Current comps / Phone apps

Save energy, earn points and win prizes with the Equiwatt app

by Di · Published 30/07/2021 · Updated 03/10/2021

This post has been sponsored by Equiwatt

Equiwatt is a clever idea to help people save energy at peak times – a community of users take part in regular ‘Equivents’ where you switch off your appliances for an hour to reduce the strain on the electricity grid across the UK during the busiest times. As a reward for doing this, Equiwatt users earn points which can be redeemed as gifts, vouchers or environmental charity project donations – on average you can earn up to £60 a year in rewards. Plus there are also chances to enter competitions when you take part in the Equivents!

I first became interested in Equiwatt last year when I won a smart plug from one of their prize draws – I’m passionate about reducing household CO² emissions and developing eco-friendly habits, and liked the idea of being able to switch off plug sockets easily using wifi and an app. And of course – the idea of earning points, redeeming rewards and winning prizes was appealing too!

Here’s an introduction to Equiwatt for SuperLucky readers, with a guide to using the app:

Get started with Equiwatt

Download the Equiwatt app for free for your iOS or Android device and as part of the Sign-up stage, there’s an option to include a referral code (my code is LUCK – thanks for using!).

After signing up, verify your email address and you’re ready to go! Make sure you allow notifications, so you know when an Equivent starts.

Opt in to the Equiwatt prize draws

Make sure you’re eligible to win prizes and points! Tap the community tab (globe icon), and complete your profile – this means you’ve opted in to the prize draws and Equiwatt has your address to send out any prizes you win.

You can use Equiwatt simply by adding appliances and switching them on and off manually, and have a chance to win points in the monthly manual control prize draw, but in order to earn points in every Equivent you must use smart plugs to track your energy savings.

Set up your appliances

There are two ways to add your energy-guzzling appliances to the Equiwatt app – you can use TP-Link smart plugs to set up Smart Control – but if not, set up Manual Control.

For Smart Control, you will need to download the Kasa app to connect your TP-Link Smart Plug to your home wifi. Then add your Kasa account details to your Equiwatt settings. Compatible smart plugs are TP-Link Smart Plug HS110 or KP115 – and you can buy the KP115 directly from Equiwatt.

If you don’t have smart plugs, add your appliances manually by ticking the relevant boxes under the Manual Control tab

To earn points and be effective in saving energy, the appliance you connect your smart plug to must be in use when the Equivent starts, and should use a lot of energy. Here’s a few suggestions:

Fridge
Freezer
Dishwasher
Washing Machine
Tumble Dryer
Dehumidifier
Heated drying rack
Fan
Electric Vehicle charger (3-pin only)

There’s a handy guide to the amount of power used by different appliances on the Equiwatt blog which can help you decide which appliance to plug in.

To maximise your energy savings and points, plug two or more devices into a multiway socket, then plug that cable into your smart plug. I have my mini fridge and freezer plugged in together.

During an Equivent

You’ll earn points for taking part in the regular hour-long Equivents (2-3 per week) – a notification will pop up on your phone when an Equivent starts, reminding you to turn off your appliances at the socket. If you have smart plugs connected, your appliances will switch off automatically.

Manual control

For manual control, when an Equivent starts you’ll need to switch off the plug yourself – and switch it back on 60 minutes later at the end of the Equivent. Open the app, and tick the appliances you’ve switched off (see screenshot above).

You won’t earn points for manual control – but you will get an entry into the monthly prize draw for every Equivent you participate in.

Smart Control

If your device is using a smart plug, the Equiwatt app turns it off automatically for the duration of the Equivent (an Equivent lasts an hour, but you can change your settings to only switch off for 30 minutes if preferred). Using information from the smart plug, Equiwatt measures the drop in energy from just before the Equivent, to just after it’s started – and rewards points accordingly.

How to win prizes with Equiwatt

You can win reward points (redeemable in the app’s gift store) by participating in monthly prize promotions. The value of the prizes varies each month!

Smart Control Points Leaderboard

This promotion is only open to Smart Control users. Points are awarded to the top three point scorers each month – view the leaderboard by tapping the globe icon.

Lucky Dip

This promotion is only open to Smart Control users. Simply earn 50 points in a month and you’ll automatically earn an entry into the monthly Lucky Dip draw to win bonus points.

Manual Control Prize Draw

If you’re switching off your appliances manually during an Equivent, you can enter the Manual Control prize draw and will earn one entry for every Equivent you take part in. Winners receive bonus points.

Spot prizes

Equiwatt also run occasional competitions to give away spot prizes to reward particular actions – I’ve actually won these twice, where I had to share a screenshot of smart control points earned on social media. Prizes might be points, or gadgets (I won an Amazon Echo Dot by tweeting an entry for their latest comp). Equiwatt send a notification and email to their users when a special spot prize promotion is coming up!

Current spot prize competition details are at www.equiwatt.com/spot-prizes

Y ou can check all the Equiwatt competition T&Cs here.

How to redeem Equiwatt points

Points are redeemable in the gift store by tapping the gift icon. They can be redeemed on a variety of items, including a smart plug (2000 Points), a £15 Body Shop voucher (1500 points), or you can even plant trees with the World Land Trust. I have earned 2601 points in 6 months, and when I reach 3000 I’ll redeem for a £30 Amazon voucher.

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Equiwatt. I only partner with brands that I trust and that I think my readers will like – thank you for supporting the brands that support SuperLucky! You can follow Equiwatt on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.