Introducing the Free Nights Calculator: Analyze Texas Free Nights Electricity Plans Before You Enroll
By
Rafael Morales
|
Technology
Free nights electricity plans are becoming more popular in Texas, but unfortunately, not always in a good way.
Free nights plans are not really “free,” because the electricity rate during the paid daytime hours is usually higher to compensate for the “free” window. But is it possible to evaluate a free nights plan before enrolling? Now it is.
Clear Energy Facts is introducing a new tool that tracks, day by day, whether your usage habits are good enough to actually save money with a free nights electricity plan. This tool is fairly simple. It groups and categorizes your Smart Meter Texas data, hour by hour and day by day, and calculates your true rate based on the plan you want to test. But that is only part of the story. Once you know what you would pay daily or monthly with a free nights plan, you need to compare it against a true fixed-rate plan. This is the only way you can know if you are really saving money.
And this is exactly what the Free Nights Calculator does. This tool is unbiased and unique in the market.
What Will This Tool Tell You?
This tool works as a tracker. Day by day, for the last 7 days, it calculates your true rate based on your actual habits. Then it compares your daily bill against competitive true fixed-rate plans in the market.
It will tell you if you are going to beat the fixed-rate plan depending on your expected monthly usage.
After you enter your ZIP code and term, you will need to select the plans you want to compare against. We have a wide range of plans that we track weekly. This information is extracted from provider websites.
- For the true fixed-rate plans used for comparison, we include the current top 20, top 10, and cheapest fixed-rate plans in the market.
- We always try to give you the full picture. These comparison plans usually include some of the cheapest plans available. You can feel confident that you are comparing against some of the best plans in the market, not gimmick plans or overpriced plans like the ones promoted by many websites online.
After you select the plans you want to compare, you will see a graph similar to the one below:
This image has a line that acts as the boundary. It tells you how much electricity usage needs to be shifted to the free-hour window in order for the free nights plan to beat the true fixed-rate plans.
In the example above, the selected plan is Atlantex Power Free Nights. Based on the graph, you need to shift around 40% to 50% of your daily consumption into the free hours to beat the true fixed-rate plans.
In this case, that is very feasible. Atlantex Power Free Nights is a 12-hour free electricity plan. If you shift around 40% of your power usage between 9:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m., you can beat the true fixed-rate plans.
This is totally possible. In fact, if you are disciplined and keep your thermostat around 76°F or higher during the paid daytime hours, you can achieve that and unlock bigger savings.
Are You Actually Reaching the Goal?
Now you know your goal. But are you actually reaching it and beating it?
This is where the magic happens.
Our tool breaks down your Smart Meter Texas consumption day by day and tells you if, on that specific day, you reached your goal and beat the true fixed-rate plan.
For example, on 2026/07/06, I managed to shift 51.78% of my electricity usage into the free window. Remember how much I needed to beat the true fixed-rate plans based on the chart above? I needed around 40%.
That means I am on track to beat the best true fixed-rate plans. If I continue with the same habits, it is very likely that I will save money with a free nights plan.
Not All Free Nights Plans Are Good Deals
Some plans, especially the “most popular” ones, are not as good as others.
We order the filter from the cheapest to the most expensive based on the advertised rate. For example, look at the plan below:
In this case, the free window is between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. According to the next graph, I would need to shift more than 60% of my usage into only 10 free hours.
That is the problem: more usage needs to be shifted, but you get fewer free hours.
As a result, I would not be able to beat the true fixed-rate plans. This plan is simply too expensive. Even if I try to change my habits, it is possible that this free nights plan still will not beat a true fixed-rate plan.
Suggestions From Clear Energy Facts
- Pick a free nights plan with lower paid-hour rates and longer free-hour windows. Usually, the first plans shown in the filter are the most competitive. Atlantex Power, Infuse, and Revolution are companies that commonly have competitive free nights rates.
- Select the top 10 or top 20 true fixed-rate plans for comparison. You also have the option to compare against the cheapest plan in the market. However, the cheapest plan is not always the best, and sometimes the savings between the cheapest plan and the top 10 plans may be less than $3 per month. Nevertheless, the option is there if you want to compare against the absolute cheapest plan.
- Check your table results day by day. If the free nights plan does not work out at first, ask yourself: can I move more of my usage to the free-hour window? Make these changes and keep testing. Adjust your thermostat during the paid hours, usually around 76°F or higher, and then lower the temperature during the free window. You can also do laundry during the free window and run your pool pump on high speed during the free hours.
- After a few days, check the table again. If your free-window percentage improves and you start beating the true fixed-rate plans, then you know the plan may work for your home.
The example shown in this article is from my own house. I keep my thermostat at 76°F during the day and around 70°F at night. I also do some laundry at night. I am currently on a true fixed-rate plan, with no intention of heavily adjusting my usage for a free nights plan. And still, some free nights plans would beat my current plan.
So yes, it is possible to save money with free nights electricity plans, but only with the right plan, the right habits, and the right tool.
