Electricity prices by time of day: peak, standard and off-peak explained

"Put the washing machine on at night" is the most repeated piece of money-saving advice in Spain. Sometimes it's good advice and sometimes it does absolutely nothing — and the difference isn't in the hour, it's in which tariff you've signed up to. Let's clear this up.

The three bands of the 2.0TD

Since the 2021 reform of grid tolls, every supply point of up to 15 kW (practically any home) is on the 2.0TD access tariff, which splits the day into three bands:

That last detail is the one most people don't know about: the entire weekend is off-peak. You don't need to get up at dawn — putting the washing machine on at ten on a Saturday morning already puts you in the cheap band.

The times are mainland Spanish time. In the Canary Islands, the Balearics, Ceuta and Melilla the same bands apply, referred to their own local time.

Contracted power has only two bands, not three

This one gets confused a lot. Consumption (the kWh) is split across three periods; contracted power across only two:

• Peak power: from 8:00 to 24:00 on working days.
• Off-peak power: from 0:00 to 8:00 on working days, and all weekend.

That's why you can contract two different power levels: one for the day and another, higher one, for the night. It makes sense if you charge an electric car or have storage heaters: it lets you lower your daytime power — the expensive one — without running short in the small hours. We go into it in how to lower your contracted power.

How much the price really changes

Here's the nuance that decides whether this advice is any use to you:

The regulated part always changes. The grid tolls and system charges built into your price are considerably cheaper off-peak than at peak, and that applies whatever tariff you're on. It's a real difference, but a moderate one.

The energy part depends on your contract:

• If you're on PVPC or on an indexed tariff, the energy price changes every hour, following the market. There the gap between the most expensive and the cheapest hour of the day can be enormous, and shifting consumption makes a big difference.
• If you're on a fixed price with time-of-use bands (the classic "three periods" or "night tariff" offers), energy has three agreed prices. The difference is set in advance.
• If you're on a flat fixed price, a kWh costs the same at three in the morning as it does at seven in the evening. Moving the washing machine saves you nothing at all on the energy part — only on the regulated part.

In other words: before you reorganise your domestic life, check which tariff you have. If it's flat, the night-time washing machine trick is costing you inconvenience in exchange for small change.

What to shift and what not to bother with

Assuming you do have time-of-use pricing, not all consumption can be moved. What can:

• Washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer. Almost all of them have a delayed-start timer. It's the easiest shift and the one with the biggest impact.
• The electric car. It is by far the largest and most shiftable load a home can have. Charging off-peak instead of at peak changes the bill visibly.
• The electric water heater. If it's a storage type, timing it for the small hours makes complete sense: it heats cheaply and keeps the water hot.
• The robot vacuum, the pool, the irrigation system. Small loads, but programmable.

What can't be moved, and that's fine:

• The fridge and freezer. They run all day by definition.
• Cooking. You eat when you eat.
• Heating and air conditioning. You use them when you need them. What you can do is fine-tune how you use them, and that saves a good deal more than moving them around the clock — we cover it in how to save on air conditioning.

A word of warning about leaving appliances running overnight

Setting the washing machine to start at three in the morning is legal, normal and something plenty of people do. But it's worth applying common sense: manufacturers recommend not leaving tumble dryers and dishwashers running with nobody in the house, and home insurance policies tend to have something to say on the matter. If it makes you uneasy, remember that the whole weekend is off-peak too: that's the alternative, with no early starts and no risks.

How to tell whether it pays off for you

The real question isn't "which hours are cheap?" but "how much of my consumption can I actually shift, and how much am I paid for shifting it?". And that depends on three things: your tariff, the way your consumption is currently spread across the day, and your volume.

Your bill has that breakdown: look for consumption split by period (P1, P2, P3). If most of your kWh are already off-peak, a time-of-use tariff rewards you. If they're at peak and you can't move them, you're better off with a flat fixed price and forgetting about it.

At luzgasia we read that breakdown from your bill and compare against the way you actually use electricity, not against an invented profile. If your consumption can't be shifted, we recommend a flat tariff and tell you so in exactly those words; if it can, we tell you what shifting it is worth.

It's free, with no strings attached and no sales calls: you see your analysis first and decide afterwards. Analyse your bill now.