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Blog
Updates and thinking on home energy optimization.
We Measured a Summer of ComEd's Day-Ahead Prices Against the Real-Time Prices You're Billed
ComEd Hourly Pricing bills the real-time hourly price, but the published forecast is day-ahead. We compared every hour from June to September 2026. Most days they agree. The days they don't are where the money goes.
Hungry Machines Team
Balcony Solar
Ten states allow plug-in solar as of 2026, California starts in 2027. What it costs, where it's legal, and why timing decides if it pays.
Plug-In Solar: What It Is, Where It's Legal, and How to Use More of What It Makes
Plug-in solar puts panels on a balcony or fence and a microinverter in a wall outlet. Because exported power usually pays nothing, the value depends entirely on running loads while the sun is up.
Hungry Machines Team
ComEd Delivery Time-of-Day: A Variable Delivery Charge That Stacks With Hourly Pricing
ComEd Delivery Time-of-Day swaps your flat delivery charge for one that varies by four daily windows, and it stacks with Hourly Pricing. What it costs by class, and how to pair it with your supply rate.
Hungry Machines Team
Play the Energy Game
Run a home for a day by hand: keep the room in its comfort band, charge the EV, and try to beat the bill the computer gets.
ComEd Peak Time Savings: A Free Bill Credit for Cutting Load on Hot Days
ComEd Peak Time Savings pays smart-meter customers a bill credit for using less than usual during event hours on hot summer days. How it works, what it stacks with, and how Hungry Machines already helps.
Hungry Machines Team
ComEd Time-of-Day Pricing: Four Fixed Windows, Every Day of the Year
ComEd Time-of-Day Pricing bills Chicago-area homes on four fixed daily windows instead of a changing hourly price. What each window costs, by season and rate class, and how to use it.
Hungry Machines Team
When Is the Cheapest Time to Run Your Appliances? A Per-Utility Guide
The cheapest hours to run laundry, the dishwasher, an EV charger and a pool pump, with real per-kWh numbers for PG&E, SDG&E, SCE, ConEd and hourly-priced plans.
Hungry Machines Team
Do Peak Electricity Rates Apply on Weekends? PG&E, SDG&E, SCE and ConEd
Whether time-of-use peak rates apply at weekends, utility by utility. PG&E's E-TOU-D is the main exception; SDG&E and SCE charge peak seven days a week.
Hungry Machines Team
Spain's PVPC Tariff: Saving on Hourly Regulated Prices
Spain's regulated PVPC tariff sets a different electricity price every hour, published the evening before. How it works, and how to capture the savings.
Hungry Machines Team
European Day-Ahead Electricity Prices: A Guide to Saving
Dynamic tariffs in the Netherlands, Germany and the Nordics pass through the day—ahead price - a new rate every hour. How to capture it automatically.
Hungry Machines Team
What Happens After You Connect: Your First Two Weeks
A day-by-day look at your first two weeks: what we record, when optimized schedules start, and the savings you should actually expect.
Hungry Machines Team
Australia's Wholesale Electricity Prices: Saving on the Spot Market
On a wholesale-linked plan your price follows Australia's NEM — negative midday, steep in the evening. How the swings work and how to ride them.
Hungry Machines Team
Octopus Agile: Turning Half-Hourly Prices Into Savings
Octopus Agile reprices every 30 minutes, published a day ahead, and can go negative during Plunge Pricing. How the rates work and how to use cheap slots.
Hungry Machines Team
Ameren Power Smart Pricing: Turning Hourly Rates Into Savings
Ameren Illinois Power Smart Pricing charges the MISO hourly rate. The average hourly price curve over the last 15 days, what you actually pay, and how to shift load automatically.
Hungry Machines Team
ConEd Time-of-Use Rates: A Plain-English Guide to Saving
ConEd peak is 8 a.m.–midnight (~43¢/kWh), off-peak midnight–8 a.m. (~26¢), plus a 2–6 p.m. summer super-peak near 70¢. How to avoid the costly hours.
Hungry Machines Team
SCE Time-of-Use Rates: A Plain-English Guide to Saving
SCE peak is 4–9 p.m. (TOU-D-4-9PM, PRIME) or 5–8 p.m. (TOU-D-5-8PM), seven days a week, about 37¢ off-peak against 60¢+ on-peak. Each plan, and how to save.
Hungry Machines Team
ComEd Hourly Pricing: Turning Daily Wholesale Rates Into Savings
ComEd Hourly Pricing bills the PJM wholesale price every hour. The 15-day average price curve, what a day looks like, whether it is risky, and how to use it.
Hungry Machines Team
SDG&E Time-of-Use Rates: How to Actually Save With Them
SDG&E on-peak is 4–9 p.m. every day, about 58¢/kWh on TOU-DR1 against 27¢ super off-peak. Every plan's hours and prices, and how to shift load automatically.
Hungry Machines Team
PG&E Time-of-Use Rates: A Plain-English Guide to Saving
PG&E peak is 4–9 p.m. on most plans, 5–8 p.m. weekdays on E-TOU-D. EV2-A off-peak is about 23¢/kWh against 54¢ peak. Each plan's hours and prices, and how to save.
Hungry Machines Team
Time-of-Use Electricity Rates: A Practical Guide for Homeowners
How time-of-use electricity rates work and how to save money without giving up comfort. Includes examples and a practical homeowner checklist.
Hungry Machines Team
Home Energy Management Systems: What They Are and How They Save Money
What a home energy management system (HEMS) is, which devices it controls, how the three approaches compare, and what it saves on time-of-use rates.
Hungry Machines Team
Automating Your HVAC for Time-of-Use Savings
How to cut heating and cooling costs on a time-of-use rate using pre-conditioning, thermal mass, and automated daily scheduling.
Hungry Machines Team
Introducing Hungry Machines
Your home uses energy on a fixed schedule, but electricity prices change every hour. Hungry Machines bridges that gap, automatically.
Hungry Machines Team