Best time-of-use electricity tariffs UK for households — August 2026
If you have a smart meter and a meaningful shiftable load — an electric vehicle, a heat pump, a hot-water tank, a home battery, or even just a dishwasher and tumble-dryer you can delay — a time-of-use (TOU) electricity tariff is the single most powerful lever for cutting your bill in the UK right now. Off-peak rates start as low as 6.7p/kWh, while the Ofgem price cap rose to £1,663/yr and the capped single electricity rate climbs to 26.11p/kWh. Pick the wrong TOU tariff and you pay a peak penalty; pick the right one and a typical EV or heat-pump home saves £300–£800 a year. This page ranks every household TOU tariff, explains each type, and shows exactly who benefits — rates verified August 2026.
- Cheapest off-peak: E.ON Next Drive at ~6.7p/kWh (EV-only, narrow window).
- Best all-rounder: Intelligent Octopus Go at ~7p/kWh (six-hour window, 23:30–05:30).
- Best for heat pumps: Octopus Cosy at ~13p/kWh across three daily slots.
- Best EV add-on: OVO Charge Anytime at ~7p/kWh, smart-scheduled any time of day.
Quick answer: the best TOU tariffs in August 2026
For most households the best time-of-use electricity tariff in August 2026 is Intelligent Octopus Go — a ~7p/kWh off-peak rate across a six-hour overnight window (23:30–05:30) that suits EV owners and home batteries. Heat-pump homes are better on Octopus Cosy (~13p/kWh across three daily slots), and EV owners who charge at odd hours suit OVO Charge Anytime (~7p/kWh, smart-scheduled). The cheapest headline rate is E.ON Next Drive at ~6.7p/kWh, but its window is narrow and EV-only.
TOU only pays if you can move a real chunk of usage off-peak — roughly a third of your annual kWh, or about 60 kWh/week of shiftable load. Do that and you can land well under the capped single rate of 26.11p/kWh that applies, saving £300–£800/year. With no shiftable load, a flat fixed tariff is the safer bet because every peak-time unit on TOU costs 30–41p/kWh.
Compare every household TOU tariff in one place
There are roughly fifteen distinct household TOU electricity tariffs live in the UK retail market as of August 2026. They fall into a handful of families: narrow off-peak EV tariffs (Intelligent Octopus Go, E.ON Next Drive, British Gas Electric Driver), broad smart-controlled add-ons (OVO Charge Anytime), multi-slot heat-pump tariffs (Octopus Cosy), legacy static two-rate meters (Economy 7 and Economy 10), and dynamic half-hourly trackers (Octopus Agile). The right one depends entirely on what you can shift and when.
Tell us your postcode, your peak-time household load, your EV charger (if any) and your heating system. We match you against the TOU tariffs that pay you the most for your specific load shape — verified August 2026 rates only, no out-of-date supplier marketing.
Find the best time-of-use tariff for your home
Tell us your postcode, EV/heat-pump status and weekday off-peak availability. We match you to the lowest off-peak rate you qualify for in August 2026. Takes about 60 seconds.
UK household TOU electricity rate table — verified August 2026
Off-peak unit rates published by each supplier and verified in the last 14 days. Peak rates are shown too, because if you can’t shift load you will pay more than a single-rate fixed tariff. The bottom row is the capped single rate that applies (26.11p/kWh) as your benchmark.
