14 Romantic Ways to Spend an OhmHour

You already know that participating in OhmHours can put some extra cash in your pocket and help do something good for the environment, but have you thought about the ways it can give a kickstart to your romantic relationship too? 

“In all honesty, I truly believe our relationship has improved since we joined OhmConnect and started regularly participating in OhmHours,” said OhmConnect user Nicole Mead in a comment on Facebook. “OhmHours let us spend quality "couple's time" and gives us the opportunity to make it a priority to spend more time together. It's amazing how one hour per week of quality family time can improve your life!” 

We couldn’t agree more, Nicole :) 

This Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing our top 14 most romantic ways to spend an OhmHour: 

1. Go for a run or walk together. It gets you out of the house so you can flip your circuit breaker to earn maximum points during the OhmHour, plus you get a romantic boost from those feel good post-run endorphins! Bonus romance points if you can run while holding hands. 

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2. Have a glass of wine on the front porch. Recommended by OhmConnect CEO Cisco DeVries, this date idea means time together, screen-free. What’s more romantic than toasting each other for being savvy energy savers?

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3. Have dinner by candlelight. We’d be remiss not to mention this one since it seems like the obvious choice for how to spend an hour with no power, but did you know you can totally crush your OhmHour energy goals with the lights on? It’s true! Find out how. But for romance purposes, candlelight is obviously more fun. 
   

4. Take the dog to the park together. Don’t have a pooch of your own? You can rent one! Well … not really “rent”, but borrow. Sign up for Wag and pretend you own all the dogs your apartment can't actually accommodate.‍‍‍

1. Play a board game. Kristen from the Finance team at OhmConnect recommends Hypertheticals. Have you played it yet? 
   

6. Take a virtual class. You can shut down everything but the wifi and a tablet and take a wide range of virtual classes online these days. Have you seen Ghost? A pottery class is the ultimate romance.
   

7. Do a puzzle.  Between 500 and 1000 pieces is a good happy medium of long enough to get into but not SO long that it’s tedious or frustrating.
   

8. Make a raw meal together. Learning new recipes together can be a hoot so why not try to find one that you can prepare using no household energy at all? We like the ideas over at TheRawFoodKitchen.com. 
   

9. Surprise each other with OhmHour date ideas! My husband Greg and I will alternate between planning dates for OhmHour nights*. It’s a bit of joy to get an OhmHour notification and know that he has an idea in his back pocket and fun is in our future. (*Well, we used to. These days with a new baby most of our OhmHour nights are spent heading out for walks trying to get Jack to nap in the carrier. Still pretty fun though!)

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10.  Lay on a blanket and look at the stars. What’s more romantic than stargazing? The big open sky and the knowledge that you’re doing something good for the planet we’re on is sure to warm some hearts. 
    

11. Trade foot massages. It’s been a long day. Take a load off! 
    

12. Hit up your local mini putt course. There’s just something romantic about dancing around in celebration when your hole-in-one gives you gloating rights until your next rematch. 

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13. Picnic in the backyard. It’s like dining together indoors, only you’re outdoors and your power is off. You may even meet some new neighbors while you’re there! 
    

14. Go on a (socially distanced) double date. Take any of these dates, find another couple who participates in OhmHours and spend the time together. This list just became 28 date ideas. Don’t have friends who do OhmHours? Get them on board and earn yourself an extra $20!