Common questions about Saving Sessions
Saving Sessions is the start of a new era in energy, where people get rewarded for the energy they don't use at the busiest times of day.
Get the answers to all of your burning questions below.
Skip to FAQs about...
đSigning up and getting started
đ§âđŤ Rules of play
đ Understanding your results
đ¸ Rewards
đ¤ Why am I not eligible for Saving Sessions?
đ˛ How do I set up Saving Sessions notifications via the Octopus app?
Getting started
How can I sign up?
Weâll be emailing everybody whoâs eligible (that's domestic customers and businesses) with sign-up information and the chance to opt in over the next week.
You can also register your interest on the Saving Sessions webpage, and weâll let you know if youâre eligible to join in.
You need a working smart meter to join. If you donât have one yet, read our FAQ about getting one below.
Am I eligible to take part?
Any Octopus customer with a connected electricity smart meter can sign up.
When we say âconnectedâ, we mean we need to be getting regular half-hourly readings from your meter â specifically, we need to have received 80% of readings in the last 20 days.
We need this reliable connection to your meter so we can see how much you save each Session, and measure that against what youâve typically used in the past.
Register interest at octopus.energy/saving-sessions and if youâre not eligible, weâll help you work out what might be going wrong, and show you how to request a smart meter if you donât have one yet.
Is this for electricity or gas (or both)?
Saving Sessions is just for electricity.
Smart meters
Can I join Saving Sessions if my in-home display screen doesn't work?
Yes! As long as your smart meter itself is working, you can join. Your smart meter is the unit attached to the wall, usually in a cupboard under the stairs.
The in-home display is different to your smart meter â it's the little screen that's usually plugged in and sits on a bench somewhere in the house showing your energy usage info.
You can join Saving Sessions even if your screen doesn't work, or you don't have one.
Why do I have to have a working smart meter to join?
Youâll need a working electric smart meter so we can verify how much energy youâve managed to save.
If you haven't got one, you can request one on our website.
We can generally install a smart meter in a few weeks (depending on engineer availability) but we can't absolutely guarantee it. Smart meters work great in most homes, but there are some areas where signal doesn't reach, and some types of homes where they'll have trouble connecting.
Saving Sessions sign-ups will be open throughout Winter, so once your smart meter has been installed and we have received a couple of weeks of data, you should be eligible to take part.
How do I get a smart meter?
Just request one on our website and we'll email you when we have appointments free.
Saving Sessions sign-ups will be open throughout Winter, so once your smart meter has been installed and we have received a couple of weeks of data, youâll be able to take part.
We're installing around 40,000 smart meters a month, and can generally install one for you within a few weeks. But it depends on engineer availability, and a few other factors, so we can't absolutely guarantee when it'll happen.
Smart meters work great in most homes, but there are some areas where signal doesn't reach just yet, and some types of homes where smart meters can have trouble connecting.
What if you canât take a reading from my meter during a Session?
Very occasionally, external issues like data outages or connection interruptions mean we might not be able to retrieve readings from your smart meter during a Session you opted into.
If that happens, we wonât know how much you saved. Instead, we'll credit you the average number of redeemable points that other customers received for that Session, based on the assumption you got involved and saved power.
If we stop getting regular meter readings from your smart meter, that might mean you're not eligible for Saving Sessions anymore (we need 80% of all half-hourly readings for the last twenty days for you to be eligible). You won't be able to opt in and earn money in Sessions anymore.
What if my meter stops connecting altogether?
If you sign up to Saving Sessions and then part way through the Winter your smart meter stops connecting, please get in touch with us and we'll do all we can to get it working again.
Though rare, some problems can be very tricky to fix â we're dependent on a whole host of third party government-mandated systems to make smart meters work, so sometimes it's outside of our control. We'll do our best to keep your meter connected but we can't guarantee it.
If we're no longer getting regular meter readings (meaning half-hourly readings every day for the last twenty days) we may contact you to let you know you're not eligible to take part anymore, and you won't be able to earn redeemable points in Saving Sessions.
Of course, getting involved in saving power will help you save money and will help us build towards a future greener system anyway.
Why do meter readings occasionally go missing?
We generally get 48 readings from a smart meter into our systems every day, one for every half hour of the day.
