Endesa's 2 free hours: the catch is in the other 22
Endesa's Tempo Happy tariff gives away two hours of electricity and makes the other 22 more expensive. The circulating calculation: €0.140/kWh versus the €0.060/kWh of…
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Endesa's 2 free hours: the catch is in the other 22
Two hours of free electricity a day. It sounds like a gift. And as with any gift from a power company, it's worth reading the fine print before signing: Endesa's Tempo Happy tariff concentrates the perk in one time slot and raises the price for the rest of the day. The catch isn't hidden, it's in plain sight: anyone who can't shift their consumption to those two hours will pay more than with the time-of-use rate they already have.
The idea is simple to state and hard to pull off. One user describes their routine: they get home at 8 and could fit shower, dinner, next day's meals, washing machine and dishwasher between 8:30 and 10:30. On paper, two hours of free consumption. In practice, the first response they get points to the power limiter: switching on the stove, washing machine, dishwasher and water heater at once trips the breaker. Household physics doesn't negotiate.
The price of the other 22 hours
That's where the business lies. The calculation circulating in the discussion is blunt: the Happy tariff leaves the hours outside the slot at around €0.140/kWh, while a conventional time-of-use rate charges €0.060/kWh for the 14 off-peak hours and €0.135/kWh for the 8 peak hours. In other words, the price of the Happy tariff's expensive hours exceeds that of the peak hours of the classic time-of-use rate. The gift is paid for with a surcharge.
And there's a detail that dismantles the fantasy of extreme savings: the power company knows the hourly consumption of millions of customers. It knows how demand is distributed. The tariff is designed so that, on average, the company comes out ahead and only loses in extreme cases, such as a second home visited only on Saturdays. For a home occupied every day, the margin is slim.
The meter that isn't remotely managed
The tariff requires a remotely managed smart meter. Without one, there's no way to know what was consumed in each time slot, and the company either applies estimates or simply doesn't allow the tariff to be contracted. One participant describes his conversation with an Endesa sales rep who assured him the telemetry was working, when he had been receiving estimated readings for over a year. The reason, according to his experience: the installed meter wasn't connected to the remote management network due to its distance from the hub. The offer was still on the table, though.
When telemetry fails, the two-hour discount becomes worthless paper. The calculation being used is that, without a connected meter, the Happy tariff applies a 15% discount on a price that is inflated by 30%. A bad deal dressed up as a promotion.
The fridge doesn't care about happy hours
The refrigerator consumes between 35% and 45% of a home's electricity, and it can't be switched off so it only runs two hours a day. The electric water heater, devices on standby and heating in winter don't fit the schedule either. Concentrating the washing machine and dishwasher in the free slot is possible; moving the fridge, no.
The result, according to the calculations being shared, is that the final bill can be higher than with the PVPC tariff. The fridge, the water heater and phantom loads keep adding up outside the discounted hours, and they do so at the inflated tariff's price.
When the limiter trips after two minutes
A customer describes her experience after signing up for the tariff: the technician told her there was no power limit and she could use everything as usual as long as the breaker held up. That night she ran the washing machine, dishwasher and heating at the same time, as she usually did. The supply cut out in under two minutes. She had to turn off the heating and wait two hours to wash the clothes and the dishes. She is now preparing a complaint.
The episode illustrates the underlying problem: the tariff rewards concentrating consumption, but the contracted capacity doesn't grow by magic. If the limiter can't handle the sum of appliances, the two free hours become two hours of waiting.
The profile that does benefit
There's one case where the math changes: a small office with a four-hour working day. Laptops on timers, heating switched off at the end of the discounted slot and the main breaker down when closing. This eliminates phantom loads, leaving only the fixed charge plus a few euros of variable cost. It's the scenario the power company doesn't want as a majority customer.
For a home with a fridge, water heater and daily routine, the savings are a mirage. The question isn't whether the two hours are free, but how much the other twenty-two cost.
Two hours of free electricity a day. It sounds like a gift. And as with any gift from a power company, it's worth reading the fine print before signing: Endesa's Tempo Happy tariff concentrates the perk in one time slot and raises the price for the rest of the day. The catch isn't hidden, it's in plain sight: anyone who can't shift their consumption to those two hours will pay more than with the time-of-use rate they already have.
The idea is simple to state and hard to pull off. One user describes their routine: they get home at 8 and could fit shower, dinner, next day's meals, washing machine and dishwasher between 8:30 and 10:30. On paper, two hours of free consumption. In practice, the first response they get points to the power limiter: switching on the stove, washing machine, dishwasher and water heater at once trips the breaker. Household physics doesn't negotiate.
The price of the other 22 hours
That's where the business lies. The calculation circulating in the discussion is blunt: the Happy tariff leaves the hours outside the slot at around €0.140/kWh, while a conventional time-of-use rate charges €0.060/kWh for the 14 off-peak hours and €0.135/kWh for the 8 peak hours. In other words, the price of the Happy tariff's expensive hours exceeds that of the peak hours of the classic time-of-use rate. The gift is paid for with a surcharge.
And there's a detail that dismantles the fantasy of extreme savings: the power company knows the hourly consumption of millions of customers. It knows how demand is distributed. The tariff is designed so that, on average, the company comes out ahead and only loses in extreme cases, such as a second home visited only on Saturdays. For a home occupied every day, the margin is slim.
The meter that isn't remotely managed
The tariff requires a remotely managed smart meter. Without one, there's no way to know what was consumed in each time slot, and the company either applies estimates or simply doesn't allow the tariff to be contracted. One participant describes his conversation with an Endesa sales rep who assured him the telemetry was working, when he had been receiving estimated readings for over a year. The reason, according to his experience: the installed meter wasn't connected to the remote management network due to its distance from the hub. The offer was still on the table, though.
When telemetry fails, the two-hour discount becomes worthless paper. The calculation being used is that, without a connected meter, the Happy tariff applies a 15% discount on a price that is inflated by 30%. A bad deal dressed up as a promotion.
The fridge doesn't care about happy hours
The refrigerator consumes between 35% and 45% of a home's electricity, and it can't be switched off so it only runs two hours a day. The electric water heater, devices on standby and heating in winter don't fit the schedule either. Concentrating the washing machine and dishwasher in the free slot is possible; moving the fridge, no.
The result, according to the calculations being shared, is that the final bill can be higher than with the PVPC tariff. The fridge, the water heater and phantom loads keep adding up outside the discounted hours, and they do so at the inflated tariff's price.
When the limiter trips after two minutes
A customer describes her experience after signing up for the tariff: the technician told her there was no power limit and she could use everything as usual as long as the breaker held up. That night she ran the washing machine, dishwasher and heating at the same time, as she usually did. The supply cut out in under two minutes. She had to turn off the heating and wait two hours to wash the clothes and the dishes. She is now preparing a complaint.
The episode illustrates the underlying problem: the tariff rewards concentrating consumption, but the contracted capacity doesn't grow by magic. If the limiter can't handle the sum of appliances, the two free hours become two hours of waiting.
The profile that does benefit
There's one case where the math changes: a small office with a four-hour working day. Laptops on timers, heating switched off at the end of the discounted slot and the main breaker down when closing. This eliminates phantom loads, leaving only the fixed charge plus a few euros of variable cost. It's the scenario the power company doesn't want as a majority customer.
For a home with a fridge, water heater and daily routine, the savings are a mirage. The question isn't whether the two hours are free, but how much the other twenty-two cost.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (25 replies).
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