Run your home to save the most
Getting solar or a battery is half the job. The other half is running your home the smart way — and the best answer changes with your power plan. Here's the plain-English coach, appliance by appliance.
Use your own sun in the day. Let the battery cover the evening.
Power you usefrom your own solar saves you the ~30c you'd pay to buy it. Power you sell earns only ~3c. So moving a big thing into the midday sun is worth about 10× more than selling it.
The sizing shortcut
Big DAYTIME loads → more solar
Pool pump, hot water, daytime aircon, charging the car during the day. You use these live off the panels — you want plenty of solar, not a bigger battery.
Big EVENING/NIGHT loads → bigger battery
Evening aircon, charging the car overnight, cooking, someone home at night. The battery shifts your daytime sun into the dark — more evening use, bigger battery.
Want the lights on in a blackout? That's a backup gateway (hardware) — not a bigger battery.
First, know your power plan
The smart move changes with the plan you're on. There are three kinds in NSW:
Flat rate — the same price all day. Simple, but no reward for shifting.
Time-of-use — peak 3–9pm is dear, overnight is cheaper, and 11am–3pm (the sun window) is cheapest. Great if you can move loads into the day and out of 3–9pm.
Controlled load (a separate hot-water meter) — a cheap flat rate that only runs in set hours, usually overnight. Common on older electric hot-water tanks.
Plus “Solar Sharer” — 3 free hours 11am–2pm on any retailer if you opt in. More on that here.
Flat or time-of-use — which suits you?
👍 Time-of-use if…
- You have a battery (it dodges the dear 3–9pm peak for you).
- You can shift the pool, hot water, car and washing into the day.
- You're usually out during the 3–9pm peak.
🤔 Flat rate if…
- No battery, and you use a lot of power in the 3–9pm peak.
- You're home in the evenings and can't move it.
- You'd rather one simple price than watch the clock.
⚠️ The trap:“free midday” plans often hide a higher peak rate or daily charge — only a win if you actually use the midday window. We look at your whole bill, not the headline.
Appliance by appliance
🚿 Hot water — the biggest, easiest win
Heat it at midday and store it — hot water is a free “battery.” A heat pump on a midday timer, or a solar diverter into an old tank, is nearly free. On a separate overnight (controlled-load) meter?If you have no solar, leave it there — it's genuinely cheap. But once you get solar, we'd move it onto a midday timer, because free sun beats the overnight rate.
🚗 EV — charge in the day, not overnight
A solar-smart charger fills the car on your own midday sun — about $4–5 per 100km vs $15–18 on petrol. Charging at 6pm off the grid is the dear way. If you're out all day and must charge at night, that's a reason for a bigger battery or a cheap overnight/EV plan.
🏊 Pool pump — midday, and go variable-speed
One of the biggest users in the house. Run it in the daytime on a timer; a variable-speed pump saves a good chunk a year. A pool points to more solar, not a bigger battery.
❄️ Air-con — pre-cool on the sun
Cool (or heat) the house during the day on free solar, then coast through the evening — the house itself holds the temperature. A split system is much cheaper to run than ducted. Heavy evening aircon use points to a bigger battery.
🍳 Cooking — mostly evening, so shift what you can
Dinner's at night, so it's hard to move — the battery should cover it. Wins: batch-cook at midday, and drop the gas connection to save its daily charge. Induction is efficient.
🧺 Dishwasher, washing, dryer — use the delay timer
They all have a delay-start button — set them to run in the midday window. A heat-pump dryer or the clothesline beats a normal dryer.
🧊 Fridge & freezer — can't shift, so keep them efficient
Always on — the battery carries them overnight and in a blackout. Watch the hidden second beer fridge or chest freezer in the garage.
Common questions
＋My hot water is on a separate cheap meter — should I change it?
＋Is a flat rate or time-of-use plan better for me?
＋When exactly is the pricey 'peak' time?
＋What's the single easiest thing I can do?
＋Do I have to watch the clock all day?
New to it all? Start with how solar works, home batteries, or the full question bank. Or see your own numbers.
Want a plan built around how you actually live?
Tell us what you run and when — we'll size your system and set the timers so your home runs itself, on the cheapest power available.