60% stuck with this schedule: how off-peak electricity hours really work in your home
Some things are supposedly common knowledge, until you actually try to explain them and realize… nope, it’s shrouded in mystery. Case in point: the enigmatic world of off-peak electricity hours. If you’ve got electricity at home (fingers crossed!), you’ve probably heard of the famous “peak and off-peak hours” option—advertised as the ultimate money-saver for your precious kilowatts. So, that’s the theory. Making it work for you in practice? Now, there’s the real challenge.
The Off-Peak Maze: Understanding Your Time Slots
Let’s get the basics straight: to benefit from the off-peak (heures creuses) rate—or HPHC (Heures Pleines/Heures Creuses)—you need to sign up for a specific paid option or contract. The one I have, for instance, is called “Elec Classique.” Maybe when I signed the contract someone mentioned the precise slot when washing machines wouldn’t cost me my right arm—or maybe not. When curiosity finally struck, it took me an eternity to track down my actual off-peak hours. Ironically, they were right there, listed on the bill.
Here’s what I discovered: everyone gets eight hours of off-peak time, but the distribution can be, well, surprising. For 40% of clients, those eight hours are split into two blocks. The other 60% get a single slot, generally between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. Lucky them. My off-peak windows? First round from 1:10 a.m. to 7:40 a.m., then another from 12:40 p.m. to 2:10 p.m. I’d need to be either a sleepwalker or a stay-at-home type to really take advantage. Coordinating life around these surreal schedules? Let’s just say, “challenging” is putting it politely.
No Changing The Rules: Your Schedule is Not Yours
If you think you can simply call up your provider and swap your slot, think again—changing your off-peak hours is not possible unless you move houses, and then it’s anyone’s guess. When you sign your contract, Enedis (the network manager) assigns your community’s specific schedule. This decision is, as they put it, “based on operating conditions and the local capacity of the public distribution network.” Lovely. Got a Linky meter? The joy is real: the time slot is randomly assigned. And don’t bother negotiating with your electricity supplier: they’re just the messenger, with Enedis holding all the cards.
Is the Off-Peak Option Worth It?
- If your designated off-peak window is inconvenient and your laziness will inevitably trump your desire to save a buck, maybe just stick with the regular “base” rate.
- Here’s why: according to electricity provider Engie, off-peak kilowatt-hours are on average 25% cheaper than the base rate. But—and it’s a big ‘but’—regular hours are about 10% more expensive than base rate hours. On top of that, just having the HPHC plan means a slightly pricier subscription: expect to pay €8 more per year for the standard 6kVA power level.
- Enedis themselves admit: you need at least 30% of your consumption during off-peak hours for the HPHC offer to actually save you money.
Those of us complaining about the off-peak time puzzles may be told by Enedis that the solution is simple: just program your energy-hungry devices to run at the right time. Makes sense, in theory; thanks to planned obsolescence, most appliances these days come with timer functions. And if you have an ancient device without such capabilities, you can always buy a timer plug “for a few euros,” according to Enedis.
But Will It Work Smoothly? Not Always, Especially with Linky
For electric water heaters, there’s a special contactor (kind of like a switch) that’s supposed to activate during off-peak hours—your meter sends the signal (“hey buddy, it’s off-peak!”), and the contactor gets things heating. But with the Linky meter, this doesn’t always function as planned, Enedis admits. What now? You need to call the network manager so they can send a technician to fix the issue—which is almost free… if you don’t count the €30 call-out fee. So now you know. Go ahead and synchronize your watches—or at least check your bill. Who knows? You might actually catch your washing machine on a cost-effective spin.
