What Is Your Total Power Consumption With Net Metering?

Online Monitoring For All The Facts

This is one question that no-one knows without there being some form of electricity and solar power monitoring system installed within the home.

It is not uncommon for homes installing solar power to in fact use more power after the installation, due to the fact they are making their own power.

Prior to installing your net metered solar pv system, your total power consumption was your imported power. Now you have installed solar power, your total power consumption is now actually:

Consumption  = Generation + Import - Export

Before your solar power was installed the electricity bill clearly itemised your total electricity consumption. Now after your solar installation, it actually itemises imported power only as your daily usage. Yes this is confusing and yes we have many times explained this to the electricity retailers.

So how can you know if your using more or less power since the solar was installed? Clearly you cannot by looking at your electricity bill!

What your total power consumption now is, is usage made up of both imported power and that generated power from your roof during the sunny hours of the day. During those non-sunny hours of course, you can only be importing power from the grid. We will assume here for this article, you have no battery banks installed to store generated power during the day for use at the night.

During the sunny hours of the day, if you are not using much power under your roof, then you run the risk of it being sent back to the grid for little financial return. This is your exported power.

So there are a few issues here that clearly need to be known. What is your total power consumption and what power are you sending back to the grid. Excess power that alternatively you could be using to offset imported power costs.

All of these unknowns can easily become known facts, that you can work with to maximise your electricity savings.

What you need to do is to install a simple online electricity monitoring system, one that is taking note of your total consumption and generated power at the same time. The imported / exported power is easily worked out once these two facts are known. Thus then you will know 24/7 the following:


Consumption  = Generation + Import - Export
 
So why not take a look at our ONLINE ELECTRICITY MONITORING page.

This blog post brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICE industry in Australia.

Reducing Electricity Costs With Net Metered Solar Power

So how and what can you hope to save by installing solar power onto the roof of your home?

There has been and in some cases still is, a large misconception out there by some Aussie householders in various communities, that the only way to save is via the 6 to 8 cent rebate.

There are some homes in Sydney that we know of, where the size of the solar system is to great and thus the payback time far longer.

Well a net metered solar pv system can help you save off electricity costs by:

• Generating your own power and using it during the sunny hours of the day, in real-time. This reduces your electricity bill by the amount you would have normally have purchased for the same period.  For example a 2kW system will have produced around 8kW [Annual daily average]. This is worth $2.40 per day if you are on a 30 cent tariff. This equates to $840 per year or $210 off the quarterly electricity bill

• Sending any excess power not used during the daytime, back into the grid. Where you get a rebate of 6 or 8 cents per kW. Technically reducing a 30 cent tariff to 24 / 22 cents.

If it was the case of solar power not being profitable under the net metered system, then we would not see solar power systems still being installed in many streets around Australia.

It is only the solar power savvy householders whom really save off the electricity bill. These householders understanding 100% how the net metered solar power system works and making the move if it is suited, to install it into their home.

It may be the media has led some of you astray, by reporting that solar power in Australia is dead since the end of the gross metered system. But that is not the case as some homes can save dramatically off the electricity bill, with a net metered solar system.

It really comes down to the amount of power you are using on a daily basis during the sunny hours of the day. As this is the power your solar power system is going to be providing you with, saving you what you would normally being paying for.

Further more by directly offsetting electricity costs, you save more as the cost of the electricity rises! Now this surely has to be a great idea!

A 3kW solar system in Sydney could easily generate up to $7000 of free electricity from the sun when offsetting electricity at 30 cents per kWh.

So what are you waiting for? Why not call Aussie Home Energy for more help and at least check out what we have to offer on the subject of SOLAR POWER NET METERING.

This blog post brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICE industry in Australia.

Is The Time Of Use Electricity Tariff Your Best Option?

Electricity Tariff Comparison

Nowadays a lot of Aussie homes appear to be on the recently introduced Time Of Use electricity tariff, where power is priced at different rates, depending on the time of the day it is used.

The main issue we have with this tariff, is the very expensive cost of power between high demand times, for example in Sydney between 14:00 and 20:00, where it is not uncommon to be charged almost 50 cents per kWh.

Often 25% of the total electricity bill relates to this high cost power and the householder is congratulated about this by the electricity retailer, but alarmingly it relates to 50% of the total costs!

Some homes connected to this type of tariff have little choice to not using power at these times, for example young families or the elderly.

So if you are a home using a lot of power during these times and not necessarily able to use the power at the cheaper times during the night, to compensate for the high cost power, then this tariff may not be the best option for you.

So how do you find out if the TOU electricity tariff is the best or not for your home, well we would suggest you install a simple total home electricity monitor with software that will analyse two or more electricity tariff types against each other. With the results being based on your usage and the times of the day this usage occurs.

Remember in most cases you can get the electricity tariff type you want. If you are not being offered other electricity tariff types then we would suggest you talk to another electricity retailer, whom has different offers on the table. Metering type should be an issue as often you can get this changed, with many electronic meters supporting all tariff types.

To find out more about affordable electricity monitoring solutions for your home visit this ELECTRICITY MONITORING SOLUTIONS page.

This blog post brought to you by Aussie Home Energy, a major player in the HOME ELECTRICITY SAVING SERVICE industry in Australia.