Run your home to save the most
Getting solar or a battery is only half the job. The other half is running your home the smart way. And the best answer changes with the power plan you are on. Here it is, one thing at a time.
Use your own sun in the day. Let the battery cover the evening.
Power you use from your own roof saves you the 30c you would pay to buy it. Power you sell only earns you about 3c. So moving a big job into the midday sun is worth about ten times more than selling that power.
The quick way to know what you need
Big things in the DAY → more panels
Pool pump, hot water, aircon in the day, charging the car in the day. These run straight off the panels while the sun is up, so you want plenty of panels, not a bigger battery.
Big things at NIGHT → bigger battery
Aircon in the evening, charging the car overnight, cooking, someone home at night. The battery moves your daytime sun into the dark. The more you use at night, the bigger the battery.
Want the lights on in a blackout? That needs a backup switch, which is a piece of gear. It is not about having a bigger battery.
First, find out which power plan you are on
The smart move changes with the plan you are on. There are three kinds in NSW:
One price all day
The same price no matter when you use it. Simple, but you get nothing for moving things around.
A different price at different times
3pm to 9pm is dear, overnight is cheaper, and 11am to 3pm is the cheapest of all. Good if you can move things into the middle of the day and stay off the grid from 3pm to 9pm.
A separate cheap meter for hot water
One low price, but the tank only heats at set hours, usually overnight. Common on older electric hot water tanks.
And there is “Solar Sharer”
3 free hours from 11am to 2pm, from any power company, if you ask for it. The catch is below.
One price, or different prices? Which suits you?
👍 Different prices, if…
- You have a battery. It keeps you off the grid from 3pm to 9pm on its own.
- You can move the pool, hot water, car and washing into the day.
- You are usually out between 3pm and 9pm anyway.
🤔 One price all day, if…
- You have no battery and you use a lot of power between 3pm and 9pm.
- You are home in the evening and cannot change that.
- You would rather one simple price than watch the clock.
⚠️ Watch out:plans that shout “free midday” often hide a higher evening price or a bigger daily fee. They only win if you really use that midday window. We look at your whole bill, not the big words on the front.
One thing at a time
🚿 Hot water — the biggest, easiest win
Heat it at midday and the tank holds it for you. Hot water is a free battery. A heat pump on a midday timer, or a small gadget that pushes spare sun into an old tank, costs you almost nothing to run. Is your hot water on a separate cheap overnight meter? If you have no solar, leave it there. It really is cheap. But once you have solar, we would move it to a midday timer, because your own sun costs you less than the overnight rate.
🚗 Electric car — charge in the day, not at night
A solar-smart charger fills the car on your own midday sun. That costs you about $0.50 to $0.68 per 100km — because spare sun is only worth a few cents if you send it away instead. Buy the same power from the grid and it is $4.59 to $6.21. Petrol is $14.80 to $17.20. If you are out all day and have to charge at night, that is a good reason for a bigger battery, or a cheap overnight plan.
🏊 Pool pump — run it at midday
One of the biggest power users in the house. Put it on a timer for the middle of the day. A pump with a speed control saves a good chunk each year. A pool means you want more panels, not a bigger battery.
❄️ Air conditioning — cool the house early
Cool the house (or warm it) during the day on your own sun, then turn it down. The house holds the temperature into the evening. A split system costs much less to run than ducted. If you use a lot of aircon at night, you want a bigger battery.
🍳 Cooking — hard to move, so let the battery cover it
Dinner is at night, so you cannot really move it. That is what the battery is for. Two wins: cook big batches at midday, and get rid of the gas line so you stop paying its daily fee. An induction cooktop uses less power than the old ones.
🧺 Dishwasher, washing, dryer — use the delay button
They all have a delay-start button. Set them to run in the middle of the day. A heat-pump dryer, or just the clothesline, beats a normal dryer.
🧊 Fridge and freezer — you cannot move these
They run all the time. The battery carries them overnight, and in a blackout. Keep an eye on the old second fridge or chest freezer out in the garage. They cost more than people think.
Common questions
My hot water is on a separate cheap meter. Should I change it?
Should I be on one price all day, or different prices?
When exactly is power most expensive?
What is the single easiest thing I can do?
Do I have to watch the clock all day?
New to all this? Start with how solar works, home batteries, or the list of questions. 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 there is.
We call you back the same day.