Nov 5, 2026
If tossing in a load of laundry is the first thing you do when you walk through the door after work, you might be running that dryer right in the middle of peak electricity rates.
On Nov. 1, Ontario’s regulated electricity prices reset for the year and the winter time-of-use schedule took over. The good news is that prices are a little lower than last winter. But the rebate on your bill shrank on the same day, and the cheapest hours have shifted — so habits that worked in the summer could quietly cost you now.
Advertisement
The good news is that heavy hitters like your washer, dryer and dishwasher are easy to shift to off-peak hours. Knowing which hours to avoid and which price plan fits your routine, can trim dollars from a long winter of bills.
Thanks for subscribing!
The best of Money.ca delivered weekly.
By signing up, you accept Money.ca Terms of Use, Subscription Agreement, and Privacy Policy.
What changed on Ontario hydro bills on Nov. 1?
The Ontario Energy Board (OEB), the province’s independent energy regulator, sets regulated electricity prices once a year on Nov. 1. For customers on the time-of-use (TOU) plan, the new prices per kilowatt-hour (kWh) are:
- Off-peak: 9.1 cents, down from 9.8 cents
- Mid-peak: 14.6 cents, down from 15.7 cents
- On-peak: 18.9 cents, down from 20.3 cents
Wondering why your bill might not shrink? The Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER), a provincial credit applied to most residential bills, dropped to 15.7% from 23.5%, according to Hydro One, the province’s largest electricity distributor. The new provincial rebate cuts about $23 off a typical 700 kWh monthly bill.
Must Read
- A single line on your car insurance policy could be inflating your premium by up to 30% — here's what to change
- Here are 5 'must-haves' that Canadians constantly overpay for. How many of these are sabotaging your budget every single month?
- Here are the 5 biggest differences between rich and poor Canadians — which side do you fall on?
Join 20,000+ readers and get Money.ca’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
When are the cheapest hours to run the dryer and dishwasher this winter?
Winter flips the summer schedule. On weekdays from Nov. 1 to April 30, TOU hours are:
- On-peak: 7 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 7 pm
- Mid-peak: 11 am to 5 pm
- Off-peak: 7 pm to 7 am, plus all day on weekends and holidays
The OEB explains the two peaks: with less daylight, demand spikes when people wake up and again when they get home from work. Between 5 and 7 pm, power surges: dinner is cooking, towels are drying and the dishwasher is running all at once.
The fix can be as simple as waiting. Run the dishwasher after 7 pm, or tackle big laundry loads on weekends when lower rates rates last all day.
How much can shifting laundry and dishes actually save?
An appliance usage chart from the City of Saskatoon, which runs its own electric utility, estimates a clothes dryer uses about 106 kWh a month, a dishwasher about 48 kWh and a washer about 10 kWh.
In this example, a household runs all 164 kWh during on-peak hours. At 18.9 cents, that tacks about $31 a month onto your bill’s electricity charge. Moving the same loads to off-peak drops the cost to about $15 — a saving of roughly $16 a month, or about $96 over the six-month winter season. The dryer alone accounts for about $10 of that gap.
Those figures cover the price of electricity only. Delivery, regulatory fees, HST and rebates are calculated separately, and your appliances’ actual power use may vary.
Advertisement
Is the ultra-low overnight plan worth switching to?
Ontario households can choose from three plans. The Ultra-Low Overnight (ULO) rate: just 3.7 cents per kWh every day from 11 pm to 7 am. Weekend daytime costs 9.1 cents and weekday mid-peak costs 14.6 cents.
The catch: weekday peak hours (4 to 9 pm) spike to 37.7 cents — 10x higher than overnight and double standard TOU peak rates. Using the same example, 164 kWh would cost about $62 at ULO on-peak versus about $6 overnight.
If you drive an EV or have a dishwasher with a delay-start timer, switching to ULO could easily put money back in your pocket. For families home and cooking during the late afternoon, it can backfire.
Overnight savings also come with a clear safety limit. The City of Vaughan’s fire chief advises never running the dryer while you’re asleep or away from home. The safer bet: do laundry on weekend afternoons or weekday evenings before bed.
If shifting isn’t realistic, the Tiered plan charges 11.2 cents for the first 1,000 kWh a month in winter and 13.2 cents after that, no matter the time of day.
What to do now
- Check your bill to see which price plan you’re on
- Run the dishwasher after 7 PM on weekdays, using delay-start if you have it
- Batch laundry on weekends and holidays, when off-peak runs all day
- Only run the dryer when someone is home and awake
- Compare plans with the OEB’s bill calculator before switching
Price plans are a choice, not a permanent commitment. Track one month of habits against your bill, then decide whether a small schedule change — or a different plan — fits how your household actually lives. As the OEB put it, “The overall rate of increase for customer bills will remain consistent with previous years.”
You May Also Like
- This 7-step plan from Dave Ramsey is designed to help you ditch debt, save more and build wealth — here’s how it works
- Prioritize these 4 critical investments and watch your net worth skyrocket
- Here are 8 solid money moves that could free up real cash every month — here's where to start
- Millionaires under 43 are reshaping investing — just 25% of their portfolios are in stocks. Here’s where their money is going
The most expensive financial mistakes are often the ones you don't see coming. Join 19,000+ Canadians who get the money moves, risks and opportunities shaping their finances — delivered free each week. Subscribe now.
Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
