article feature

Secret Energy Savings of Dual Tariff Energy Bills  

Energy companies love consumers to use as much energy as possible, after all the more energy we use the more money they make from us. A good way to reduce your energy bills is to cut home energy consumption and substantial savings to be made simply by doing some basic checks and research on your energy supplier. This is an obvious way of saving money yet it is often overlooked. Most people are either unaware of how simple it is to carry out some basic checks on their energy supplier or are unaware of how significant the savings could be.

The first thing to do is contact your electricity supplier and check if you are on a 'dual tariff', and, secondly, ask what the tariffs are. You will soon see there is likely to be a huge difference between the 'peak' and 'off-peak' charges. In other words electricity used at night-time could be as much as 60 per cent cheaper than electricity used during the day. Standard peak hours are generally from 0730hrs to 1930hrs.

To put this into perspective, if your annual electricity bill is $2,000, of which say $1,500 is from electricity consumed during the day, if you could transfer say 50 per cent of your day time electricity consumption to night-time, you could save a massive $450 each year. If that's not worth a phone call or two I don't know what is.

How can I transfer 'peak' electricity usage to 'off-peak' usage?

Seems unlikely at first but many daily chores can be moved to 'off-peak' hours. Obviously things like evening lighting may be required before the night rate starts and there is not much you can do about changing the time lighting is required (except install low-energy light bulbs and fittings). Functions that can be moved to 'off-peak' hours include night storage heaters, hot water immersion heaters, dish washers, clothes washers, tumble drying, slow cookers ('crock pots'), air conditioning and appliances on charge such as mobile phones.

All of these and many other functions can be done overnight with just a little prior planning. You could even get up ten minutes earlier to do the vacuum cleaning or ironing before 0730hrs so that you benefit from the cheaper tariff. Also If you have an electric hot water cylinder with an immersion heater, replace it with a dual immersion heater and make use of off-peak electricity - this will save you money.

Understanding dual tariff energy charges is a great first step towards making your home more energy efficient. A few simple changes to your daily habits and routines will bring you substantial savings in the short to long term as well as helping you beat the global energy crisis.