The Winter Workout
Octopus energy customers were sent tips to help reduce gas consumption and lowering the flow temperature was one of the recommended measures.
Overview
Octopus Energy set out to see if providing simple guidance and personalised targets to customers could noticeably reduce their gas consumption. The hope was that this would save consumers money and lower carbon footprint, all while keeping customers warm.
Although there are lots of ways consumers can be more energy efficient and save substantially on bills: Octopus has found that energy-saving tips are seen as ‘ten a penny’. The many listicles telling consumers never to leave the TV on standby or only fill the kettle with the water they need are prime examples. Consumers are also looking to gain a clear understanding of how much they may benefit from energy-saving actions.
The Winter Workout provided gas-saving tips to Octopus energy customers between December 2021 and March 2022. Although not the only advice given during the trial, guidance around flow temperature was prominent and rated very highly among participants. Significant energy savings were achieved.
Key takeaways
- One hundred and fifteen thousand customers tried reducing their flow temperature, 93% rated the tip as useful.
- One hundred and fifty thousand Winter Workout customers reduced their consumption, cutting their gas use by 12% on average.
- Over 12 weeks, customers saved more than £3,100,000.
- Customer actions saved 14.3 million kilograms of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.
Two hundred and fifty thousand Octopus Energy customers joined the challenge. They signed up to hear tips from energy and heating experts on how to use less gas in their homes. Using industry data and data science, participating customers received a personalised projected gas consumption. These projections were based on their historic energy usage and adapted regularly to account for changing weather conditions. With the help of a simple online tool, customers could set a personal % savings target, tick off completed energy-saving tips, and track the savings over the course of the trial.
A range of other energy-saving measures were provided alongside reducing boiler flow temperature. These included blocking drafts, reducing the boiler's hot water temperature, closing curtains as it gets dark, and ensuring that heating isn’t on 24 hours a day.
Customers were given a target temperature band of 55-60 degrees to reduce their flow temperature. There was no further guidance on how to reduce the flow temperature given. Participants rated the advice on boiler flow temperature as the most useful tip.
To help encourage more people to get involved in something they might not have been enthusiastic about, every Winter Workout customer was entered into a weekly prize draw. Each customer who saved a target of 5% got their share of an £840,000 prize pool. Participants received weekly updates from Octopus about prize draw winners and how many people were taking part.
In total, 1.7 million energy-saving tips were completed. Reducing each customer's gas use by an average of 12%.