Occasionally, we wonât be able to retrieve a meter reading for the specific time of the Saving Session. This doesn't mean we're not connected to your meter.
It generally happens if your meter setup has a brief outage at the exact time of the Saving Session. It could be either your actual meter unit losing power for a second, or a brief drop in something called WAN signal, which is the network your meter uses to connect. (Think about when the wifi drops out for a second, then you refresh and itâs totally fine.)
This is a pretty rare occurrence, but if it happens to your meter when we try to pull your Saving Session readings, we wonât know what you used. Weâll reward you the average earnings for that Session instead.We think thatâs a pretty fair solution â itâs very possible youâll earn more than you wouldâve with real readings â and it shouldnât happen regularly.
Rules of play
How will each Session work?
Youâll receive an email and app notification telling you the timings for the Session, and details on how much youâll be rewarded per kWh saved.
- If you want to take part in that Session, opt in via your dashboard before it starts.
- During the Session, you should try and avoid using anything energy intensive (for example, dishwasher, washing machine) â weâll share some tips and tricks to help.
- A day or so after the Session, weâll let you know how much you saved and how many points you've earned. If you choose to exchange them for cash, itâll be credited to your account within 14 days.
- Thereâs no need for you to submit any meter readings â weâll work how much youâve saved using smart meter data.
What time of day will the Saving Sessions be?
The Sessions could take place at any time â the specific windows will be based on when the grid needs help, so we don't know exactly when theyâll be yet (in other words, we can't schedule them far in advance).
We can say that the Sessions will usually take place during the busiest times of day, because that's when the grid generally needs more help balancing. The âpeakâ time is usually between 4-7pm, so if you think you could manage to use a bit less power around then, Saving Sessions will likely benefit you.
Do I have to join every Saving Session?
You can take part in as many or as few Sessions as you like (though weâd obviously encourage you to make the most of them!)
You never have to join a Saving Session if itâs not convenient for you. Any that you canât join, just donât opt in when we email you about it. We wonât send any reminders or follow-ups about that Session.
What happens if I donât opt in to a Session?
You can take part in as many or as few Sessions as you like. But if you want to earn points, you have to opt into a Session before it begins, so we know youâre planning to take part and use less electricity.
If you donât opt in, you wonât earn any points, even if you do save power.
You can always take part in future Sessions though!
How will I be notified about Saving Sessions?
- You'll get an invitation to opt in to every Saving Session. They'll be sent with as much notice as possible â ideally the day before.
- Shortly before the Session begins, you'll receive a reminder.
- Within a few days of the Session, you'll receive your results.
All these notifications will come via email, and if you have the Octopus app, via push notification too. Here's how to download the app and make sure you've enabled notifications.
How many Saving Sessions will there be?
Itâs hard to say for sure - the total number will depend on how much help the electrical grid needs.
There'll be at least 12 Saving Sessions this winter (but likely many more), and they'll be between one and four hours long.
Based on the gridâs performance in previous years, weâre expecting around 1 or 2 Sessions per week (so around 25 in total) lasting up to 4 hours each.
Itâs likely that theyâll run more often in January, when the electrical grid is usually under most pressure.
Can I take part if I have an export tariff?
Yes, customers who generate and export electricity (via solar panels, for example) can take part in Saving Sessions, but weâre only able to credit customers for their turn down from their import meter.
I already save as much energy as I possibly can. Should I take part?
There's no need to get involved if you feel Saving Sessions isnât right for you. But this is quite different to just saving energy all the time in everyday life â itâs about shifting your electricity-intensive activities to different times of day â like cooking dinner earlier than usual, or scheduling your dishwasher outside of the Session hours. Any reduction in your usual usage, however small, will result in you earning a bit of reward.
We have some useful tips that should give you an idea of the sort of thing you might want to do with Saving Sessions here.
But if it still doesnât sound right for you, thereâs no need to get involved!
I already shift my usage outside of peak times - how can I benefit from this scheme?
Youâre still welcome to sign up, but you just might not make quite as much of a reward if your peak usage is already really low.
It's fantastic to hear how much you're already involved in the world of smart energy with solar, an EV and a battery. Saving Sessions is all about opening many more people up to that world, where you can get rewarded for using energy flexibly.
