This is a very pretty map! It shows that location is important but time is also an interesting domain. You can do your bit by running appliances at the best time. This is a post I made on https://energyuse.eu (part of an EU trial I'm involved with - https://www.decarbonet.eu).

Saving energy in general is a positive step. For example, we've just bought a new freezer and dishwasher with better energy ratings and these will save money over their lifetimes. However, when is the best time to run a wash to save the most CO2e?

Unless you are on an Economy 7 style tariff or have solar panels then when you use power has no effect on how much it costs you. If you are, then at night or in the middle of the day is better, respectively. Dynamic demand to grid signals isn't ready for consumer adoption yet but you can look at the information manually if you want to use power at less demanding times.

The grid frequency[0] is a reasonable indicator but is pretty technical. There are other, easier to understand, data sources available:

- Earth Notes: GB Grid Intensity[1] gives a simple traffic light indication

- GridCarbon[2] is a real-time carbon intensity app (CO2 Modeller[3] is from the same guys)

- MyGridGB[4] shows similar data on the web (and includes Solar data[5])

By avoiding peak time you may not save money but you can save carbon.

[0]: http://www2.nationalgrid.com/uk/Industry-information/electri...

[1]: http://www.earth.org.uk/_gridCarbonIntensityGB.html

[2]: http://gridcarbon.uk

[3]: http://www.co2modeller.info

[4]: http://www.mygridgb.co.uk

[5]: https://www.solar.sheffield.ac.uk/pvlive