diff --git a/goodwe_controller/DECISIONS/MAINT-13-full-pack-is-complete.md b/goodwe_controller/DECISIONS/MAINT-13-full-pack-is-complete.md
index b505b1e..af3aa27 100644
--- a/goodwe_controller/DECISIONS/MAINT-13-full-pack-is-complete.md
+++ b/goodwe_controller/DECISIONS/MAINT-13-full-pack-is-complete.md
@@ -67,7 +67,13 @@ holds the charge back, and `cheap` is always false there), in a cheap window, or
 while the pack is really taking charge (battery power at or below -50 W, which is
 sun outside cheap hours). It is false only when a gate exists, is shut, and the
 pack is not charging; a pack asked for charge that delivers nothing then does not
-count, which is the case the clock cannot judge. Only open ticks add to `open_min`; one tick
+count, which is the case the clock cannot judge. A site with a price provider
+(TARIFF-11) and no fixed tariff counts as having no gate: the provider's plan
+reaches only the Tariff row, never `cheap`, so no cheap window ever opens a grid
+top-up there and only the sun charges the pack, as on a site with no tariff. Its
+time counts in full. When a provider plan starts to drive `cheap`,
+`_price_gated` must become true for it. Whether a fixed tariff is set up is
+worked out once an hour, not on every tick. Only open ticks add to `open_min`; one tick
 adds at most 5 min, so a gap (add-on down) adds nothing. The stall wait pauses
 while the gate is closed. The accounting is written to the state file at most
 every 5 min (`charge_track`); a restart loses at most that. A state file from
diff --git a/goodwe_controller/app/main.py b/goodwe_controller/app/main.py
index 3eda31b..b7a3fef 100644
--- a/goodwe_controller/app/main.py
+++ b/goodwe_controller/app/main.py
@@ -1189,6 +1189,7 @@ class Controller:
         self.peak_fc = None
         self.cheap = False
         self._price_gated = False     # MAINT-13: is a price gate set up
+        self._gated_key = None        # MAINT-13: (options, hour) of the cache
         # TARIFF-03. One line of prose for the status page saying WHICH tariff
         # window we are in and why it is or is not cheap - so "Cheap window:
         # no" is an evidenced answer rather than a bare no.
@@ -3337,9 +3338,9 @@ class Controller:
             # ⚠️ AND IT CANNOT BE BOTH. validate.py refuses static_profile
             # alongside the two Home Assistant entities, because this `if` picks
             # one and the loser is silent.
-            self.cheap, self.tariff_words = static_status(
-                o, datetime.now(timezone.utc))
-            self._price_gated = static_gated(o, datetime.now(timezone.utc))
+            _now = datetime.now(timezone.utc)
+            self.cheap, self.tariff_words = static_status(o, _now)
+            self._price_gated = self._static_gated(o, _now)
 
         # ⚠️ TARIFF-11. THE PROVIDER PLAN REACHES THE *Tariff* ROW HERE, AND
         # THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE THE TWO SOURCES MEET. Everything above is the
@@ -3878,6 +3879,16 @@ class Controller:
                            inv.refusal_note())]
                 if n]
 
+    def _static_gated(self, o: dict, now: datetime) -> bool:
+        """`static_gated()`, worked out once an hour: it builds the same
+        month-long plan as `static_status()` (about 20 ms with a profile), and
+        whether a fixed tariff is set up does not change from tick to tick
+        (options change only with a restart)."""
+        key = (id(o), now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H"))
+        if key != self._gated_key:
+            self._gated_key, self._gated = key, static_gated(o, now)
+        return self._gated
+
     def _charge_gate_open(self, inv) -> bool:
         """MAINT-13: may this pack charge now, for the maintenance timeout?
 
diff --git a/goodwe_controller/test_maint13.py b/goodwe_controller/test_maint13.py
index 505c13a..c2bf93b 100644
--- a/goodwe_controller/test_maint13.py
+++ b/goodwe_controller/test_maint13.py
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ def run(m, start, minutes, soc, gate=True, step=1):
     Returns (the last result, the time after the run, the first non-CHARGE result)."""
     t, res, out = start, None, None
     for i in range(0, minutes, step):
-        t = start + i * step * MIN
-        s = soc(i * step) if callable(soc) else soc
+        t = start + i * MIN
+        s = soc(i) if callable(soc) else soc
         res = m.tick(t, s, gate_open=gate)
         if out is None and res.phase != CHARGE:
             out = (res, t)
@@ -215,20 +215,23 @@ check("a drain that times out is a failure too, with the same back-off",
 
