redOS, Ahorra en Luz and Precio Luz España compared for Spain's hourly PVPC tariff, with widgets, alerts and the cheapest hours.
On Spain's regulated PVPC tariff, the price of electricity changes every hour and is published the evening before, which turns everyday chores into scheduling decisions: run the washing machine, dishwasher or car charger in the cheap slots and the same kilowatts cost notably less. Doing that by memory is unreliable, because the cheap hours move daily with the auction, so an app with a home-screen widget and push alerts removes the nightly check. The official grid app publishes the authoritative data; third-party apps wrap the same figures in friendlier widgets. This guide takes a close look at the one iPhone app reviewed in it, and the FAQs cover the official source, publication time and the free-market tariff question.
Precio Luz España shows the PVPC price in a clear widget, cheapest and priciest hours at a glance, custom alerts and next-day prices on publication.
It is the go-to iPhone app for the regulated tariff, backed by more than 13,000 App Store ratings and an average around 4.6. The home-screen widget displays the current price plus the cheapest and most expensive hours of the day without opening anything, custom alerts can fire by price threshold or hour, and the following day's figures appear as soon as they are published in the evening, which is when planning actually happens. The limits are platform and scope: it runs on iPhone and iPad only, some features are paid, and on a fixed-price free-market tariff its alerts make little difference to the bill.
Pros
Clear widget with current, cheapest and dearest hours
Custom alerts by price or hour
Next-day prices shown the moment they publish
Cons
iPhone and iPad only
Some features are paid
Little help on fixed-price free-market tariffs
Download price only. In-app purchases and subscriptions may cost extra.
Questions & answers
What is the best app for checking electricity prices in Spain?
redOS is the authoritative choice because Red Eléctrica, the operator that calculates the price, publishes it, though the interface is more technical and aimed at informed users. For everyday convenience, Ahorra en Luz on Android and Precio Luz España on iPhone wrap the same data in widgets and alerts, which is what most people actually open. Every reputable app shows identical underlying figures, so the choice is about presentation, not data source.
What time is next day's electricity price published?
Around 20:15, once the market operator publishes the auction result and Red Eléctrica calculates the hourly PVPC. Third-party apps refresh shortly afterwards, and some send a push notification highlighting the cheapest slots, so you do not need to watch the clock. If the figures appear later than usual it normally means the auction ran late, not a fault with your app.
Are these apps useful on a free-market tariff?
Only partly. Hourly prices directly affect the regulated PVPC tariff and indexed free-market tariffs, both of which follow the market. If you have a fixed price agreed with your supplier, every hour costs the same and these apps will not change your bill, although the time bands for contracted power still apply and can justify shifting some consumption. Check your contract type before relying on alerts.
Which hours are cheapest for electricity in Spain?
As a broad pattern, the early morning and the middle of the day, when solar generation peaks, plus weekends, tend to be cheapest. Treat that only as a heuristic: the price is set daily at auction and weather, demand and generation can move the cheap slots completely from one day to the next. The only reliable method is checking the app each evening rather than assuming yesterday's pattern holds.
More related apps
App library · United States App Store. Prices and availability reflect the last check.
