Lower bills at night?

**Dsunny1** · 07-05-2006, 03:48 PM

I was wondering if there is a certain time at night where running the dishwasher or clothes washer would be cheaper... If I waited till 10pm would that save money compaired to running them when I stop by home during the day? Thanks, I'm a newby and trying to figure this all out.

**AmyBoz** · 07-05-2006, 07:08 PM

Some gas and electric companies do offer cheaper prices after certain hours, however, not all do. You'll have to check with your local carrier. Good luck!

**miss_thrifty** · 07-05-2006, 09:38 PM

Here in Canada PEI, the best time is inthe early moening till 3:00p.m. after that its the more exsoensive beacuse alot of people are getting home from work, kids getting home from school. By 5:00p.m. everones using some type of electric.

**SHOPGIRL** · 07-05-2006, 09:53 PM

I checked with Detroit Edison and they do offfer lower rates at night, but the rates during the day are significantly higher. I checked this last summer, and I just decided to keep with my current plan.

**Dsunny1** · 07-06-2006, 10:19 PM

Do you mind sharing your current plan? I am at work during the day but do come home occasionally at lunch and sometimes do chores then (easier then when the kids are here). Is it better for me to run them before I go to bed around 11pm? thanks for you help.

**Moontidearts** · 09-16-2007, 03:26 AM

In the winter it might be wisest to run your dishwasher when your family is home, even if the rate is a bit lower at a different time. When the cycle is finished, you can open the door, pull out the shelves and let all that lovely hot, moist air into the house. Raising the humidity in the winter makes it seem warmer, and the dishwasher produces a significant amount of heat. There's no need to use the drying cycle, since the dishes are so hot, after the wash, so they dry very quickly on their own...also releasing their heat into the room.

**JustJoy** · 09-16-2007, 04:09 PM

Originally Posted by Moontidearts

In the winter it might be wisest to run your dishwasher when your family is home, even if the rate is a bit lower at a different time. When the cycle is finished, you can open the door, pull out the shelves and let all that lovely hot, moist air into the house. Raising the humidity in the winter makes it seem warmer, and the dishwasher produces a significant amount of heat. There's no need to use the drying cycle, since the dishes are so hot, after the wash, so they dry very quickly on their own...also releasing their heat into the room.

Great idea...I'll definitely be doing this!

**baxjul** · 09-16-2007, 04:29 PM

Down here, ours doesn't do it. It only has lower plans for "winter only" residents.

**Jaded** · 09-16-2007, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by baxjul

Down here, ours doesn't do it. It only has lower plans for "winter only" residents.

You're kidding me! The snowbirds get lower electric prices????? You know, there has been a lot of controversy over FPL lately, and I'm going to definitely complain about this too.

**baxjul** · 09-16-2007, 08:46 PM

Nope, really. I checked into it. The snowbirds get alot cheaper rates than we do!

**MrsK** · 09-17-2007, 01:09 AM

Our electric company doesnt offer lower prices during certain times of the day. I wish they did. I would be happy to save laundry & doing the dishes & stuff for late at night...we usually do them at that time anyway.

**sdrjeolsen** · 09-17-2007, 10:46 AM

We have the option of a time of use plan which I just checked into 2 weeks ago. The electric co-op put a thingy on our meter to see when we use how much electricity. Turns out, it would be more expensive to change to a time of use plan, so we will stick to the standard plan.

The on-peak would have been from 6-9 am and 4-9 pm. Also, rates are almost 4 times higher for on-peak hours than for off-peak!! So for us not a good choice. We will rethink when the kids move out, lol.

Good luck finding a more frugal plan!

oh, also, if you already are on a time of use, consider putting some appliances on timers, like your freezer, fridge, water heater, etc. The big electricity drainers.

**jettsmom** · 09-17-2007, 02:28 PM

I don't know if ours does or not. I do remember trying to do everything late at night and didn't see a difference. If there was, it wasn't worth it.

**mommy4ever** · 09-17-2007, 03:51 PM

We don't have a timer thing here. We are requested to not do heavy power things during certain hours in the winter to prevent a black out. Seems the cold weather causes a shortage or something. But no deals on times. I'll need to look into it hough. Maybe it's a hidden thing.

**Springer** · 09-20-2007, 07:48 AM

We chose a time of day meter 24 years ago when we built the house, because we were both working. They were really pushing it back then. Our "off" time is 9pm to 9am in the summer and 8pm-8am in the winter. Rates are just over twice as much for day. Weekends are all "off" time, so needless to say we do most laundry on the weekend. Until a few years ago they printed how much we saved on our bill & even with me being home the last 21 years, we always saved at least $2 or so. Not much, but saw no reason to change. Now I saw PA is going to start pushing it again, so people can work to save energy. Our meter reads on time, off time & total KW. We also had a water heater timer placed on by the electric company, but when that went, we had to buy one, since they were no longer offering them. I could save much more with this system if I tried harder. Not a bad deal usually.