equiwatt will use half-hourly readings from your smart meter to calculate how much energy and CO2 you have saved and exported to the grid during an event and award you points accordingly.
How are my energy savings calculated?
Compatible smart meters send your home's electricity readings to us every 30 minutes. We use these half-hourly readings to calculate how much energy you use on average at certain times of day to create a forecast of your typical usage for that period.
To put it another way, your forecast is the amount of electricity you are likely or expected to use at the time of an event taking place.
For example, if on average your home uses 758.6 Wh between 19:00 - 20:00 on a Tuesday, then your forecast for a powerDOWN event being run at the same time on a Tuesday would be 758.6 Wh as this is what you would be expected to use based on your previous usage in days leading up to the event.
PLEASE NOTE: Weekends, bank holidays and days when other powerDOWN events have taken place are excluded from our calculations of your forecast for events.
When you take part in an event, you will be awarded points based on how much your whole household reduces its energy usage during an event in comparison to your forecast. I.e. your actual usage during the event will be compared to your predicted usage (or forecast).
If you successfully beat your forecast by using less electricity than predicted, you will be awarded points based on how much energy and CO2 you have helped to shift. The more energy you have reduced in relation to your forecast, the more points you will earn.
What if I have an export MPAN?
If you have an export MPAN, you will see two different forecasts in the app. One will show you how much energy you should use to earn points, and the other is linked to your export MPAN.
This battery export forecast will inform you how much energy you need to export during an event to earn rewards.
If you have an export MPAN, you will also be awarded points based on how much energy you have successfully exported in comparison to your export forecast. The more energy you export, the more points you will receive.
How many points will I earn?
Points are awarded per kilowatt hour for all the electricity you don't use compared to normal, or the amount of energy that you export compared to your forecast.
To put it another way, the more you beat your forecasts by, the more points you will earn.
It's hard to say exactly how much you could earn overall, because it all depends on a lot of factors we can't predict. From how many events there will be, to how long each one lasts and how much NESO or other grid operators will pay you for taking part in each event.