My cost of Electricity

Sunday, August 28th, 2011 Data, My PV Solar Stuff 1 Comment

I’ve posted this to justify paying an expensive rate for peak electricity with my retailer TRU Energy.

The other advantage I have is; I have my Electricity and Gas with the same retailer so I can ring up and request that my electricity credit be put onto my gas bill. (Plus I get a discount on my Gas bill by having both accounts with the same retailer).

Now I am on a Time of use tariff (TOU):

1 week = 7 days of 24 hours = 168 hours. With my standard time of use tariffs the times are peak at 7am – 11pm week days and all other times are off peak.

So to break it down into long numbers:

PEAK TIME =
Mon: 7am – 11pm = 16 hours
Tue: 7am – 11pm = 16 hours
Wed = 7am – 11pm = 16 hours
Thu = 7am – 11pm = 16 hours
Fri = 7am – 11pm = 16 hours

5 days X 16 hours = 80 hours (need to find another 88 hours for a week)

OFF PEAK TIME =
Mon: 11pm – Tue 7am = 8hours
Tue: 11pm – Wed 7am = 8 hours
Wed: 11pm – Thu 7am = 8 hours
Thu: 11pm – Fri 7am = 8 hours
Fri: 11pm – Mon 7am = 56 hours

OFF PEAK = (4 X 8 ) = 32 + (1 X 56) = 88 hours

PEAK: 80 hours + OFF PEAK 88 hours = 168 hours = 1 week

As long as I keep my consumption below 333kWh / month, I pay the lower Peak rate. >333kWh / month is normal for me.

I pay a massive 29.7110c/kWh peak
I pay a massive 10.8400c/kWh off peak

If I were to consume 1kWh every hour for a week it would work out to be:

PEAK: 1kWh X 80 hours X 29.7110c/kWh = $23.7688
OFF PEAK: 1kWh X 88 hours X 10.8400c/kWh = $9.5392
Total for the week = $33.308

So the $33.308 / 168 hours will give me my average cost per kWh.

$0.198262 / kWh (or 19.8262c / kWh)

During Summer time, my solar system will offset a lot of the 7am – 7pm consumption and leave me to pay for the 7pm – 11pm period, sort of makes me glad I don’t have to pay for a more expensive shoulder period that would be hard for me to minimise or offset.

1 Comment to My cost of Electricity

I am moving into a new house and I was also doing some calculations on electricity.

Let’s say no point to run the oven to cook something small. Too expensive in the long run!

Getting good insulated windows is important in keeping efficient with your consumption.

Jessica