The ultimate guide for Free night hours shopper electricity texas
By Rafael Morales|
Electricity shopping
•
Free night plans in Texas are polarized: some people like them, and others don't. People can truly take advantage of these plans. You need to understand that to make them work, you must switch a large amount of your usage to the free window. This sounds easy on paper but can be troublesome, especially if you don't like the discomfort of increasing your thermostat in the summer months. Nevertheless, Free night plans can be great deals. In this guide, we will first understand the EFL of free night plans and the differences between them.
Truly Free Night vs. Discount Nights
This is the first thing you need to recognize in your EFL. Every EFL should clearly state if the free hour window includes the TDU delivery charge. Unfortunately, some providers don't make it easy to understand. So what should you pick? It depends on the pros and cons of these plans:
Truly Free Hours:
Pros: You can shift usage to the free window with the certainty that it will be free. You can decrease the thermostat to polar arctic temperatures, run your pool at high rates, and do laundry as many times as you want without being charged. If you have solar panels and a battery system, you can dramatically reduce your bill. However, several of these plans include a base charge you must pay even if you don't consume electricity , and many companies are now banning users with solar setups from these plans.
Cons: The energy rate in the non-free window is higher than discount nights. It can be double, triple, or even four times the best fixed rates in the market.
Discount Hours:
Pros: The energy rate in the non-free window is much lower than truly free hours. You can find very competitive plans on Power to Choose, like Chariot Bright Night. There are more options for these plans, and some are designed specifically for EV owners.
Cons: Even though you must shift all the usage you can to the discount window, you still have to watch your consumption. Remember, you still pay TDU delivery fees, which are around 5 to 8 cents per kWh.
How to Differentiate Them
Clear Energy Facts has a summary of the best plans on this page: Best Free Nights Plans in Texas where you can quickly identify which offer TDU delivery fee waivers. However, the best way is to connect your SMT and search for plans. For every free hours plan, you can check the details and graphs to see the true rate for the 24-hour window:
Truly Free Hour Plan
Discount Hour Plan
As you can see in the pictures, Truly Free hour plans have a high rate but zero cost during the free window. In contrast, discount plans have a lower rate but still require you to pay delivery rates that vary by your zone.
Be Aware of Advertised Rates (500/1000/2000)
Comparing free night plans based on the advertised 500/1000/2000 rate can be very misleading.
% Usage Assumed
Free Window
Energy Rate
1000 kWh Advertise Rate
42%
21:00 - 06:00
25¢
16.1¢
32%
21:00 - 06:00
20¢
17.1¢
In this table, two plans have the exact same free hour window. However, the top plan calculates the advertising rate based on a consumption of 42% during free hours. The bottom plan, which looks "more expensive," calculates the rate with only 32% usage in the free window. This is a problem because the second plan is actually a better deal. Using the 500/1000/2000 averages alone can be misleading.
Be Aware of the Free Hour Window
This is another important point. Is 9:00 PM – 6:00 AM better than 10:00 PM – 7:00 AM? The hours where you are most tempted to use power, especially in summer, are during the sunset when you want to cool your house after arriving home. We prefer plans where the free window starts as early as possible.
Summary
Now that we have covered the main points, let’s summarize the steps:
Decide if you want a discount night or a truly free hour plan.
Compare plans based on when the free hours kick off. Starting at 8:00 PM or 9:00 PM is usually better than 10:00 PM.
If two plans have the same window, make sure the percentage assumed for the free window is similar so you can compare advertised rates.
If you have never had a free hour plan, we recommend trying a short term first. Infuse Energy and Revolution are among the few offering 3-month plans.
Sometimes, even with shifting usage, the best deal is still a Truly Free rate plan. That is why we encourage using our tools to compare all plans with your real data. Clear Energy Facts is one of the few platforms that offer you this capability. Your data is power. Energy providers use it to maximize profits. Now, you can use it to maximize your savings.
By
Rafael Morales
|
Electricity shopping
