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Some appliances, such as hot water heaters, consume huge amounts of energy compared to others. Luckily, they don't need to be powered constantly to function. This allows them to benefit from something known as a controlled load tariff.
You may already be using a controlled load tariff on your power plan, but if you aren't, it's possible that one could help save you money. Read on to find out what a controlled load tariff is and how it can benefit you.
A controlled load tariff is a type of energy tariff that's used for appliances that consume high amounts of energy, most commonly heating systems or hot water systems. This is how a controlled load tariff works:
A controlled load tariff usually exists as part of a regular energy plan, whether you use a single rate, time of use tariff or something else for the rest of your power usage.
There's a good chance that you're on a controlled load scheme if you have a dedicated heating appliance such as:
The easiest way to see whether or not you have an active controlled load tariff is to look at the usage breakdown on your energy bill. Your controlled load may appear as "off-peak", "controlled load", or tariff 31, 33, 61 or 63, depending on what state you live in.
Alternatively, contact your energy retailer, which should be able to give you the details of your current plan.
If you have an existing device or are installing a new device that you think would work well with a controlled load tariff, here's what you should do:
While this depends on your exact circumstances and the appliances involved, in general, a controlled load tariff will save you money. Heating water, for example, is an extremely energy-intensive process, so being able to heat that water at a much lower rate than you would normally pay can save you money in the long run.
The biggest costs associated with controlled loads are:
If these costs are outweighed by how much you save on usage costs, you should save money overall.
The major difference between controlled load 1 tariffs and controlled load 2 tariffs are the restrictions they place on when your controlled load circuit can use power, as well as the usage rates involved. Remember that these tariffs may be called something else depending on your retailer, and they're only available in New South Wales and Queensland.
Here's how the two compare:
Tariff | Controlled Load 1/Tariff 31 | Controlled Load 2/Tariff 33 |
---|---|---|
Power available | A short stretch, usually overnight, e.g., 6 hours overnight on the Ausgrid network. | A longer period, usually split into night and day segments, e.g., 6 hours or more overnight plus 4 hours or more between 7am and 5pm on the Ausgrid network. |
Usage rates | Significantly lower than general usage. | Slightly higher than Controlled Load 1. |
Can it include separate supply charge? | Yes. | Yes. |
Most useful for | Customers with large water tanks that can store heat all day. | Flexibility and customers with small water tanks that can benefit from heat during the day, too. |
Tariff 33 is the Queensland equivalent of a Controlled Load 2. It offers a longer minimum period over which electricity is available for your controlled load circuit, but charges higher usage rates than Tariff 31 (the equivalent of a Controlled Load 1 tariff).
A lot of the potential issues with controlled load circuits arise when you have or install solar power. This also depends on your energy distributor and its policies. Here are a couple of examples:
It seems that some of these issues have arisen from several distributors that are trying to phase out controlled load tariffs in the long term. Check with your own distributor to see how a controlled load might work with a solar set up.
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