Charging from 01:00 to 07:00: timing and load shedding
A car gets plugged in on arriving home, which is precisely the start of the most expensive window of the day.
Updated on 14 September 2026
The natural habit is the most expensive slot on the grid
The PEAK window runs from 17:00 to 22:00. That is when people come home, plug in, cook, and when the whole network is at its own peak. A charge started at 18:00 is billed at the highest level, from the first kilowatt-hour to the last.
Shifted to 01:00, the same charge lands in ECO. The car is ready at the same time next morning, and nobody changed a thing about their evening.
It is the only saving on this site that asks for no new habit. It is set once, in the charge point, and it holds.
A 40 kWh charge, by what feeds it
| Supply | Power | Duration | Fits 01:00 to 07:00 | Fits 17:00 to 22:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavy-duty socket | 2.3 kW | 17 h 23 | No | No |
| Single-phase charge point | 7.4 kW | 5 h 24 | Yes | No |
| Three-phase charge point | 11 kW | 3 h 38 | Yes | Yes |
| Three-phase charge point | 22 kW | 1 h 49 | Yes | Yes |
40 kWh is a 20 to 80 per cent charge on a 60 kWh battery. The night ECO window lasts six hours and the PEAK window lasts five.
Scheduling and load shedding are two different jobs
Scheduling tells the charge point not to start before 01:00. Load shedding tells it to drop its power when the rest of the house is drawing too much. They answer different problems, and most installations need both.
Load shedding is the one you cannot skip: on a domestic supply, an 11 kW charge point and an oven starting together will trip the main breaker. The module that measures at the meter is what prevents it.
We fit Smappee, which does both from a reading of the smart meter. The hardware is listed on the charge point trade page.
What the charge point has to be able to do
- Start at a set time
- A fixed hour, not merely a relative timer. The tariff grid is fixed, so the charge point has to follow clock times rather than delays.
- Measurement at the meter
- Without a meter reading, load shedding works blind against the contracted capacity and throttles either too early or too late.
- Resume after an interruption
- A charge cut short at 03:00 has to restart by itself, or the car is empty in the morning and the feature did the opposite of what was wanted.
- Forced charge
- An unplanned departure is prepared the evening before at the expensive rate, and that is fine. The function has to exist and stay within reach.
- Metering of delivered energy
- Needed the moment a company car has to be reimbursed, and impossible to retrofit later without replacing the unit.
Tell us what is in your consumer unit
Describe what sits on your board and we will say what can be shifted and what cannot. By phone on +32 495 88 75 92 or through the questionnaire.
Sources for this page
- Public Service of Wallonia, the two-rate schedule changes on 1 January 2026Checked on 2026-09-14
- CWaPE, press pack, new low-voltage distribution tariffs for 2026Checked on 2026-09-14