This winter, your water heater can be shut off remotely without you being notified.

Close to 4.3 million Enedis customers will see their hot water tanks cut off remotely at certain times of the day between October 15 and April 15. While the price of electricity is rising as fast as winter is approaching, RTE and the public authorities have asked Enedis to find solutions to save money. The one that was accepted: use Linky connected meters to “disconnect” as many hot water tanks as possible between noon and 2 p.m.. Why this hour? Simply because lunchtime is one of the most important consumption peaks of the day. According to Enedis, interviewed for BFMTV, this suspension “will save the equivalent of 2.5GW at 12.30 p.m. and 1GW at 1 p.m..”

To find out if you are affected by these cuts, several elements must be taken into account. The cumulus concerned are all connected to Linky meters. Individuals such as professionals or local authorities may be concerned when they have subscribed to a power less than or equal to 36kVAand that they have a “peak hours/off-peak hours” subscription. Depending on the case, these off-peak hours can be distributed in several different ways: concentrated during the night between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. for 60% of cases, or distributed between 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the one hand and 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. on the other hand for 40% of customers. It is therefore the latter who are directly affected by the cuts.

Shut off water heaters to save energy

The choice to cut the water heaters’ power supply during consumption peaks comes from a specific feature of Linky meters. For them, impossible to tell the difference between a television and a computer. On the other hand, they have the ability to disconnect “le automatic switch-on signal for controlled electrical uses”, which corresponds to your cumulus. Do not panic if you are one of the customers affected, you will always have electricity if you plug in your computer or turn on the heating during off hours.