Have set hubby onto looking into it as he does all our stuff like that. Lot’s of talk of the app. We are a bit weird and don’t really install apps on our phones. What exactly are options for finding out what day is coming up if we don’t install the phone app?
Sorry just to add he’s looked on the site and not very clear.
They used to send me a texto. Also I had the little box you plug in with lights on given by EDF.
Ahhh Joël was asking about the box as he feels it is a good idea to be able to glance up and check what is what. Perhaps you don’t get that now from what the recent converts have said?
@toryroo Your EDF espace particulier (if you’ve created one) on the EDF website, gives you the colour of the next day from 11am, (and options for email and text alerts).
There are a number of independent sites that also give you the same ‘colour’ info, and provide interesting, informed comments about using Tempo, which I found helpful when weighing up whether to sign up for Tempo.
For example:-
I appreciate your preference not to install apps, but I think the EDF & Moi app is excellent. It gives you more or less what’s in the EDF espace particulier, with the convenience of ‘fingerprint’ secure access, rather than the latter’s requirements to input a code sent via email/text.
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Deleted, misread post
Very good information in this thread! We have oil heating, incl. hot water, and gas cooker. I recently installed four solar panels (1.5 kW) in the garden, only for autoconsommation. We also have a rechargeable hybrid car that normally charges during the night (and maybe next year full electric car 
).
Currently on HP/HC tariff, I think we will change to Tempo.
Exactly. Apart from those pesky 22 x 16 hour periods the power & the abonnement are cheaper than vanilla HC/HP.
Thanks for all the info everyone. Just changed our gite over to Tempo. Really easy to do via their phoneline and linky.
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If we have a much warmer winter than usual, do we think EDF would still insist on ‘using up’ its full quota of red days? It would seem illogical to insist on ‘imposing’ red days if there are reduced actual peaks in demand, for example due to the absence of cold weather.
I do appreciate (based on historical weather patterns) that this is probably a theoretical question (sadly!)…but I’m interested to learn from the experiences of those who’ve used Tempo for a while…
Yes they do, historically in mild winters we have had eg 8 red days (so a run of 3, the weekend white on Saturday blue on Sunday, then a run of 5) right at the end of March. This is based on 20odd years of having the Tempo option. That’s just how it is.
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Thank you @vero. As a Tempo novice, that’s good to understand in advance of the main winter period. It wasn’t exactly what I was hoping to see, but it’s what what I was semi-expecting!
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Tempo is only for 9kva (not 6) correct?
Yes. To be precise, it’s only available for 9kVA & above i.e. all the way up to 36kVA.
Thanks for confirm…
Just been on the phone to EDF to change to the tempo tariff. The kind guy that I spoke to actually advised that it would be the wrong tariff for us as we have electric heating and a swimming pool, so would potentially be incurring substantial costs on “red days”. So need to consider carefully what you will be using as normal on a red day. Made sense to me after the conversation.
Yogesh
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The word to note is “potentially”.
Most pools won’t need much power during the winter, when red days occur.
Even if you have the luxury of a heated indoor pool all you have to do is avoid the 22 x 16 hour periods when the power is very expensive. The rest of the time you will be running more cheaply than on any other “tarif réglementé”.
Space heating is different matter, but you could reduce temperatures, or switch off less used rooms on red days. If you have electric underfloor with sufficient thermal mass you might barely notice that it’s not on.
Best of all, make sure you property is well insulated.
Have signed up for tempo - what a palaver. After checking all details & our consumption over the years we have been in France I was well armed with information on hours, tariffs etc.
First attempt - being told my french is not sufficient to understand the finer details I was told to call the
‘english’ helpline. Which I duly did, only to be given the same info I had already gathered online. Then was told that the helpline cannot actually change the contract & I would have to call the ‘regular’ line again.
Went to our french teacher and asked for her to call them - as I was not ready to be told again my french is not sufficient.
After a 45 minute lecture over tariffs, blue days, red days and a grilling on how we use electricity it was determined that we could potentially save about 400 Euro a year.
YEAH - that was what I wanted to hear. Have managed to convince EDF to change us over (cannot be done online) - as of today for the next 365 days we will be on Tempo & see if the bills will reduce.
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When I changed over recently I did find the “grilling” annoying. I had to interrupt them to tell them that I was an electrician & that I fully understood the Tempo offering. That still only reduced the palaver a bit - the call handlers don’t like going off script.
Apart from that it was a good experience - just one one 'phone call & all done. The call handler was very friendly.
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How bizarre! I changed ours on the phone in a couple of minutes. 