That does mean that early adopters like you who already do all sorts of stuff like this won't benefit as much from this specific project. But we've for many years run different tariffs just to give people like you awesome benefits.
For EV drivers, there's Octopus Go, Intelligent Octopus and Tesla Energy Plan. For people who export, there's Outgoing Octopus.
(FYI: if youâre on export with us, weâll only measure the reduction of your import MPAN, not your export MPAN)
Results
I didn't save as much as I thought â what's going on?
Weâre always comparing you to what youâd have normally used at the time of the Saving Session, so if youâre generally a low energy user around then, itâll be a bit harder for you to make bigger savings.
If your savings still donât look quite enough based on what youâve used in the past, it might be down to the way we have to calculate your energy saving.
First, we need to work out your ânormal energy useâ at the time of each Saving Session - so we can then compare it to what you use during the Session to work out your saving. Thereâs a strict formula we have to follow set by the National Grid.
We first look at your meter readings from the same time as the Session over the past 10 weekdays (excluding any days with a Saving Session). We use those to find the average amount of electricity you typically use then.
One final step: we have to adjust for your energy use on the day of the Session. This adjustment is a check to make sure you actually used some power at other times that day. It works by weighting your ânormal energy useâ figure based on your readings from earlier in the day. If you use energy as normal, your normal use figure should stay the same.
But if, say, you switch off every plug on the morning of the Session and donât get back til after its finished, your readings for the day of the Session will be unusually low, bringing your normal energy use down.
So even though your energy use during the Session is much lower than what you used at that time in the past 10 days, itâs not really lower than the energy you used during the day.
This means that some people who prepare for their Saving Session by switching off hours in advance might end up earning slightly less during their Sessions. We canât change how we calculate this (itâs a requirement to be part of the gridâs project!) But, we have asked National Grid to consider changing the in-day adjustment calculation so it doesnât negatively impact the Savers that prepare further in advance.
What should you do to avoid this?
Try to avoid switching everything off hours ahead of time.
Couldnât I just game the system by using much more power before the Session?
We canât blame you for wondering! But the cost of using much more energy every day over Winter just so you can earn more during a few hours of Saving Sessions just wouldnât add up favourably in the end.
How come I earned a different amount of OctoPoints this time even though I saved power in the same way?
We work out your saving based on your normal energy use for the past 10 weekdays (with an adjustment for what you use on the day.)
Even if you switch off the exact same stuff during each Session, the benchmark will be a bit different every time depending on your recent energy habits â so youâll see slightly different results.
The rate youâre paid can also change from Session to Session, between ÂŁ1 and ÂŁ6 per kilowatt hour saved. Weâll always tell you what you stand to earn on your invite email and on the website where you opt in.
Is it true that if Iâm already a low user, I wonât be able to earn as much?
National Gridâs project rewards people for every kilowatt hour they save. The more you use normally, the more you can reduce and the more you stand to earn.
This isnât something we can change â itâs the whole point of the project, helping the grid reduce megawatt hours of energy demand so they donât have to find that same amount of generation (from fossil fuels).
But if youâre already doing all you can to cut down your energy, we want to celebrate your efforts too. Thatâs why we offer different OctoPoint bonuses for other types of participation, like streaks, or sometimes, for being one of the top Savers by percentage (so no matter how much you reduce, itâs the proportion of your normal power that counts). Plus, we have spot prizes every Session, giving you the chance to win 400,000 OctoPoints or ÂŁ500 just for opting in.
Beyond whatever you manage to earn, and our different bonuses and prizes, your efforts are part of something bigger.
Our Sessions are making a huge difference on the grid: sometimes saving as much power as all the homes in Leicester switching off. Thatâs all power the UK doesnât have to generate, saving an enormous amount of fossil fuel emissions and making everyoneâs energy a bit cheaper by reducing the need for the grid to burn gas last minute at a massive premium (balancing costs can be huge, sometimes tens of millions for a single day!)
How do you work out my typical energy use?
