diff --git a/esphome/components/sun/text_sensor/sun_text_sensor.h b/esphome/components/sun/text_sensor/sun_text_sensor.h
index 5cb8fb001d..3474e35fc3 100644
--- a/esphome/components/sun/text_sensor/sun_text_sensor.h
+++ b/esphome/components/sun/text_sensor/sun_text_sensor.h
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ class SunTextSensor : public text_sensor::TextSensor, public PollingComponent {
       return;
     }
 
-    char buf[128];
-    size_t len = res->strftime(buf, sizeof(buf), this->format_.c_str());
+    char buf[ESPTime::STRFTIME_BUFFER_SIZE];
+    size_t len = res->strftime_to(buf, this->format_.c_str());
     if (len > 0) {
       this->publish_state(buf, len);
     } else {
diff --git a/esphome/core/time.cpp b/esphome/core/time.cpp
index d30dac4394..98dd77c61f 100644
--- a/esphome/core/time.cpp
+++ b/esphome/core/time.cpp
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ size_t ESPTime::strftime(char *buffer, size_t buffer_len, const char *format) {
   return ::strftime(buffer, buffer_len, format, &c_tm);
 }
 
+size_t ESPTime::strftime_to(std::span<char, STRFTIME_BUFFER_SIZE> buffer, const char *format) {
+  struct tm c_tm = this->to_c_tm();
+  return ::strftime(buffer.data(), buffer.size(), format, &c_tm);
+}
+
 ESPTime ESPTime::from_c_tm(struct tm *c_tm, time_t c_time) {
   ESPTime res{};
   res.second = uint8_t(c_tm->tm_sec);
@@ -47,9 +52,8 @@ struct tm ESPTime::to_c_tm() {
 }
 
 std::string ESPTime::strftime(const char *format) {
-  struct tm c_tm = this->to_c_tm();
-  char buf[128];
-  size_t len = ::strftime(buf, sizeof(buf), format, &c_tm);
+  char buf[STRFTIME_BUFFER_SIZE];
+  size_t len = this->strftime_to(buf, format);
   if (len > 0) {
     return std::string(buf, len);
   }
diff --git a/esphome/core/time.h b/esphome/core/time.h
index 68826dabdc..93bae194c3 100644
--- a/esphome/core/time.h
+++ b/esphome/core/time.h
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <cstdlib>
 #include <ctime>
+#include <span>
 #include <string>
 
 namespace esphome {
@@ -13,6 +14,9 @@ uint8_t days_in_month(uint8_t month, uint16_t year);
 
 /// A more user-friendly version of struct tm from time.h
 struct ESPTime {
+  /// Buffer size required for strftime output
+  static constexpr size_t STRFTIME_BUFFER_SIZE = 128;
+
   /** seconds after the minute [0-60]
    * @note second is generally 0-59; the extra range is to accommodate leap seconds.
    */
@@ -43,14 +47,21 @@ struct ESPTime {
    */
   size_t strftime(char *buffer, size_t buffer_len, const char *format);
 
+  /** Format time into a fixed-size buffer, returns length written (0 on error).
+   *
+   * This is the preferred method for avoiding heap allocations. The buffer size is enforced at compile-time.
+   * @see https://www.gnu.org/software/libc/manual/html_node/Formatting-Calendar-Time.html#index-strftime
+   */
+  size_t strftime_to(std::span<char, STRFTIME_BUFFER_SIZE> buffer, const char *format);
+
   /** Convert this ESPTime struct to a string as specified by the format argument.
    * @see https://en.cppreference.com/w/c/chrono/strftime
    *
    * @warning This method returns a dynamically allocated string which can cause heap fragmentation with some
-   * microcontrollers.
+   * microcontrollers. Prefer strftime_to() for heap-free formatting.
    *
    * @warning This method can return "ERROR" when the underlying strftime() call fails or when the
-   * output exceeds 128 bytes.
+   * output exceeds STRFTIME_BUFFER_SIZE bytes.
    */
   std::string strftime(const std::string &format);