An energy giant is dangling the lure of hours of free electricity in front of hard-pressed households – in a move that could shave real money off bills this winter.

EDF is extending its Sunday Saver scheme through February, making it the only major supplier offering customers free power on four separate Sundays over the coming weeks.

But there’s a catch. To qualify, households must cut their electricity use during the weekday peak hours of 4pm to 7pm.

Do that, and EDF will reward customers with between four and 16 hours of free electricity on the following Sunday.

The company says the scheme has already delivered £5.2million in bill savings to more than 260,000 customers, with over 17.5million hours of free electricity handed out since it launched in 2024.

How the free power works

Customers who reduce their weekday peak usage by:

• 5% earn four hours of free electricity
• 20% earn eight hours
• 35% earn 12 hours
• 50% earn the full 16 hours

The free electricity can then be used on Sundays – perfect, EDF says, for energy-hungry tasks such as laundry, cleaning and batch cooking.

EDF says more than 100,000 households benefited from a festive free-power giveaway in December, when customers received eight hours of free electricity on Christmas Day alone. That giveaway accounted for 910,536 free hours of power.

Who benefits most?

The South East of England emerged as the top-saving region last year, with customers earning more than one million free hours of electricity in total – averaging 25 free hours a month per household.

One customer, Natasha Shields from Barnsley, has earned more than 680 free hours of electricity since signing up.

She said: “The Sunday Saver challenge is brilliant – and has helped us with the cost of living which is getting more expensive by the day. We switch off everything we can between 4–7pm, leaving cooking and showers until after this time.

“During those hours, we use a battery-powered light and play board games together, which has brought us closer as a family. We use the free electricity we’ve earned for cleaning, meal prep and laundry on Sunday, which is helpful.”

EDF insists the scheme is about easing pressure on household budgets while also helping the grid.

Jon Perks, Sales & Marketing Director at EDF, said: “With winter bills at their highest, Sunday Saver continues to give customers a simple, practical way to cut costs when they need it most.

“Households can track their usage through our Energy Hub, and spot opportunities to save electricity across their home, reducing their carbon footprint at the same time. It’s a straightforward way to ease pressure on bills while supporting a more sustainable electricity grid.”

Who can sign up?

Customers must have a working smart meter sending readings every 30 minutes

Sign-up is open until Sunday, February 1, at 11.59pm

The challenge runs from Monday,  February 2.

Free electricity can be used on February 15 and 22, and March 1 and 8.

EDF customers can track their progress via the Energy Hub in their online account.