Comparing Time Of Use Electricity With A Fixed Rate Tariff

Did you know a Time Of Use electricity tariff known as TOU, has similar charges [in total] over a weekly period to a fixed rate tariff?

The secret to making a TOU tariff work for your household, is knowing when you're using electricity and how much you're using at anytime. You can do this 100% of the time by MONITORING HOME ELECTRICITY.

If you do not know your electricity usage & costs, then you run a very good risk of the TOU tariff costing you more. This is because peak electricity is high in cost, for example at 45 cents per kWh unit. The secret is to offset those high costs in the peak period, by using more in the off-peak / shoulder periods.

The available hours in a total week total 168 hours. In this example we are going to explain the cost for a 1kW appliance, on the TOU tariff. The table shows a TOU tariff made up from three different time based rates. Each rate accounts for a different number of hours per week.

The total cost for the 1kW appliance operating on this TOU tariff is $33.61 per week. A comparable hourly rate for the same total time, works out to be 20 cents per kWh.

You may be interested to know:

• 25 cents per kWh = $42 per week
• 30 cents per kWh = $50 per week

So to make the TOU tariff work for you, you need to understand your home electricity usage 100%. If you do not, you may use more of the peak hours, thus costing you a lot more when costs are high at this prime time of the day!

Whilst expensive high peak electricity only accounts for 18% of the total time during the week, it happens to coincide with those times when you want to entertain, eat ,wash and clean. So it is difficult not to use this high cost power. To offset this high costing power you will need to shift more power usage to the less costing tariffs, shoulder and off-peak.

As mentioned already, a great way to learn about your home electricity usage at any one time is to install a HOME ELECTRICITY MONITOR. A monitor will allow you to reduce and analyse electricity usage and costs, before deciding change to a different electricity tariff.

The last thing you want to happen, is to run the risk of making the wrong choice. An incorrect choice that could cost you dearly. Furthermore it may cost you, to switch back when you break any contract you may have entered into! Remember it pays to do the homework first 100% of the time!

Typical times of the day for TOU tariff changes, have not been discussed in this article. Visit our ELECTRICITY GUIDES page to download your copy of our TOU Table. Stick in on the front door of your fridge to keep everyone in your home up to date!