Learn about ways to control your energy consumption during ‘out of peak’ periods

IF you can control your energy consumption during ‘out of peak’ periods, you’ll save money on time of use power pricing, writes John Rolfe.

IN two ways, not all energy consumption is created equal.

The first is that increasingly, electricity prices are varying by time of day.

This is a relatively new development. Most homes still have a “dumb” meter. But more and more are getting “smart” meters, which can measure how much power is being consumed at any given time. It’s the norm in Victoria.

Smart meters have paved the way for “time of use” pricing.

During period of peak demand — typically mid afternoon to mid evening, prices are highest. While most people are asleep they are the cheapest.

And the rest of the time they are somewhere in between, but lower than what they have been on flat-rate tariffs.

Which brings us to the second way in which not all energy consumption is created equal.

You can’t really vary the time at which you cook food or watch the TV news. But you can vary consumption such as when you run the dishwasher, dryer or your pool pump — unless your council has a ban on running a pool pump at night.

If you can move a chunk of your consumption out of peak periods, you’ll save money on time of use pricing.

It doesn’t work for everyone. I got rid of it after the birth of each of our children because people were home all day and using energy. But now that everyone is out of the house during the day, it makes sense — and dollars — to take advantage of the price variation.

Originally published as Learn about ways to control your energy consumption during ‘out of peak’ periods