What Are On-Peak / Off-Peak Hours? What Time Do They Start & End? (TOU Schedule 2026)
Seen "On-Peak / Off-Peak" on a bill or TOU meter document and wondered what it means? This page answers directly: what each window is, what time it starts and ends, how weekends and holidays are counted — with an easy visual timetable and a real worked example.
On-Peak / Off-Peak are the pricing windows of a TOU (Time-of-Use) electricity meter: On-Peak = the expensive window, 09:00–22:00 Monday–Friday only; Off-Peak = the cheap window, 22:00–09:00 on weekdays plus all day on Saturdays, Sundays and designated public holidays. The schedule is identical for the MEA (Bangkok–Nonthaburi–Samut Prakan) and the PEA (all other provinces), and it only applies if you have a TOU meter — a normal meter charges the same price at every hour. Full per-unit rates: TOU rate schedule 2026.
What Do On-Peak and Off-Peak Mean?
On-Peak is the period when demand on the grid is highest, so the per-unit price is expensive. Off-Peak is the low-demand period, priced clearly cheaper. Both terms apply only to TOU (Time-of-Use) meters — an ordinary household meter has no time windows and charges one rate around the clock.
The idea behind TOU is to nudge usage away from the hours when the grid is stressed (weekday daytime–evening) into the hours when it is idle (late night and holidays). Shift most of your usage into Off-Peak and you pay less; if you must use a lot of power at On-Peak, you'll pay more than on a normal meter. To see if it suits your home, read is a TOU meter worth it?
What Hours Are On-Peak and Off-Peak? (Exact Times)
On-Peak runs 09:00 to 22:00, Monday–Friday only (13 hours a day). Off-Peak is all the remaining time: 22:00 to 09:00 the next morning on weekdays, and the full 24 hours of Saturdays, Sundays and designated public holidays — the same clock times under both MEA and PEA.
| Day | On-Peak (expensive) | Off-Peak (cheap) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday–Friday | 09:00–22:00 | 22:00–09:00 (next morning) |
| Saturday–Sunday | No On-Peak window | All day (00:00–24:00) |
| Designated public holidays | No On-Peak window | All day (00:00–24:00) |
Easy way to remember: "9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on working days = expensive." Everything else is cheap — after 10 p.m., before 9 a.m., and every hour of a day off.
Are Weekends and Public Holidays Off-Peak All Day?
Yes — Saturdays and Sundays are Off-Peak for the full 24 hours, with no On-Peak window at all. The same applies to the public holidays the utilities designate: National Labour Day and regular public holidays — but NOT Royal Ploughing Day or substitution holidays, which are charged as normal weekdays when they fall on Monday–Friday.
The detail most people miss is the "substitution holiday" — a make-up Monday declared for general purposes is NOT counted as a TOU Off-Peak day under the MEA/PEA announcements (this page follows the utilities' official wording). For the full 2026 holiday list with exact dates showing which days earn all-day Off-Peak, see the 2026 off-peak calendar; for any specific date you're unsure about, call MEA 1130 or PEA 1129.
How Much Per Unit Are On-Peak and Off-Peak?
For homes and small businesses (TOU Type 1–2), the base energy charge is 5.7982 THB/unit at On-Peak and 2.6369 THB/unit at Off-Peak — more than double the difference. Medium–large businesses/factories (Type 3–4) pay 4.1025 / 2.5849 THB/unit. Every unit still adds the current-period Ft and 7% VAT on top.
The figures above are base energy charges, shown to illustrate how far apart the two windows are. For the full rate table across all customer types, the current Ft, a detailed saving example and the demand-charge conditions for large users, see our main rate page: TOU On-Peak / Off-Peak rate schedule 2026 (MEA & PEA).
Who Benefits From the Off-Peak Window?
It benefits people who can genuinely move usage past 22:00 or onto days off: night-shift households, homes occupied mainly on evenings and weekends, overnight EV charging, and businesses that run machinery at night. For homes that are power-heavy on weekday daytime, a TOU meter usually does not pay off.
Worked Example: Shifting 5 Units a Day to Off-Peak
Take a home on a TOU meter (Type 1–2) with 5 units a day of shiftable usage. At On-Peak, 5 × 5.7982 = about 28.99 THB/day; shifted past 22:00 or to a day off, 5 × 2.6369 = about 13.18 THB/day. The gap is roughly 15.81 THB/day, or about 474 THB/month over 30 days (before the Ft, which is equal in every window, and VAT) — and it scales with every extra unit you can move.
Before switching, don't rely on one example — check whether your own Off-Peak share clears the break-even bar at is a TOU meter worth it? (break-even math), and once decided, follow the MEA/PEA application steps at how to request a TOU meter (steps + costs).
About this page
Compiled by the CapSolar team, led by Frank Lee (Founder). The On-Peak / Off-Peak windows and holiday rules are checked against the MEA/PEA TOU tariff announcements and ERC information. This page is general information, not personal advice — confirm with your local electricity authority before deciding.
FAQ
Want to Know If TOU Suits Your Home?
Start by understanding your own bill — use our free bill analyzer, or run the break-even math before changing your meter.