Power plans with free hours - are they a good idea?

With power bills climbing, you might be wondering if you could make savings by signing up to a plan that offers free hours of power.  

A lot of power companies offer free-hour plans now. These give you free power for a particular time – usually late at night or in the weekend, when the country’s power demand is low. Some let you choose when you’ll get your free power – although it’ll likely still be outside of those peak power times for Aotearoa. Peak times are generally between Monday to Friday 7am -11am and 5pm to 9pm.   

These free power plans can result in cheaper power bills. However, there are some things to consider before you sign up for a free-power plan, or you could actually end up with an even higher bill.  

The upside of free-power plans 

If you can move a big part of your power use to these free periods, you’ll notice the savings on your bill – but you do need to put in the effort to move as much of your electricity consumption  as possible to the free time period.  For some households that's easier than others. 

When deciding if it’s a good choice for your household, look at your big uses of power around the home and decide if you can hold off using them until your free power period. This will include things like your washing machine and dryer, dishwasher, oven, hot water and electric vehicle chargers.  

Delay functions are your friend if you make the move to one of these plans. For example, you don’t need to stay up until 9pm to put on the dishwasher if you use the delay function.   

If your free-power hours are on the weekend, it can be fun to see how much power use you can fit into this period. What meal prep, charging and laundry can you squeeze in? 

To be on a power plan with free hours, you’ll need to have a smart meter. We also recommend getting familiar with your power company’s website or app and using the tools available to track your power use to check if you’re successfully shifting it.  

Beyond the savings on your power bill, moving your power outside the peak hours is an environmentally friendly choice. If we can reduce the demand for power at peak times, the big coal stations don’t have to be fired up to meet the high need. 

What are the downsides of power plans with free hours? 

Paul Fuge is the manager of Powerswitch and says these plans will only work if you can shift a lot of your power use. “It requires a willingness to adjust your behaviour and also some honesty about whether you’re actually going to do it.  It’s not just about your own willingness to make changes — it’s just as important to get everyone else in the household on board too, whether that’s kids, partners, or flatmates. If they’re not on the same page, even your best efforts can go to waste.” 

Paul says families with young children, for example, may struggle with a power plan that gives free hours after 9pm because the cooking and bathing would likely have to happen earlier.  

But on the other hand, a household with an electric vehicle or spa can save money by waiting until a free period to charge or heat them.  

If you sign up for one of these plans and don’t adjust your habits, you could pay more than you were on a standard plan. That’s because the rate you pay for your power outside the free power hours can be higher than on a standard plan.  

“So, if you’re going onto one of these plans, you really need to commit to the lifestyle change or you’re going to be better off with just a standard plan,” Paul says.

What’s the best power plan with free hours? 

There are a lot of different options when it comes to choosing a power plan with free hours.  

• If you generally work late, a plan with free hours late at night would make it easier to do all your cooking and bathing and run appliances for free once you get home.  

• If you have more free time in your weekends, you might like to save up a bunch of cooking, laundry and work in the backyard for a plan with free weekend hours.  

• If you want more flexibility, there are also plans that let you choose your free period.  

• Some plans let you save your free hours for when you want to use them – you might decide, for example, to use them when it’s raining and you need to use a dryer for your washing.  

Once you know what type of plan will suit your lifestyle best, use the Powerswitch comparison tool to compare the offerings from different power companies.  

It’s easy to add your latest bill to Powerswitch. It will do a quick calculation to let you know which plans could save you money.  

To see plans with free hours, make sure you select the filter to show time-of-use plans.  

We recommend choosing a plan that’s not fixed so you can take a few months to see if it’s working for you.