Sunday though that can be used for free.
The reason this is the case is that during peak hours, there’s not enough renewable energy around, which results in fossil fuel use.
The following time slots are available to choose from each week:
- 9am – 10am on specified weekdays
- 1pm – 2pm on specified weekdays
- 9pm – 10pm on specified weekdays
- 10am – 12pm Sundays
How to sign up?
People need to sign up to OVO Beyond to book a free time slot which is free to do.
For those who pay by direct debit or have a smart meter, OVO Beyond unlocks automatically in the app.
The free electricity is also subject to a limit of 1kWh per hour and the hours must be confirmed within the set window.
Those signed up will also be offered other perks like OVO Power Move, which offers various rewards via a prize draw – including a year’s worth of free energy – for those who use energy at greener times of the day.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].
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