 print("5. only the minutes the pack was allowed to charge count")
 m = in_charge()
-res, t, out = run(m, T0, CHARGE_TIMEOUT_MIN * 2, 70.0, gate=False)
+# 5 min steps: one tick counts at most 5 min, so this is the same count as
+# 1 min steps in a fifth of the ticks.
+res, t, out = run(m, T0, CHARGE_TIMEOUT_MIN * 2, 70.0, gate=False, step=5)
 check("72 h with the gate closed: not timed out", out is None and m.phase == CHARGE)
-res, t, out = run(m, t, CHARGE_TIMEOUT_MIN - 5, 70.0)
+res, t, out = run(m, t, CHARGE_TIMEOUT_MIN - 5, 70.0, step=5)
 check("...and 35 h 55 min open on top: still charging", out is None)
 res, t, out = run(m, t, 10, 70.0)
 check("...36 h of open time in all: the charge fails", out and out[0].failed == "charge")
 m = in_charge()
-res, t, out = run(m, T0, CHARGE_WALL_TIMEOUT_MIN + 5, 70.0, gate=False, step=5)
-check("a gate that never opens still ends in a failure after 7 days",
-      out and out[0].failed == "charge")
+WALL = T0 + CHARGE_WALL_TIMEOUT_MIN * MIN
+res, t, out = run(m, T0, CHARGE_WALL_TIMEOUT_MIN + 10, 70.0, gate=False, step=5)
+check("a gate that never opens still ends in a failure after 7 days (not before)",
+      out and out[0].failed == "charge" and WALL < out[1] <= WALL + 5 * MIN)
 m = in_charge()
-res, t, out = run(m, T0, CHARGE_WALL_TIMEOUT_MIN + 5, 98.0, gate=False, step=5)
+res, t, out = run(m, T0, CHARGE_WALL_TIMEOUT_MIN + 10, 98.0, gate=False, step=5)
 check("...or in a complete charge when the pack is near full",
-      out and out[0].phase == HOLD)
+      out and out[0].phase == HOLD and WALL < out[1] <= WALL + 5 * MIN)
 m = in_charge()
 res, t, out = run(m, T0, 10, 70.0)
 before = m._trk["open_min"]
@@ -256,7 +259,7 @@ with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as d:
           m_b.phase == CHARGE
           and open_before - 6 <= m_b._trk["open_min"] <= open_before + 2
           and m_b._trk["open_min"] < 60)
-    _, t2, out = run(m_b, t + 2 * MIN, CHARGE_TIMEOUT_MIN - 30, 70.0)
+    _, t2, out = run(m_b, t + 2 * MIN, CHARGE_TIMEOUT_MIN - 30, 70.0, step=5)
     check("...so the timeout comes after 36 h in all, not 36 h from the restart",
           out is not None and out[0].failed == "charge")
     m = Maintenance(CFG, Store(path))
@@ -454,6 +457,19 @@ m = put_in_charge(c, 0, 40, CHARGE_TIMEOUT_MIN + 1)
 one_cycle(c)
 check("...and a pack past its charging time there fails at once (not 7 days)",
       m.phase == IDLE and len(notes(h)) == 1)
+# a site with a price provider (TARIFF-11) and no fixed tariff: the provider's
+# plan reaches only the Tariff row, never `cheap`, so no cheap window ever
+# opens a grid top-up there. Like the site above, nothing gate-like holds the
+# charge back, and the time counts.
+PROVIDER = dict(NOTARIFF, price_provider="generic_dayahead", static_profile="")
+c, h = controller(PROVIDER, False)
+m = put_in_charge(c, 0, 5, 100.0)
+one_cycle(c)
+got = m._trk["open_min"] - 100.0
+check("N=1, price provider and no fixed tariff: not a gate (`cheap` is never "
+      f"set from the provider), so the 3 minutes count (+{got:.1f})",
+      c._price_gated is False and not c.cheap
+      and c._charge_gate_open(c.inverters[0]) is True and 2.5 < got < 3.5)
 def read(c):
     asyncio.run(c.read_inputs())
 
@@ -483,6 +499,20 @@ check("a fixed tariff set up counts as a gate: outside its cheap hours a pack "
       "that is not charging is closed, inside them it is open",
       c._price_gated is True
       and c._charge_gate_open(c.inverters[0]) is c.cheap)
+import app.main as main_mod                                     # noqa: E402
+_real_gated, _calls = main_mod.static_gated, []
+main_mod.static_gated = lambda o, now: _calls.append(now) or _real_gated(o, now)
+try:
+    c._gated_key = None
+    read(c)
+    read(c)
+    read(c)
+    c._static_gated(c.o, datetime.now(UTC) + timedelta(hours=1))
+finally:
+    main_mod.static_gated = _real_gated
+check("...worked out once an hour, not on every tick (3 reads in one hour = 1 "
+      f"build; a new hour = 1 more): {len(_calls)} builds",
+      len(_calls) == 2 and c._price_gated is True)
 
 # the save timer is reset on a phase change
 mm = in_charge()
diff --git a/goodwe_controller/test_safety93.py b/goodwe_controller/test_safety93.py
index 6809a8e..7e27348 100644
--- a/goodwe_controller/test_safety93.py
+++ b/goodwe_controller/test_safety93.py
@@ -265,13 +265,17 @@ check("timeout with B due: the charge ends at 1780 s and A is not restarted",
       and c.maints[0].phase == IDLE
       and c.maints[0].backoff_until(rig.BASE + timedelta(seconds=1800))
       is not None)
+# A command below 0 W is a charge, so B's commands must stay at or above 0;
+# the drain rate is the one this rig's controller was configured with.
+drain_w = c.maints[1].cfg.discharge_w
+print(f"    B drain rate configured on the rig: {drain_w:.0f} W")
 check("⭐ timeout with B due: no battery charges from the grid after it",
       charging_hi(rows, 1780, 1798, hi1) == 0
       and min(cmd(r)["b"] for r in rows if r[0] >= 1780) >= 0.0)
 check("...B takes the slot and begins its own drain, which is the only large "
-      "step, to the drain rate and no higher",
+      "step, to the configured drain rate and no higher",
       c.maints[1].phase == DRAIN
-      and max(cmd(r)["b"] for r in rows if r[0] >= 1780) <= 2000.0
+      and max(cmd(r)["b"] for r in rows if r[0] >= 1780) <= drain_w
       and moves(rows, "a", 1780, 1798) <= SLEW)
 
 # ============================================================================ #