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

UK households staying up for late-night World Cup matches could trim energy bills by shifting chores to super off-peak hours, according to supplier E.ON Next. The firm’s time-of-use tariff charges as little as 13p per kilowatt hour between 2am and 5am. E.ON Next, a subsidiary of German utility E.ON SE and one of Britain’s Big Six energy suppliers [6], operates its Next Smart Saver deal with three pricing bands. Peak electricity costs 39p per kilowatt hour from 4pm to 7pm, off-peak drops to 18p, and super off-peak falls to 13p [1]. Julian Lennertz, chief commercial officer at E.ON Next, said millions will be awake for night-time games “unaware it’s also one of the cheapest times to use electricity” [1]. Running a washing machine typically accounts for 14% of a household energy bill [1]. Jan Rosenow, a professor at the Environmental Change Institute, calculated that shifting five daily activities — watching TV, ironing, using a tumble dryer — from peak to off-peak could save households up to £230 a year compared with the government price cap [1]. “Most people don’t realise that when they run appliances, can be just as important as which appliances,” Rosenow said [1]. E.ON SE, headquartered in Essen, Germany, serves over 50 million customers across more than 30 countries and has been a component of the DAX stock index [4]. In the UK, the company migrated customers to the E.ON Next brand in 2020 after acquiring Npower and Powershop [4][6]. EDF offers a comparable dynamic tariff, FreePhase, which alerts customers to next-day prices across three bands: green super off-peak from 11pm to 6am, amber off-peak, and red peak from 4pm to 7pm. The company said FreePhase saved customers £152 in the first five months of this year versus its standard variable tariff [1]. Joanna O’Loan, knowledge manager at the Energy Saving Trust, cautioned that time-of-use tariffs work best for households with electric vehicles, storage heating, heat pumps, home batteries or smart appliances. “This level of flexibility isn’t possible for everyone, and without it, savings can be small, or even negative,” she said [1]. Ofgem estimates only 2-3% of households are currently on such tariffs [1]. Ben Gallizzi, energy expert at Uswitch, noted that users must watch for peak rates between 4pm and 7pm. “If you use a lot of energy during the day, one of these deals may not be best for you — but if you can charge an EV overnight, or set your washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer on a timer, you could see some savings,” he said [1]. The renewed focus on bills comes as the energy price cap rises next month, pushing the average gas and electricity bill to £1,862 a year from July. The cheapest available fix at the time of writing was from Outfox Energy at £1,611 a year, £251 below the July cap [1].