EDF Flextras: up to 25 free electricity hours a month off peak

How Flextras works

Source: EDF, 7 September 2026.

EDF released the Flextras loyalty scheme on 7 September 2026, and it is available through the EDF app. The headline offer is straightforward to state and harder to earn in full. Customers receive four hours of free electricity on sign-up, provided they are smart meter customers who have opted into half-hourly consent. From there, members can earn up to 25 free hours a month through Weekend Saver, the scheme's peak avoidance mechanism.

Weekend Saver works on a weekly measurement. Members who use less than 18 percent of their weekly electricity between 4pm and 7pm Monday to Friday earn free hours. Those who keep that same window below 9 percent of their weekly total earn the maximum 25 hours. The threshold is therefore a share of a household's own consumption rather than a fixed kilowatt hour figure, which means the target moves with the size of the home and the season.

EDF expects 70 percent of participants will earn free electricity by reducing peak usage by 15 percent. The company translates that into a 5.51 kWh reduction per month, or running a dishwasher outside peak six times a month. Joe Souto, Director of Retail at EDF, said: 'With Weekend Saver we expect that 70 percent of participants will earn free electricity by using 15 percent less electricity during peak hours.'

The free hours themselves are not usable on demand. They are redeemable on Saturdays and Sundays between midnight and 3pm, awarded on monthly performance and redeemed the following month. The value is credited to the account after redemption, and bonus hours are redeemable from 1 October. EDF supplies around 5 million customers and describes the launch as coming at a time of rising wholesale prices.

Other perks

Flextras is not only a peak avoidance scheme. Members get a 12-month tastecard membership and access to free electricity days and events. There is also a Refer a Friend offer: 50 pounds account credit for both the referrer and the new customer, with no limit on referrals. The referred customer must not have been with EDF in the previous 12 months.

Power Perks sits alongside Weekend Saver and offers free electricity periods when renewable output exceeds demand. It is aimed at customers on EDF's EV, solar import and heat pump tariffs, which are the tariffs most able to shift or absorb flexible load. The structure is familiar across the sector: reward customers who can move consumption into periods when the grid is flush with cheap or abundant generation.

The combination matters because the free hours from Weekend Saver are a monthly award, while Power Perks is event driven. A household with an electric vehicle and a smart meter can in principle stack the two, charging overnight or during renewable surplus periods and keeping the weekday evening peak clear. A household without those assets has a narrower route to the same rewards.

The referral credit is the most immediately valuable element for many customers, because it does not depend on changing usage behaviour. Two households referring each other would each receive 50 pounds, subject to the 12-month rule. The tastecard membership adds a non energy benefit, which is a common retention tactic in loyalty schemes where the core product is a commodity.

Eligibility and exclusions

Flextras is accessed via the EDF app with terms accepted. Weekend Saver has its own conditions on top of that. Members need a compatible smart meter providing half-hourly readings and an eligible tariff. Time of use tariffs are excluded, which is a notable boundary because time of use customers are already on products designed to reward exactly the behaviour Weekend Saver is trying to encourage.

The half-hourly requirement is the practical gate. A smart meter that reports at 30 minute resolution gives EDF a detailed picture of when electricity is used, and the scheme's thresholds are calculated from that data. Without half-hourly readings, EDF cannot verify whether a household stayed under 18 percent or under 9 percent in the weekday peak, so the reward cannot be calculated.

Rewards are applied monthly and credited after redemption. That sequencing means members see the free hours awarded, then redeem them on a weekend morning, then receive the credit. It is not an instant discount at the point of use. For budgeting purposes, the benefit arrives as account credit rather than as a reduced direct debit in the same week.

The exclusion of time of use tariffs also means customers cannot easily combine Flextras with a tariff that already prices peak and off peak periods differently. Households on those products are already exposed to the same price signal that Weekend Saver is trying to create, and EDF has chosen not to layer the loyalty reward on top. Eligibility therefore depends on tariff choice as much as on metering.

KT analysis: what 25 free hours is worth

Ofgem's typical domestic consumption value for electricity is 2,700 kWh a year. That averages roughly 7.4 kWh a day across the year, though actual daily use is higher in winter and lower in summer. Twenty five free hours spread across weekend mornings therefore covers a few pounds of electricity a month at capped unit rates, not a headline saving. The arithmetic is modest because the free window is early on weekend days, when many households are already using relatively little power.

The real value is the habit of shifting the 4pm to 7pm peak. That is what Ofgem and NESO want from domestic demand flexibility, and it is what most suppliers now reward in some form, whether through saving sessions, free electricity events or peak avoidance tariffs. EDF's contribution is to attach the reward to a loyalty scheme with a sign-up bonus and a referral mechanic, which broadens the audience beyond the early adopters who typically join flexibility trials.

The thresholds are the part to watch. Staying under 18 percent of weekly electricity in the weekday peak is achievable for many homes with modest changes, such as delaying the dishwasher or washing machine. Staying under 9 percent to earn the full 25 hours is a tighter ask, particularly in winter when lighting, heating and cooking converge in the evening. EDF's own expectation that 70 percent of participants will earn free electricity rests on a 15 percent peak reduction, which is a behavioural change rather than a technical one.

Half-hourly data consent means EDF sees usage patterns at 30 minute resolution. That is the mechanism that makes the scheme possible, and it is also the trade off for customers: granular consumption data in exchange for free hours and account credit. The comparison with Ofgem's flexibility push is direct. The regulator wants households to respond to price and carbon signals, and suppliers are building the reward structures that make that response worthwhile. Flextras is one more version of the same idea, with the free hours set at a level that reflects how much peak demand a typical home can realistically move.

Source: EDF media centre, 7 September 2026.

Related coverage on Kael Tripton: Before You Get a Smart Meter: What Changes and What Does Not, Smart Meters: Your Rights Under Ofgem Rules -- Installation, Faults and Switching, Energy Price Cap Rises to £1,723 From October 2026, Energy Price Cap Explained: Current Rates and Next Change, Ofgem Energy Switching Rights in 2026: 8 Week Rule Explained.

Frequently asked questions

How many free electricity hours does EDF Flextras offer?

Customers receive four hours of free electricity on sign-up and can earn up to 25 free hours a month through Weekend Saver.

What are the Weekend Saver thresholds?

Using less than 18 percent of weekly electricity between 4pm and 7pm Monday to Friday earns free hours. Using less than 9 percent earns the maximum 25 hours.

When can free hours be redeemed?

Free hours are redeemable on Saturdays and Sundays between midnight and 3pm. They are awarded on monthly performance and redeemed the following month, with the value credited to the account after redemption. Bonus hours are redeemable from 1 October.

Who is excluded from Weekend Saver?

Time of use tariffs are excluded. Members also need a compatible smart meter providing half-hourly readings and an eligible tariff, plus sign-up to Flextras through the EDF app with terms accepted.

What is the Refer a Friend offer?

Both the referrer and the new customer receive 50 pounds account credit, with no limit on referrals. The referred customer must not have been with EDF in the previous 12 months.