How doing a wash while you watch the World Cup at 2am could cut energy bills | Energy bills

Watching football late or early at night can provide UK households with a practical opportunity to reduce their energy bills; because in times of cheaper electricity tariffs, even just doing laundry can provide reasonable savings.

At a time when energy costs are again reaching alarming levels, research by E.ON Next demonstrates the potential for energy savings. usage time tariff – in this case, the Next Smart Saver deal, which has three tariffs: off-peak, off-peak and super off-peak.

The men’s football World Cup, held in Canada, Mexico and the USA, started with various starting times. Julian Lennertz, commercial director at E.ON Next, says: “Millions of people are preparing to stay awake for night games, unaware that this is also one of the times when electricity is cheapest.”

Currently, these tariffs, an energy agreement that charges different tariffs at various times of the day, are used by relatively few households. But experts say this may change as electric car ownership increases and consumers hope to make money from programs that offer free electricity.

On the Next Smart Saver deal, electricity costs 39 pence per kilowatt-hour (to the nearest penny) during peak hours (4pm-7pm). During off-peak hours the rate drops to 18p, then drops to 13p during super off-peak hours (2am-5am).

While running a washing machine typically accounts for 14% of a household bill, E.ON Next compared the cost during a match, with the cheapest rate of the tariff applied on 35 World Cup match days, against the government’s energy price cap and found it would save the country £93 million.

“Most people don’t realize that the way they operate devices can be just as important as which devices they run,” says Jan Rosenow, a professor of energy and climate policy at the Environmental Change Institute who did the calculations.

Rosenow says the tariff could save households up to £230 a year (compared to the price cap) if they switched five typical daily household activities, such as watching TV, ironing and using the tumble dryer, from on-peak to off-peak.

Similarly, EDF’s dynamic electricity tariff FreePhase works by alerting customers a day in advance what prices will be for the next 24 hours. There are three time slots: green (off-peak, 23:00-06:00), yellow (off-peak, 06:00-16:00, 19:00-23:00), red (off-peak, 16:00-19:00).

Customers can then choose to switch their electricity usage, such as laundry, cooking and chargers, to take advantage of cheaper rates. EDF says FreePhase has saved its customers £152 compared to the standard variable tariff in the first five months of this year.

The renewed focus on bills comes ahead of next month’s energy price cap increase, which will raise the average gas and electricity bill to £1,862 a year from July.

While time-of-use tariffs can save you money, experts warn that these tariffs have their pros and cons.

Joanna O’Loan, knowledge manager at the Energy Saving Trust, says: “If you have an electric vehicle, storage heating, heat pump, home battery or smart devices, these are often worth considering.

“But this level of flexibility is not possible for everyone, and without it savings can be small or even negative.

“Currently, time-of-use tariffs are used by relatively few households. Ofgem estimates that only 2-3% are currently using a tariff, the majority for electric vehicles.”

“More households are using older off-peak tariffs, such as Economy 7, which are often linked to storage heating. These don’t require a smart meter but only work well if you regularly use more electricity at night. For most people, higher day tariffs cancel out the savings.”

To access newer smart time-of-use tariffs, you need a smart meter. “Without this, your supplier won’t be able to track when you’re using electricity or apply the correct rates,” says O’Loan.

Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch, says interest in these tariffs is growing, but “users should beware of the more expensive peak rates between 4pm and 7pm, although they charge significantly less during off-peak hours.”

Gallizzi adds: “If you use a lot of energy during the day, one of these deals might not be the best for you, but if you can charge an EV overnight or set your washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer on a timer, you may see some savings.”

For those looking for a solution, he says, the cheapest available at the time of writing is from Outfox Energy, which costs £1,611 per year for the average household, £251 below the July price cap.