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Affordable Night-Time Electricity: Is the Cost-Effective Energy Worthwhile for Heating Purposes?

Demand for electricity drops significantly at night as both households and businesses scale back on power usage. To ensure a consistent workload for power plants and offer lower costs at off-peak hours, nighttime electricity rates, often referred to as low-load rates or off-peak rates, have...

Cost of Nighttime Energy - Is the supposedly affordable electricity for heating truly...
Cost of Nighttime Energy - Is the supposedly affordable electricity for heating truly cost-effective?

Affordable Night-Time Electricity: Is the Cost-Effective Energy Worthwhile for Heating Purposes?

In recent years, customers have faced significant price increases for night-time electricity, leading to questions about its profitability. This increase is due in part to the rising cost of a kilowatt-hour of night-time electricity, which was around three to four cents in the 90s but now ranges from eleven to seventeen cents.

The Energy Saving Ordinance plays a role in this situation. According to its second amendment, climate-damaging night storage heaters can only be used until the end of 2019, with an exception for individual homeowners. For buildings with more than five households, this regulation does not affect them directly. However, a separate two-rate meter or second meter is required to use a night-time electricity tariff, and a monthly basic fee or meter charge is usually higher than for a simple meter.

Night storage heaters were subsidised in the 1970s to shift electricity consumption to night-time, but since 2008, the German government has effectively phased out electric heaters due to their increased prices and inefficiency. Today, local night-time electricity tariff providers, including large energy companies like E.ON, Vattenfall, EnBW, and TEAG, as well as numerous smaller local and green energy providers, offer these tariffs. Some of these providers also offer dynamic tariffs with time-variable pricing enabled by smart meters to optimize costs during low-demand periods such as night-time.

As an alternative to night-time electricity tariffs, some customers might consider a pure peak-time tariff for cost savings. By utilizing cheap night-time electricity, night storage heaters could be operated cost-effectively. However, it's essential to determine the profitability of a current tariff using an electricity tariff calculator before making any changes.

It's important to note that not all electricity providers offer night-time electricity tariffs. Customers should carefully consider their options and consult with their energy supplier to make informed decisions about their energy usage and costs. By understanding the current landscape of night-time electricity tariffs in Germany, customers can make choices that best suit their needs and budgets.

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