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What time of day is electricity cheapest?

post #1 of 26
9/17/08 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
I've been trying to figure this out and googling it doesn't seem to give me a consistant answer. Some sites say after 9pm, others say during the busiest time of day like 5pm. I'm just wondering if I can move my laundry time to try to save a few pennies.
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post #2 of 26
9/17/08 at 10:55am
wouldn't that depend on your provider? Who sends you a bill? Call them up and ask them.
post #3 of 26
9/17/08 at 11:27am
Yeah, it depends on your provider. A few years ago we were with a different power company and there was a difference between 9pm-6am, weekends and holidays = cheaper. I used to always do laundry then. (Nice deal since that was when I had babies in cloth diapers!) There isn't an incentive with the power company we are with now.
post #4 of 26
9/17/08 at 11:38am
It varies by provider, just be prepared that your provider might not have a cheaper time.
post #5 of 26
9/17/08 at 11:51am
For us, the price is always cheapest between 1am and 5am. We set up the dishwasher to run then. For laundry, I just check the pricing grid on the electric company's website to determine when the price is low. The grid changes daily based on what the market is doing and how much demand there is at that time of day.

Usually it is lower before 7am and after 9pm, but we sometimes see a lull around 2pm as well.

HTH,
Maggie
post #6 of 26
9/18/08 at 1:53am
Check out your electric provider's website. Ours is 8-3PM moderate. 3-10PM most expensive. 10-8AM cheapest. Sundays is moderate all day long.
post #7 of 26
9/18/08 at 1:17pm
It will be different for every power company.

Right now its the same price all the time for us, but our power company recently installed a "smart meter" so they should be switching to time-of-day pricing sometime in the near future.
post #8 of 26
9/18/08 at 1:20pm
Before we moved, I looked into this and found that in order to get 'cheaper' times during the day, I needed to join their program which wouldn't have saved us all that much more money. I can't remember the specifics, but if you were involved in their program, you got cheaper electricity rates on the 'off' times of the day.

I'll have to call up my new electric company and see if they offer cheaper rates during the day or night or anything.
post #9 of 26
9/18/08 at 2:11pm
With our company (Portland General Electric) you actually have to sign up for time of day pricing.
post #10 of 26
9/18/08 at 3:29pm
Yes, I forgot to mention that we signed up for actual usage pricing. They had to come out and switch our meter.

Before we did it, I practiced to see if I could change my routine according to the current pricing. Basically, I have to check the online grid, if electricity is less than 7.5c per kwh then it is a savings for us. We have to look at it longer term rather than just monthly. It costs more in the summer and less in the winter.

Contact you electric company and they should be able to tell you if the actual pricing program exists.
post #11 of 26
9/18/08 at 4:43pm
How would they be able to tell what time of day you're using electricity? Our guy comes and reads the meter once a month....he'd have no way of even knowing what time of day things were turned on.
post #12 of 26
9/18/08 at 5:11pm
What the poster is talking about is a "time of use" meter. It is a special meter that records what time the kwh are used. It really depends on where you live & your lifestyle to make this work for you. When I worked for the electric company, I saw customers that used this rate have OUTRAGEOUS bills!!! Way more than the standard rates. The only ones it worked for were those that put them on vacation homes in the mountains. We are in so CA btw...where this rate really does not work.
post #13 of 26
9/19/08 at 10:59am
Debstmomy - thanks for explaining the meter. Yes, that is what I am talking about.

For us, this plan has worked and saved us money. Not tons though.
post #14 of 26
9/19/08 at 3:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Debstmomy View Post
What the poster is talking about is a "time of use" meter. It is a special meter that records what time the kwh are used. It really depends on where you live & your lifestyle to make this work for you. When I worked for the electric company, I saw customers that used this rate have OUTRAGEOUS bills!!! Way more than the standard rates. The only ones it worked for were those that put them on vacation homes in the mountains. We are in so CA btw...where this rate really does not work.

People who sign up for TOU and put their water heaters on timers, and who only do laundry and run dishwashers in the off peak hours do really well with it. It won't lower the bill if the people who sign up for TOU continue to wash and dry laundry and to heat water during the peak hours.

I had TOU when I lived in Phoenix, and it cut my electric bills in HALF during the summers - I turned my A/C OFF while I was gone, and that was the bulk of my electric usage.
post #15 of 26
9/19/08 at 4:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by llamalluv View Post
People who sign up for TOU and put their water heaters on timers, and who only do laundry and run dishwashers in the off peak hours do really well with it. It won't lower the bill if the people who sign up for TOU continue to wash and dry laundry and to heat water during the peak hours.

I had TOU when I lived in Phoenix, and it cut my electric bills in HALF during the summers - I turned my A/C OFF while I was gone, and that was the bulk of my electric usage.
Ahhh, see I'm never gone. I'm home all day with daycare children.
post #16 of 26
9/19/08 at 5:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Synthea™ View Post
With our company (Portland General Electric) you actually have to sign up for time of day pricing.
We Have Portland General as well...does anyone think it is worth it to sign up for time of day pricing?

We have considered it before but were unsure as to whether or not we would save money...
post #17 of 26
9/19/08 at 5:10pm
Oops...N/m
I read the rest of the thread
post #18 of 26
9/19/08 at 6:01pm
Wow! I didn't realize it worked that way. I just checked ours so I can avoid the higher priced times of day. Thanks all for bringing this to my attention.
post #19 of 26
9/19/08 at 7:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moondiapers View Post
Ahhh, see I'm never gone. I'm home all day with daycare children.
You can super cool the house on the off peak hours, and then turn the A/C off (or WAY up) during the peak hours. Everything else would still apply (wait to do laundry, get a timer for the water heater, etc)
post #20 of 26
9/19/08 at 8:45pm
Our electric company discontinued time of use pricing. I miss it. Now it's just high all day long, it seems!
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