Cheap rate electricity in Germany

For months now, in the vain hope of saving some cash, I have been setting timers in our house to turn on things like the dishwasher, tumble dryer, washing machine etc to run after 11pm which I thought was a cheap rate time.

But a colleague of mine tells me that its all a waste of time because if you want to take advantage of the reduced charges you need a second meter installed which measures the cheap rate usage.

Can anyone tell me exactly what is the deal with off-peak electricity use ??

If your German is up to par you can learn more here - Yellow Strom

Or over here E-On (English) and do a search for "Mixed energy"... yah, I think thats it...

If that doesn't work try google and "Mix it Baby e-on"

Don;t know about here but back in Blightly my flat has a meter with two sets of dials/numbers - one for peak rate use and the other for cheap rate/nightime use. It automatically swaps between the two depending on the time so the meter readers know how much you used during each charging period.
A similar system here would make sense.

High power users can have dual tarifs, and need a second meter to measure the off-peak consumption. You can save money if you are careful, but it does cost money in the first place to have the second meter and timer installed.

It's easier to simply choose a cheaper provider to make initial savings. www.billiger-strom.de helps you compare prices. Changing to a different provider is little more than filling out a form and waiting a month or so. EON (the main local provider) used to be pretty competitive, but has got more expensive of late. Yello is one of the cheapest, with "guaranteed" price stability.

YL6

Wish they had another provider for gas. Gas for heating gents, before you offer to come over and share your flatulence.

Gas for heating? I thought most places in Munich were connected to the "Fernwärme" from the incinerators.

Many places in Munich are, but most other places and those outside the reach of the Fernwärme are gas or oil heating

YL6

I think I saw once similar topic here, but I cannot find it anymore.

I need to choose one power distribution company and I don't know how to do it.
Names of cheap companies, price comparisons, etc. - anything can be useful.

Thanks.
Igor

Topics merged by admin

Even a lot of local flats right close to the Müllerstrasse "Fernwärme" station aren't on it.

Carefull with Yello min as there are stories of them messing it up big time.