equiwatt is a UK based climate technology company that helps households to earn rewards for reducing their peak time energy usage and carbon emissions via a FREE app.
The equiwatt app uses electricity smart meters and smart technology to enable users to earn rewards and prizes for being part of a community-powered Virtual Power Plant that reduces the need for dirty and expensive energy to be used during peak time events.
By connecting to your household's smart meters and remotely managing internet-enabled home appliances and electric vehicle (EV) charging, we can reduce household peak-time energy usage and help alleviate constraints on the grid.
This not only helps to reduce the need for dirty and expensive back coal and gas power plants being used but it also helps the UK to support greater integration of renewable energy into the grid too!
How does it work?
At equiwatt, everything is centred around something we call 'equivents'.
equivents are what we call our peak-time energy events. They usually last for around an hour and occur when demand on the energy grid is high. At these times the National Grid and energy companies would rather pay households to reduce their collective usage than fire up dirty and expensive coal and gas backup or 'peaker' plants.
How do equivents work?
- Get notified: When the grid wants homes to reduce their energy usage, we notify you via the app to let you know about an upcoming event. These alerts can either be sent in advance or sometimes at very short notice.
- Reduce: equiwatt users reduce their energy usage to beat their forecast by powering down home appliances and other electrical items and shifting their energy usage to other times of the day. Users can also automate participation by connecting compatible smart home devices and electric vehicles.
- Get rewarded: If equiwatt users successfully reduce their energy usage during an equivent and beat their forecast they will earn points based on how much energy and CO2 they helped to save. These points can then be redeemed for rewards in the in-app Gift Store.