| Tariff | Off-peak rate | Off-peak window | Peak rate | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E.ON Next Drive | ~6.7p/kWh | Narrow overnight EV window | ~38–41p/kWh | EV owners with low overnight load |
| Intelligent Octopus Go | ~7p/kWh | 23:30–05:30 (six hours) | ~30–32p/kWh | EV / battery owners (best all-rounder) |
| OVO Charge Anytime (add-on) | ~7p/kWh | Anytime EV charging (smart-controlled) | Standard day rate otherwise | EV owners with irregular charging |
| British Gas Electric Driver | ~8.95p/kWh | 00:00–05:00 (five hours) | ~30p/kWh | EV owners on BG dual-fuel |
| Octopus Cosy | ~13p/kWh | 04–07, 13–16, 22–00 (three slots) | ~39p/kWh (16:00–19:00) | Heat-pump households |
| Economy 7 (legacy) | ~15–20p/kWh | ~7h overnight (region-set) | ~30–39p/kWh day | Storage heaters / older homes |
| Octopus Agile (tracker) | Varies half-hourly (often <10p, can spike) | Dynamic, day-ahead priced | Capped at ~100p in peaks | Engaged users with flexible load |
| Capped single rate (benchmark) | 26.11p/kWh | N/A — flat all day (from 1 Jul 2026) | 26.11p/kWh | Daytime-load homes (no TOU fit) |
All rates verified August 2026. Peak rates on the TOU tariffs above sit roughly between 30p and 41p/kWh — well above the 26.11p/kWh capped single rate — so the savings only materialise if you genuinely shift load into the off-peak window. Standing charges still apply (the cap sets electricity standing charge at 57.19p/day).
The main types of time-of-use tariff explained
Economy 7 & Economy 10 (static)
The original TOU tariffs. Economy 7 gives about seven cheaper night-time hours; Economy 10 splits roughly ten cheaper hours across night, afternoon and evening. Rates are fixed by your region, the night rate (~15–20p/kWh) is far less aggressive than modern smart tariffs, and the day rate is higher than the capped single rate — best only for homes with night-storage heaters or hot-water cylinders.
Smart EV tariffs
Built around overnight car charging: Intelligent Octopus Go (~7p, six hours), E.ON Next Drive (~6.7p, narrow window) and British Gas Electric Driver (~8.95p, five hours). These deliver the lowest published off-peak rates in August 2026 but carry a steep day rate, so they suit homes that can park most consumption in the small hours.
Smart-controlled add-ons
OVO Charge Anytime bolts onto your existing tariff and bills smart EV charging at ~7p/kWh whenever it happens — the supplier’s app schedules the charge for you. Ideal if your charging pattern is irregular or daytime; the rest of the home stays on the standard rate.
Multi-slot heat-pump tariffs
Octopus Cosy spreads three cheap slots (04–07, 13–16, 22–00) across the day so a heat pump can pre-heat the home and a buffer tank, dodging the 16:00–19:00 peak. The off-peak rate (~13p/kWh) is higher than an EV tariff but the windows match how heating actually runs.
Dynamic / tracker tariffs
Octopus Agile prices every half-hour a day ahead, tracking wholesale costs. Rates frequently sit below 10p/kWh and occasionally go negative, but can spike toward the ~100p cap on cold, still evenings. Powerful for engaged households with batteries or automated load, riskier if you cannot avoid peak periods.
Free-period & reward offers
Several suppliers run free or reward windows — for example free weekend electricity sessions or “power-up” free hours on specific days. They are useful bonuses for big batch loads (laundry, dishwasher, battery top-up) but are session-based extras, not a substitute for a core tariff matched to your load shape.
How a time-of-use electricity tariff actually works
A TOU tariff charges different unit rates at different times of day. Your SMETS2 smart meter records consumption in half-hourly intervals and the supplier bills each interval at the correct rate. Most TOU tariffs in August 2026 are a simple two-rate split (a cheap off-peak window plus an expensive peak rate the rest of the day), but some — Octopus Cosy in particular — use three or four bands across the day.
The economics only work if the proportion of your consumption that lands in the off-peak window is large enough to offset the peak premium. A 7kW EV charger drawing for four hours overnight shifts roughly 30 kWh per session into the off-peak window — large savings. A heat-pump home running mostly during peak hours will not benefit from a pure EV TOU tariff and should look at Cosy instead. Rates verified August 2026.
Who is a TOU tariff actually suited to?
EV owners
A typical EV driver shifts 60–100 kWh per week into the off-peak window. At Intelligent Octopus Go’s ~7p/kWh versus the 26.11p capped rate, that is £12–£19/week (~£600–£1,000/year) of pure savings on the car alone. The easiest TOU win there is.
