Free Nights and weekends

Free nights and weekends plans sound like a no-brainer. Who wouldn’t want free electricity? But here’s what the marketing materials conveniently leave out.

These plans charge you absolutely nothing for electricity during specific hours (usually nights from 9pm-6am and sometimes weekends), but they hit you with a much higher rate during the rest of the day. The strategy is simple: if you can shift enough usage into those free windows, you come out ahead. If you can’t, you’re paying a premium for the convenience of “free” power you’re not using much anyway.

The reality? Most people use the bulk of their electricity during paid hours. You’re home after work with the AC running, cooking dinner, watching TV. Sure, you can run the dishwasher at 10pm and do laundry on Sunday, but unless you’re shifting serious usage into free hours, those higher daytime rates add up fast.

This calculator takes your actual Smart Meter Texas data and shows you what percentage of your usage falls during free hours versus paid hours. Then it does the math: would you actually save money, or are you just paying extra for free electricity you’re barely using?

You can find the terms in the EFL(Electricity Facts Label) for the specific plan you are comparing- AKA Facts Label from Power To Choose

You will also need your data usage file from SmartMeterTexas. See instructions here (bottom of page)