British Gas to offer free electricity on weekends to smart meter users

British Gas has unveiled plans to offer free electricity during weekends to customers who have had smart meters installed. The company, one of the 'Big Six' energy providers in the UK, said customers will have to choice to take advantage of the deal between 9am and 5pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

British Gas added its Free Time tariff will be the cheapest dual fuel deal on offer, and customers could save approximately £60 a year.

The tariff, however, will be available only to the 2.4 million British Gas customers who have a smart meter installed, less than a third of the company's 11m customers.

"It's worth thinking about cooking your major roasts and stews, or doing two or three rounds of laundry on the same day," said Ann Robinson, director of consumer policy at price comparison website Uswitch.

However, she warned customers could still find cheaper tariffs elsewhere. "Consumers need to think about the small print, shop around and see if there's a better deal out there," she explained.

According to experts, other energy providers could soon follow British Gas and offer a similar plan. The latest Government figures showed 2.75m of smart meters have been installed across the UK, amounting to less than 6% of all meters and still considerably short of the 53 million of smart meters that are due to be installed by 2020.