Heat-pump households
A 12,000–18,000 kWh/year heat-pump load fits Cosy’s three-slot ~13p/kWh design well — saving £400–£700/year versus the capped single rate if the buffer tank is sized to ride through the 16:00–19:00 peak.
Home-battery owners
A 10kWh home battery charged at ~7p/kWh overnight and discharged against the ~26–32p peak gives a ~20p/kWh arbitrage spread — roughly £500/year on a well-cycled battery. Pair it with Intelligent Octopus Go or Agile.
TOU vs the July 2026 price cap: pros and cons
the price cap is £1,663/yr for a typical dual-fuel direct-debit home, with the capped single electricity rate at 26.11p/kWh. Only Standard Variable tariffs move — roughly 40% of accounts on fixed deals are unaffected. Here is how a TOU tariff stacks up against simply sitting on that capped single rate.
| Pros of TOU | Cons / cautions |
|---|---|
| Off-peak rates (~6.7–13p/kWh) are far below the 26.11p capped single rate. | Peak rates (30–41p/kWh) are well above the cap — unshifted load costs more. |
| EV, heat-pump and battery homes can save £300–£800+/year, dwarfing the +£221 cap rise. | You need a SMETS2 smart meter and real shiftable load (~60 kWh/week) to benefit. |
| You take control rather than passively paying the rising cap. | Requires behaviour change — timers, schedules, watching the first bills. |
| Dynamic tariffs (Agile) can capture very cheap or negative wholesale periods. | Trackers carry price risk on cold, still evenings (rates can spike). |
Bottom line: if you have shiftable load, a matched TOU tariff beats the capped single rate comfortably. If you do not, a competitive fixed tariff protects you from the rise without the peak-rate risk. Tip: take a meter reading on 30 June so the cheaper (pre-rise) cap covers your usage up to that date.
How to switch to a TOU tariff in August 2026
- Confirm you have a SMETS2 smart meter (or DCC-enrolled SMETS1). Without half-hourly reads you cannot be billed on TOU rates. Most suppliers install one free as part of onboarding.
- Calculate your shiftable load. Roughly: 30 kWh per EV charging session, 50–100 kWh/week for a heat pump, 7–10 kWh per battery cycle. Anything over ~60 kWh/week of shiftable load makes TOU compelling.
- Pick the right window match. Six-hour Octopus Go for EV owners, three-slot Cosy for heat pumps, OVO Charge Anytime for irregular charging, BG Electric Driver if you are already a British Gas dual-fuel customer, Agile if you want dynamic pricing and can automate load.
- Use our comparison form. We confirm which TOU rates apply in your Ofgem region and which tariffs your kit qualifies for — verified August 2026 rates.
- Watch the first two bills to confirm load actually shifted, then optimise: move the dishwasher delay, washing-machine timer and immersion timer to push as much load as possible into the off-peak window.
TOU savings illustration — EV-driving household, August 2026
Worked example for a four-person family with a Tesla Model Y driving ~12,000 miles/year (~3,500 kWh of car charging), plus 4,200 kWh of household electricity and no heat pump. We compare the capped single rate (26.11p/kWh) against Intelligent Octopus Go:
| Load | Annual kWh | Capped single rate (26.11p) | Intelligent Octopus Go |
|---|---|---|---|
| EV charging (off-peak) | 3,500 | £914 | £245 (7p) |
| Household peak (~70%) | 2,940 | £768 | £941 (32p peak) |
| Household off-peak (~30%) | 1,260 | £329 | £88 (7p) |
| Standing charge (57.19p/day) | — | £209 | £209 |
| Total electricity bill | 7,700 | £2,220 | £1,483 |
Net annual saving from switching this EV-driving household to Intelligent Octopus Go: ~£737/year. That swallows the entire +£221/yr price-cap rise more than three times over. Use the comparison form to model your own load shape.
