France's off-peak hours are changing: what it means for you
Between 2025 and 2027, millions of French households see part of their heures creuses move from the evening to the middle of the day. Here are the rules, the timeline and how to adapt automatically.
If you have a peak/off-peak (heures pleines / heures creuses) electricity contract in France, your off-peak hours are set by the grid operator. With the TURPE 7 network tariff, the energy regulator (CRE) decided to move part of them to the middle of the day, when solar production is abundant.
You still get 8 off-peak hours a day, but not necessarily at the same times. Appliances you used to start in the evening, and timers you set years ago, may now run at full price.
The new rules
According to the CRE's decisions:
- You keep 8 off-peak hours per day.
- At least 5 of them are consecutive, at night, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
- At most 3 can be placed in the afternoon, between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
- The 7–11 a.m. and 5–11 p.m. slots are no longer guaranteed to be off-peak.
- In the second phase, the schedule can differ between summer and winter, with afternoon off-peak hours mostly in summer.
Your supplier tells you about a month before your hours change, and the new hours appear on your bill and in your customer account.
Timeline
The change is rolled out in phases:
| Who | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | About 1.7 million customers, same schedule all year | From November 2025 to mid-2026 |
| Phase 2 | About 9.3 million customers, summer and winter schedules | From December 2026 to October 2027 (from November 2026 at EDF) |
| Businesses | Professional customers | Second half of 2027 |
Not everyone is affected: it depends on where your current off-peak hours are. Check the letter from your supplier and your customer account.
How to adapt without thinking about it
A smart home turns a new schedule into a settings change, not a new habit:
A water heater wired to the meter's off-peak contact follows the new hours by itself. On a smart relay, a Gladys scene follows your new schedule.
Start them with a smart plug at the right time, including the new midday off-peak slot.
Schedule charging in your off-peak hours, at night or at midday in summer.
With a Lixee ZLinky, Gladys reads the current tariff index from the Linky, so a scene can react the moment off-peak starts.
Update your off-peak hours in Gladys' energy settings, and your daily costs keep matching your bill.
Compare your consumption before and after the change, appliance by appliance.
What to do when your hours change
Five minutes, once:
- Check your new off-peak hours on your bill or in your supplier's customer account.
- Update the timers of appliances that aren't automated (old programmers, wall timers).
- In Gladys, update your contract's off-peak periods in the energy monitoring settings.
- Adjust the scenes that start your appliances, or base them on the Linky's tariff index with a ZLinky.
- Use the midday slot in summer for the dishwasher, the washing machine or the EV.
Gladys is free and open source, and runs on your own hardware.
Let your home follow the grid
Off-peak hours, Tempo days, solar production: electricity prices increasingly depend on when you consume. Doing it by hand doesn't scale; a local automation platform does.
Gladys Assistant reads your Linky, controls your plugs, relays and water heater, and runs scenes locally. The Enedis integration, through Gladys Plus, adds your official consumption history.
Go further
More energy tools and guides:
Frequently asked questions
Why are off-peak hours changing in France?
Electricity is now abundant in the middle of the day thanks to solar production, while evening demand stays high. The energy regulator (CRE) therefore decided, in the TURPE 7 network tariff, to move part of the off-peak hours to between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Do I still get 8 off-peak hours?
Yes. You keep 8 off-peak hours per day, with at least 5 consecutive night hours between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. and at most 3 hours between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
How do I know if my off-peak hours change?
Your supplier informs you about a month before the change, and the new hours appear on your bill and in your customer account. The rollout runs from November 2025 to 2027, in phases.
Does my water heater follow the new hours automatically?
If it's wired to the meter's off-peak contact, yes, the meter switches it at the new times. If it's driven by a timer or a smart relay, you need to update the schedule, or let a Gladys scene follow the Linky's tariff index through a ZLinky.
Adapt to the new off-peak hours automatically
Gladys is free, open source and installs with a single Docker command. Read your Linky and schedule your appliances around your new hours.