equivents are events or periods of time during which equiwatt remotely manages your connected smart meter & smart-enabled appliances or EVs & rewards you for avoiding the use of expensive, polluting energy.
What are equivents?
'equivents' are the name we give our energy events. equivents aim to shift a household's electricity usage in response to signals from the grid operator or energy market without being inconvenient.
By participating in equivents, homes are rewarded with points for shifting their energy usage when notified via the equiwatt app.
Why do we run equivents?
There are several reasons for running equivents. For example, many equivents are run to help reduce the need for expensive carbon intensive backup or 'peaker plants' being used to generate electricity during periods of high demand, often known as 'peak times'.
Other events are run to encourage homes to shift their energy usage to periods of the day when there is an excess of wind energy that would otherwise be wasted.
How long do they last?
equivents generally last 1 hour (although they can last longer). The equiwatt app enables users to manage the duration of participation for their smart-enabled devices or override their participation altogether if needed.
What are the benefits of taking part?
Users earn points according to the amount of energy shifted and CO2 offset by participating in an event. These points can be redeemed for a range of rewards from the in-app gift store. You can find out more about points earnings here.
Types of equivents
Here at equiwatt, we run several different types of equivents. The main differences between the different equivents are the action required by the user and the amount of notice we give you before they begin.
1) powerDOWN events
For powerDOWN events, you will receive notice in advance of the event to let you know when it is going to take place and give you the chance to opt in via the app. We may also send reminders to take part via email and social media.
During the event, you will be encouraged to reduce your electricity usage to use less energy than expected during that period. This can be achieved by using less electricity than your forecast (the amount of energy we expect you to use based on data from previous days).
2) instant powerDOWN events
For instant powerDOWN events, you will not receive advanced notice of the event.
Instead, you will only receive a notification once the event has started and another one when it has finished.
As with standard powerDOWN events, you will be rewarded for reducing your home's electricity usage and successfully beating your 'forecast'.
3) powerUP events
For powerUP events, you will receive notice in advance of the event to let you know when it is going to take place. You will also be asked to opt into the event via the app. We may also send you reminders via email and social media.
Despite the name, the aim of powerUP events is not to use more energy but to shift your energy usage from other times of the day to the period of the event to make the most of wind energy that would otherwise go to waste.
This means powerUP events are the perfect time to use your high energy consuming devices. You can learn more about powerUP events here.
Ways to take part in equivents
Manual (smart meter) participation in equivents
If you have a compatible smart meter connected to the equiwatt app. In that case, we will notify you when an event is happening to let you know when to turn off your appliances and notify you again at the end to let you know when to turn them back on again.
Automated (smart) participation in equivents
If you have an appliance connected to the equiwatt app via a Kasa smart plug, IFTTT or another of our integrations, we will remotely turn it off for the duration of an equivent and turn it back on when it ends.
TIP: Automating your participation is the best way to make sure you never miss out on taking part in any instant powerDOWN events. Learn more here.
PLEASE NOTE: You can find out more about manual participation here.
Electric Vehicle (EV) participation in equivents
If you have an EV connected to the equiwatt app, your charging will be paused automatically for one hour and resume when the equivent ends.
You can find out more about EV participation in equivents here.