Weâll look at your historical smart meter data leading up to a Session, and calculate what you usually use at that time of day, on average.Â
If the Session is on a weekday, weâll look at your half-hourly usage over the last 10 weekdays (excluding saving session days). If the Session is on a weekend, weâll look at your half hourly usage over the last 4 weekend days. These half hourly averages are then subject to an âIn Day Adjustmentâ which will make adjustments based on how much energy youâve used on the day of the session.
We then use these adjusted half-hourly averages as a benchmark â so youâll earn points for every kilowatt hour you save compared to that number during your Session.
Why can I still earn some OctoPoints without saving energy overall?
Itâs got to do with the fact that we measure each half an hour of the Saving Session separately.
Over an hour-long Session, letâs say you cut your energy usage in the first half hour, but then used so much energy in the second half hour that overall, you still ended up using more power than usual. In this case, youâd still earn OctoPoints for the energy saved in the first half an hour, even if you didn't save overall.
Why can't I see what my 'normal' energy usage is before the Session?
You won't be able to see your normal energy usage calculation before the Session because we calculate it, in part, based on data from the day of the Session.
We need data from right up until the Session begins in order to accurately apply an âIn Day Adjustment.â This is part of National Grid's requirements for us all being involved in their balancing trial.
Getting rewards
How much could I be rewarded for taking part in Saving Sessions?
You'll earn OctoPoints per kilowatt hour for all the electricity you don't use compared to normal. There'll be at least 12 Saving Sessions this winter (but likely many more), and they'll be between one and four hours long.
It's hard to say exactly how much you could earn overall, because it all depends on a lot of factors we can't totally predict: from how many Sessions there'll be to how long each one is to how much National Grid will pay in each Session.
Plus, there are individual factors, like how many you choose to get involved in, and how much power you're able to save in each one.
A lot of the unknowns exist because this project is designed to help balance the energy grid, and we don't know exactly how much help it'll need this winter - as that depends on stuff like the weather, energy demand and supply issues (for example, particular generators not running.)
If you managed to take part in all 12 Sessions and you saved 1 kilowatt hour on average per Session, we'd expect your OctoPoint rewards to be worth around ÂŁ36. However, it's really likely there'll be many more than 12 Sessions. Based on previous years, we're expecting around 1 or 2 Sessions per week, so around 25 in total - if that happened, with a slightly higher average incentive, you could end up earning OctoPoint rewards worth around ÂŁ100.
What are OctoPoints?
OctoPoints are our way of rewarding Octopus Energy customers. You'll be able to keep track of how many you have in your online account, and they can be redeemed for all sorts of different rewards - prizes, donations to our Octo Assist fund for customers in need, or credit on your Octopus account (in GBP).
We'll give you more info about OctoPoints once Saving Sessions kicks off.
Saving Sessions is entirely free to get involved, your tariff and energy payments won't change, and you can opt out any time.
If I choose to redeem my OctoPoints for credit, how will I be paid?
You'll be able to choose how you want to redeem your OctoPoints online and see how much they're worth in GBP. One of the options will be to turn it into account credit â if you do that, weâll add the credit to your energy account.
What are the conditions for getting rewards?
Youâll be given points for every unit of electricity you donât use compared to what you normally use. You can exchange these points for a range of rewards, including cash. (We explain more about how we calculate the amount of energy you normally use in another FAQ on this page.)
The calculations will be done automatically by us â weâll collect the smart meter data ourselves, calculate how much you saved, and then credit you what you earned.
Interestingly, this is measured half-hourly â so you get separate opportunities to earn in every half hour of each Session.
Hereâs an example to explain what this means: say thereâs a Saving Session from 6pm to 7pm. If you use less power than usual between 6pm and 6.30pm, and then use more power than usual between 6.30pm and 7pm, you might use more power than usual overall, but you'll still earn points for what you saved in the first half hour.
More about the project
Why are you running Saving Sessions?
With energy prices sky high, itâs never been more important to help people save power and money. But Saving Sessions isnât just a way of easing the impact of the energy crisis on your bills - itâs the start of a new era of energy: one where people genuinely benefit by actively participating in making energy smarter, greener and cheaper.
Currently, the UK often has to fire up extra dirty coal and gas stations to satisfy everyoneâs energy needs at the busiest times of day.
