EV tariffs · First-time EV drivers
What is load shifting?
The hidden bonus of an EV tariff.
Most new EV drivers switch to an off-peak tariff to charge the car cheaply. The bigger win is what it does for the rest of the house: five or six hours of electricity at roughly a quarter of the day rate, every single night.
What load shifting actually means
Load shifting is simply moving when you use electricity, not how much you use. The work still gets done. It just happens in the cheap overnight window instead of the expensive evening one.
On a typical EV tariff you might pay around 26p per kWh during the day and around 7p between midnight and 6am. Every kWh you move from day to night saves you roughly 19p. The car is the biggest load you can shift, but it is far from the only one.
The car is just the start
Charging 50kWh overnight at 7p costs about £3.50 instead of £13 at the day rate. That is the saving everyone talks about.
But while the car charges, the rest of the house is on the same cheap rate. A washing machine cycle, a dishwasher run and a heated airer can all happen inside the same window for pennies. Over a month, the household savings can rival the car savings, especially if your mileage is modest.
What we run overnight
In our house the overnight window handles the predictable, timer-friendly jobs:
- Washing machine: 30°C cycle on the delay timer, finishing as we wake up. See what a wash costs.
- Dishwasher: eco cycle on the delay timer, unloaded with the morning brew.
- Heated clothes airer: dries the washing overnight for pennies. How it compares to a clothes horse.
None of this needs smart equipment. The delay timer already built into most machines is enough.
The one firm rule: no tumble dryer overnight
Do not run a tumble dryer while you are asleep or out. Lint and a large heating element are a known fire risk and no tariff saving is worth it. If you need drying overnight, a heated airer is the lower-risk route we use.
The same common sense applies to everything else: plug big appliances straight into the wall, keep filters clean and make sure your smoke alarms work. Our full overnight checklist is here.
Is an off-peak tariff right for you?
The day rate on an EV tariff is usually higher than a standard flat tariff. If you charge the car at home most nights and shift a few appliances into the window, the maths works well. If you rarely charge at home and cannot move any household loads, a flat tariff may still win.
The honest test: look at what you could genuinely run overnight, then compare tariffs on your real usage rather than the headline night rate.
The verdict
An EV tariff is not just a car deal. It is a whole-house cheap window every night. Charge the car, timer the washing and the dishwasher, dry on a heated airer and leave the tumble dryer for waking hours.