Frequently asked questions — TOU tariffs (August 2026)
What is the cheapest off-peak TOU rate in the UK in August 2026?
As of August 2026 the cheapest published TOU off-peak rate is E.ON Next Drive at approximately 6.7p/kWh in a narrow overnight EV window, followed by Intelligent Octopus Go at ~7p/kWh in a wider six-hour window (23:30–05:30). The OVO Charge Anytime add-on also delivers ~7p/kWh for smart-controlled EV charging at any time of day. Run the numbers against your kit using our comparison form.
Do I need an EV or heat pump to benefit from a TOU tariff?
In practice yes — you need at least 50–60 kWh/week of shiftable load to make TOU economics work. Home batteries also qualify because the arbitrage between a ~7p overnight charge and the ~26–32p peak rate generates roughly £500/year on a well-cycled 10kWh battery. Without any shiftable load, a flat fixed tariff is the safer bet because every peak unit on TOU costs 30–41p/kWh.
Is a TOU tariff cheaper than the July 2026 price cap?
Yes, substantially — if you can shift load. the cap is £1,663/yr for typical DD dual-fuel, with the capped single electricity rate at 26.11p/kWh. An EV-driving household on Intelligent Octopus Go can land near £1,500/year on the worked example above, well below the capped rate. A heat-pump household on Cosy saves £400–£700/year against it.
Should I fix now or move to a TOU tariff?
If you have shiftable load (EV, heat pump or battery), a matched TOU tariff usually beats both the rising cap and a flat fix. If you do not, lock in a competitive fixed deal now to escape the +£221 rise — only Standard Variable tariffs go up, so an existing fix is already protected until it ends. Take a meter reading on 30 June either way.
What happens if I use electricity during the peak window?
You pay a peak rate of 30–41p/kWh — considerably more than the 26.11p capped single rate. That is why the savings only materialise if a meaningful portion (typically at least a third) of your annual consumption sits in the off-peak window. Use our comparison form to model your specific load shape before switching.
Can I switch to a TOU tariff without a SMETS2 smart meter?
No. TOU tariffs are billed from half-hourly meter reads that only a SMETS2 (or DCC-enrolled SMETS1) smart meter can supply. If you don’t have one yet, every TOU supplier will install one free as part of onboarding — expect a 4–8 week lead time as of August 2026.
What’s the difference between Octopus Cosy and Intelligent Octopus Go?
Cosy is a three-slot ~13p/kWh tariff designed for heat-pump households whose load runs through the day. Intelligent Octopus Go is a single six-hour ~7p/kWh overnight window built for EV charging. EV owners go to Go; heat-pump owners go to Cosy. Households with both should compare blended outcomes via our comparison form.
Is the gas side of my bill affected by TOU?
No — TOU tariffs cover electricity only. Your gas stays on a single flat rate, and the gas unit rate component of the cap rises about 24% (the largest single driver of the £1,663/yr cap). Pairing a TOU electricity tariff with a competitive 12-month gas fix is the strongest play in August 2026.
Written by: EnergyPlus Editorial Team. Rates verified August 2026 · Last reviewed August 2026. Off-peak and peak unit rates are taken from each supplier’s published smart-tariff terms and cross-checked against independent rate trackers; price-cap figures are the Ofgem cap for 1 July–30 September 2026 (£1,663/yr typical dual-fuel DD; electricity 26.11p/kWh + 57.19p/day). Savings illustrations are worked examples, not quotes — your result depends on your region, load shape and how much usage you can shift off-peak.
Cut your electricity bill under the current price cap
The July 2026 Ofgem price cap is £1,663/yr, taking the capped single electricity rate to 26.11p/kWh. A TOU tariff matched to your load shape can save £400–£800/year for EV or heat-pump households — more than offsetting the rise.
Send us your postcode, EV/heat-pump status and weekday off-peak availability. We match you to the lowest off-peak rate you qualify for in August 2026.
Find your best TOU rate
Back to Energy Cost Saving Advice