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Rising energy costs have pushed more homeowners to look at smarter ways of using electricity. One of the most effective is taking advantage of cheap overnight rates, often known as time-of-use tariffs. Used properly, this approach can dramatically cut running costs and make a fully electric home far more affordable to run.
The reality is simple. Electricity is cheaper at night as demand is lower. The opportunity lies in shifting as much of your energy sue as possible into those cheaper hours, then storing or using that energy throughout the day.
In the UK, tariffs such as Economy 7 offer lower electricity prices for a set period overnight, usually around seven hours. This is balanced by a higher daytime rate, so the savings only work if you actually use a meaningful amount of energy during those off-peak hours.
Typically, the cheaper window falls somewhere between midnight and 7am, although exact times vary by supplier.
A standard home uses most of its energy in the morning and the evening. Cooking, heating, hot water and general living all happen outside of off-peak hours. This means that, even if you’re on a cheap night tariff, you could still be paying more overall because daytime electricity is often more expensive than on a normal tariff.
To make overnight electricity work, you need to shift demand too.
The homes that benefit most are the ones that store energy overnight, and release it gradually during the day. This is where battery storage, modern electric heating and hot water systems completely change the equation.
Traditional night storage heaters were the original solution, but by today’s standards they are inefficient, hard to control, and widely disliked. Modern ELKATHERM® electric radiators take a different approach.
They use a high density chamotte core that heats quickly and retains warmth for hours, with minimal electricity top-ups. Instead of blasting heat overnight and running out in the daytime, ELKATHERM® radiators allow you to control exactly when you heat your home, and to what temperature, providing you with consistent warmth and none of the drawbacks of old storage heaters.
Hot water is a easy win when it comes to time-of-use tariffs. A Sunamp heat battery stores energy as heat, allowing you to generate hot water overnight at a much lower cost, and use it whenever you need it during the day.
Unlike traditional hot water cylinders, Sunamp thermal batteries are highly efficient, compact, and lose very little energy, making them perfect for maximising cheap overnight energy without waste.
If you really want to take control of your energy costs, combining a time-of-use tariff with solar and battery storage is a must.
Solar panels generate free electricity during the day, while a battery system lets you store cheap overnight electricity (and excess solar generation) for use during peak times. You can charge your batteries when electricity is cheapest, and use that stored energy when prices are highest, effectively flattening your energy costs and reducing your reliance on the grid at expensive times.
The principle is simple: you want to move as much energy use as possible into the cheaper, overnight window, and rely on this stored energy throughout the day.
In practice, this means heating your hot water overnight, charging up your home battery storage, and upgrading to energy-efficient electric heating. Appliances like washing machines and dishwashers can also be run on timers.
To make this work properly, your system needs to be designed around it.
For many homes, the answer is yes. As a rough guide, you typically need to shift at least 30-40% of your electricity usage into off-peak hours for a time-of-use tariff to be truly worthwhile. With the right system, this is entirely achievable.
We design our energy, heating and hot water systems to save you money. Instead of relying on outdated storage heaters or inefficient direct electric heating, the focus is on combining intelligent electric radiators, heat batteries, and battery storage.
ELKATHERM® provides controllable, efficient space heating that can work with or without off-peak tariffs.
Sunamp ensures your hot water is generated at the lowest possible cost, and available whenever you need it.
Add solar and battery storage, and you move from simply saving money to actively controlling your energy costs.
Cheap overnight electricity is one of the most powerful tools available to reduce your energy bills, but it only works if your home is set up to use it properly. With the right combination of heating, hot water and storage, you can take full advantage of those lower rates and run your home far more efficiently.
If you’re considering moving to electric heating, or want to future-proof your home, designing your system around cheap overnight electricity isn’t just smart. It’s essential.
