The resurgence of EDF's Tempo tarif

Thanks @vero , that’s brilliant. That gives me all the data I need.

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Ok, I’ve now entered all the data for the EDF standard tariff, and for the Tempo Blue/White/Red days (thanks to @vero ) along with the relevant charges. If I had been on Tempo during this period, and given that I was not trying to save energy during red days, I would have paid 6.1% less that I did on the Base tariff.
The breakdown of cost is 59% Blue, 15% White and 26% Red. So, if I was able to reduce my usage during Red days during the day then I should be able to save quite a bit more I think :+1:

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UPDATE.

I checked EDF et Moi just now & we’ve been switched over to Tempo at some point today, so all was done within a couple of days (if you remove the jour férié on Tuesday).

Yup it was hell…everything turned off except fridge/freezer. When there are red days end to end and white days to boot as you can see from 20 - 25 Jan then one blue day and back to 2 white and then a red. We have a gadget to warn you about the following day, the current day but it only gives this information around 8pm and of course, it uses electricity!! You can be advised by email - generally earlier and I daresay there is an app.

I’m new to the nuts and bolts of Tempo (I understand the three colour banding, of course) so help me out here please:

  • Are the days defined as 00h00 - 23h59 ?
  • I assume it completely replaces HP/HC on the white days ?
  • Is it possible to return to HP/HC if you find it doesn’t suit your lifestyle?

A tempo “day” is from 06.00-06.00 i.e. it is possible to go from the cheapest rate (blue HC ending at 06.00 on a Monday morning) straight to the most expensive (red HP starting at 06.00 on a Monday morning).

It is still an HC/HP tarif as each day (regardless of colour) is split into an 8 hour HC period & a 16 hour HP period (HC is 22.00 - 06.00).

Tempo can be cancelled at any time.

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Useful to know Badger, thanks. It’s a serious option for our gite and my only concern is that we may need to decamp to the gite if we have work done on the house during the winter - so being able to cancel, useful to know.

Yes, but don’t forget that apart from the red HP period Tempo power is always cheaper than standard HC/HP, as is the abonnement.

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Look at the EDF screenshot a couple of posts ago :slightly_smiling_face:

I really appreciate the quality of advice/guidance posted already on this particular thread by everyone, especially as I grapple with understanding the Tempo offer received recently.

I have 1 practical issue and one general one.

What do people do regarding cooking etc on red days if you have electric hobs/ovens etc? Do you cook things in advance (eg when blue/white) then simply reheat (eg soup, stews etc) on the red day, (it being winter and presumably cold!) perhaps briefly using a microwave or hob, rather than an electric oven? Despite the cost, do you treat yourself to cups of tea/coffee?!

I see there are comments on various consumer sites that EDF may in future reduce the number of white days to 37 from 43, and increase red days to 30 from 22, but I assume there is no official confirmation of this?

Thank you in advance for any thoughts…

When I bought my house it had EJP and that wasn’t available alas for new contracts, so I went for tempo, EDF asked me what heating I had (then it was fuel) and what I used for cooking (gas hob, electric ovens) so it was do-able. In those days they tried to put you off tempo because it was too advantageous to the customer apparently. You can use a slow cooker on red days, for example.

I obviously don’t know what the thermal mass of your wet u/floor is, but with mine - which is wood heated - I wouldn’t notice the difference if it didn’t fire up until about about 8 - 10 hrs later, such is the amount of heat stored in the concrete. So if it were a timable heat pump rather than a hand-fuelled chaudier, I could quite imagine that running it 22.00 - 06.00 on the red days would be sufficient .
In one of our bedrooms we have an electronic programmer/thermostat which, whenever we have a power cut, turns itself off. it’s often 2 days before we realise there’s been no heating in there !

When I looked at the August 2022 tariff sheet from EDF, the Tempo abonnement was more expensive than the Base tariff. At least it was for 9kva, didn’t look at the others.

If I do change to Tempo, then as far as cooking is concerned, I think I would do pretty much what you’re suggesting, slow cooking overnight and also having pre prepared meals in the freezer to manually defrost and microwave. The washing machine/dishwasher done overnight as well as having the underfloor heating on at night. Will still allow us hot drinks during the day, can’t be too strict about it. As I calculated 26% of my consumption would have been on Red days, the scope for saving is quite large.
I have 4.1Kw of solar, of which I self consume a lot. I’m assuming that Red Tempo days would be when the grid is under most strain, which to my mind would be when the weather is coldest and when there is a big dip in renewables. So, on Red days I may not have much solar ?. Do people agree ?

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Yes, it is, slightly, by 7,68€ per year for 9kVA.
However, I said…

Which means 5,28€ less per year than 9kVA HC/HP.

Probably/possibly, but it could also be very cold with clear skies.

Toast, anyone?
Toasters can be fairly high wattage, as can kettles.
I’d look into that for winter, as toast is one thing I definitely keep going in winter.

We bought a lovely stove top kettle when DH was in the UK. To use on the woodburner, or gas on red days if we go to tempo!

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Thanks for this post, I’ve been looking towards switching to tempo, but wanted to weigh up the pros and cons… I need to use my computer to work on the red days, but other than that I have a gas stove, a stove kettle, an outdoor wood burning stove, and an indoor wood burning insert. As a family of four, these past few months we’re averaging about 50 euros a month these past few months, through careful usage, but I know it will shoot up over Dec/Jan/Feb.

Looking at my production figures, It looks like many red days were bright, sunny but probably cold days. On 70% of the red days, I was producing 75% or more of my theoretical maximum for that time of year. I was also consuming more on those day, suggesting that I had the heating on more. So, if I make the most of my electricity production and also have the heating on partially at night, I should be able to save quite a bit.