Rather than paying these (very expensive) fossil fuel generators to turn on, when demand is high, we want to reward people for switching off or delaying the energy they donât need. Not only will this cut carbon emissions â it helps balance the energy system, and allows us to make the most of green energy when the sunâs shining and the windâs blowing.
Who is paying for Saving Sessions?
The money customers can earn in this project is paid by National Grid â itâs a reward for helping to keep the energy grid in balance by switching off at the busiest times. Which makes sense: when energy demand is high, itâs much cheaper to pay people to use a bit less power than it is to pay fossil fuel generators to switch on at short notice!
How could projects like Saving Sessions make the UK's energy cheaper?
This is all about reducing the cost of energy at peak times by balancing the grid and lowering the UKâs dependency on gas.
Itâs a chance for you to lower your bills when energy demand is high - and in time will make the system cheaper to run overall!
Will Saving Sessions only take place during winter?
This time round, yes. Historically, the electrical grid comes under the most strain in winter, when people tend to use more energy. But in the future, schemes similar to this one will allow customers to get rewarded for playing an active role in balancing the energy system whenever needed.
Can I be in Saving Sessions together with other flexibility trials?
Some of our customers are already contributing to (and financially benefiting from) other exciting grid balancing trials and projects. If there's a clash between Saving Sessions and any particular projects in the future, it might mean we need to withdraw you from Saving Sessions.
For this reason, customers who take part in Saving Sessions cannot join other similar projects run by other energy suppliers. Customers who are taking part in our Equinox heat pump trial wonât be able to join Saving Sessions either.
Customers signed up to any of our Smart Tariffs are absolutely able to sign up and take part, and if anything ever does change, we'll of course contact you about it.
Why am I not eligible for Saving Sessions?
The only way you can join Saving Sessions is with an electricity smart meter that sends regular half-hourly readings. To be eligible, we need toâve received 80% of your readings for the last 20 days.
This is essential, because we use your smart readings to measure what you save during Sessions and to calculate your typical energy use.
There are a few reasons you might not be eligible â here's what to check:
Do you have a smart electricity meter?
Not sure? Check what type of meter you have in the meter section on your dashboard (it should say âSmartâ next to meter type).
If you donât have one yet, you can request a smart meter now.
Generally, we can book you an appointment within a few weeks, but this depends on engineer availability and other factors so there are no guarantees.
Though we can install smart meters in most homes, there are some areas and types of buildings where they canât work just yet, and some cases when we canât install one.
Is your smart meter opted in to send us half-hourly readings?
We need half hourly readings to measure your savings â you can opt in to half-hourly readings on your dashboard by clicking âReview my smart meter data preferencesâ.
After that, we'll need to take half-hourly readings from your meter for 20 days to build up a picture of your typical energy use. Then you should be eligible to join Saving Sessions.
Is your smart meter connected to us?
Check under Explore my energy use on your dashboard. If there arenât any recent readings there, it suggests your smart meterâs not connected to us.
We'll do our best to get your meter connected but we can't guarantee it.
Though rare, some problems can be very tricky to fix â plus, smart meters are dependent on a whole host of third party government-mandated systems which we don't have control over.
Is your smart meter sending us readings reliably?
We need to have received 80% of your half hourly readings in the past 20 days. Check the graph on Explore my energy use â if there are gaps in your readings, it might mean your smart meter connection is patchy, and notâve quite hit that 80% requirement.
Our checks refresh every day so if your smart meter starts sending readings regularly enough, youâll be able to sign up for Saving Sessions as normal.
If your meters connection is consistently a patchy, we can try and fix it, but there are no absolute guarantees.
Though rare, some problems can be very tricky to fix â plus, smart meters are dependent on a whole host of third party government-mandated systems which we don't have control over.
For the best Saving Sessions experience, get the Octopus Energy app
- Download it from the App Store or Google Play
- Log in to your Octopus account
- Click the little face in the top left of your App home screen, click Notifications and then 'Enable notifications'
- In your phone's settings, search for the Octopus app, click notifications and make sure "Push notifications" are turned on.
If you don't want the app, that's fine too â you'll get all Saving Sessions notifications via email as well.
Published on 19th October 2022 by:
Hey I'm Constantine, welcome to Octopus Energy!
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