SpotVahtiSpotVahti · updated 11 Nov 2026 · calculated from actual hourly prices for 1 Nov 2025–31 Oct 2026
In short
Moving consumption from expensive to cheap hours only pays off for big loads. Over 1 Nov 2025–31 Oct 2026, electricity cost on average 3.98 c/kWh more in the evening (17–21) than at night (1–5). Charging a laptop at night would therefore save 0.73 € a year, and charging a phone 0.22 €. Moving the tumble dryer saves about 38 € and EV charging 119 € a year. The biggest saving is in heating, if it can be timed.
Saving by appliance
Moving consumption does not reduce kilowatt-hours, it only makes them cheaper. The saving is therefore always consumption times the price difference. Over 1 Nov 2025–31 Oct 2026, electricity cost on average 8.62 c/kWh in the evening (17–21) and 4.64 c/kWh at night (1–5), so moving use from evening to night saved 3.98 c on every kilowatt-hour. We calculated what that means for different appliances over a year.
| Appliance | kWh/use | Saving/use | Uses/yr | Saving/yr | Priciest hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An EV's daily charge (about 40 km) | 8.22 | 33 c | 365 | 119.46 € | 6.33 € |
| Tumble dryer | 3.7 | 15 c | 260 | 38.31 € | 2.85 € |
| Electric sauna | 8 | 32 c | 104 | 33.13 € | 6.16 € |
| Washing machine | 1.15 | 4.6 c | 260 | 11.91 € | 89 c |
| Dishwasher | 1.05 | 4.2 c | 260 | 10.87 € | 81 c |
| Oven, one hour | 1.2 | 4.8 c | 156 | 7.45 € | 92 c |
| Kettle, 10 min | 0.2 | 0.8 c | 365 | 2.91 € | 15 c |
| Watching TV, one hour | 0.09 | 0.36 c | 365 | 1.31 € | 6.9 c |
| Charging a laptop | 0.05 | 0.2 c | 365 | 0.73 € | 3.9 c |
| Charging a phone | 0.015 | 0.06 c | 365 | 0.22 € | 1.2 c |
What is not worth moving
Charging a phone or laptop, watching TV and boiling the kettle use so little that timing makes no difference. These four together would save 5.16 € a year even if each were moved to the night every day. Lighting uses even less: a 15-watt LED bulb for eight hours a day is 0.12 kWh. Even in the year's most expensive hour (3 Feb 2026, 17–18, 77.04 c/kWh) charging a laptop cost only about 4 cents.
Cooking is also best done when you are hungry. Moving an hour of oven use from evening to night would save 4.78 cents.
What is worth moving
- EV charging is usually the biggest movable load in a home. Charging at night saves about 119 € a year, and more when scheduled to the day's cheapest hours: EV charging with spot-price electricity.
- Heating and hot water heaters, if they can be controlled. In a ground-source heat pump house, timing heating to the 12 cheapest hours saved 119 € a year in our calculation: Heat pump and spot price.
- An electric sauna uses about 8 kWh per session. Few people heat the sauna at night, but on a price-spike day you can move it to another day. On a normal evening a sauna cost about 0.69 € in energy, in the year's most expensive hour 6.16 €.
- Tumble dryer, dishwasher and washing machine: a timer set to the early morning saves about 61 € a year together, most of it from the dryer.
The most expensive hours
On average, electricity was most expensive at 8–10 and 18–20, and cheapest at 2–6. The average smooths out the differences, though. On a normal day the gap between the most and least expensive hour was 8.64 c/kWh on average, and at most 58.22 c/kWh (3 Feb 2026). Those are the days when moving pays off: moving a sauna or EV charge from the most expensive hour to the cheapest is worth euros, not cents.
Tomorrow's prices are published every afternoon. They show whether tomorrow is a normal day or a price-spike day, when big loads are worth moving. The spot price is now set per 15 minutes, but this guide uses hourly averages.
Who this applies to
Timing only saves money with a spot-price contract. With a fixed price every kilowatt-hour costs the same at any time of day, so moving use does not change the bill. For most people transmission also costs the same around the clock; if your network company offers night transmission, night use is cheaper for the transmission part too.
Which contract suits you better is covered in Fixed price or spot price?
Frequently asked questions
Is it worth charging a laptop or phone at night?
Not in practice. Charging a laptop uses about 0.05 kWh, so the evening–night price difference (3.98 c/kWh) is worth 0.20 cents per charge and 0.73 € a year. Even in the year's most expensive hour (77.04 c/kWh) a charge cost about 4 cents.
Which appliances should I run in cheap hours?
Those that use a lot at once and can be rescheduled: EV charging (about 119 €/yr), the tumble dryer (38 €/yr), and storage heating and hot water heaters. An electric sauna can be moved to another day when prices spike. Timing the dishwasher and washing machine saves a few euros a year.
When is electricity most expensive in Finland?
Over 1 Nov 2025–31 Oct 2026, electricity was on average most expensive at 8–10 and 18–20, and cheapest at 2–6. On individual days the gap can be much bigger: the largest difference within one day was 58.22 c/kWh (3 Feb 2026).
Which contract is cheapest for you?
Calculate your annual price for every contract with your home type and consumption.
Read next
- Fixed price or spot price? Which was cheaper for different home types, and in how many months spot price has won since 2021.
- Margin and monthly fee What the margin on a spot-price contract means and when the monthly fee matters more than the margin.
- Heat pump and spot price What heating costs on a spot-price contract and how much you save by shifting it to cheap hours.
- Charging an EV on spot price What charging costs at night, in the evening and during the cheapest hours of the day.
- Switching electricity contract How to switch electricity contract in Finland: termination, fixed-term contracts and moving home.
Spot prices: Ember, European Wholesale Electricity Price Data (CC-BY 4.0), original source Nord Pool. Prices include 25.5 % VAT, but not transmission fees or electricity tax. Method: How we compare. Spotted a mistake? [email protected]