[purpleblackqueen]

My new house that I am renovating has the new smart meters installed by that previous owners.

I was told (by the electricity supplier) that my house work would have to be done after 10.30pm-

So how do you work with your meters????

Me washing at 10.30pm will be impossible as each load generally take 50 mins and then beeps until it is turned off.

I dont want to be up at that hour turning things off and the laundry is less than 5 meters away from Jack's bedroom, so even with doors closed chances are he will hear it.

This post has been edited by purpleblackqueen: 25/11/2012, 04:25 PM

[lovealpacas]

Do your appliances do delayed start? I set my washing machine so it finishes at about 7am when I get up. It has a 9 hour delay so at 9:30pm I turn it on and set it to start in 9 hours. That might work for you.

Also make sure you check your bills to make sure you are being charged both peak an off-peak rates. For both us and friends of ours with smart meters, we were being charged normal rates. It took 6 months and calls to the ombudsman to get our bill corrected, and then for the very next billing period they made the same mistake! The correct charges saw us saving about $600 for the 6 months worth of electricity, so it is definitely worth using your power wisely and checking your bills.

OP if your washing machine doesn't have delayed start, look in to getting one of those PowerPoint timers. Not sure what they're called exactly but they are an adapter with a timer that you plug in to the powerpoint, then you plug your appliance in to that.

HTH

[purpleblackqueen]

Do your appliances do delayed start? I set my washing machine so it finishes at about 7am when I get up. It has a 9 hour delay so at 9:30pm I turn it on and set it to start in 9 hours. That might work for you.

Also make sure you check your bills to make sure you are being charged both peak an off-peak rates. For both us and friends of ours with smart meters, we were being charged normal rates. It took 6 months and calls to the ombudsman to get our bill corrected, and then for the very next billing period they made the same mistake! The correct charges saw us saving about $600 for the 6 months worth of electricity, so it is definitely worth using your power wisely and checking your bills.

OP if your washing machine doesn't have delayed start, look in to getting one of those PowerPoint timers. Not sure what they're called exactly but they are an adapter with a timer that you plug in to the powerpoint, then you plug your appliance in to that.

HTH

Do those powerpoint timers work with digital/computerised washing machines? That is what mine in, but I can't pre-program it to start/stop at certain times.

[Julie3Girls]

Peak is 2pm-8pm Mon-Friday
Shoulder is 7am - 2pm, 8pm - 10pm, Mon-Fri, and 7am-10pm on weekends.
Off peak is 10pm-7am 7 days a week

Shoulder pricing isn't too bad, I do try and avoid running things during the peak period.
I tend to things like the laundry in the morning (so shoulder time), which fits in with my general time schedules anyway. I'll often load up the first load, set it run early in the morning around 6am. Makes it easier for me to get a couple of loads done anyway.
The dishwasher gets run after 10pm

Check out your pricing for the different periods, and the exact time frames for the different price categories. Nothing saying you can't do your laundry at any time of the day, just a matter of how much it will cost you in electricity.

This post has been edited by Julie3Girls: 25/11/2012, 05:00 PM

[melbgirl]

I am sorry but am I missing something?

How can your power company tell you that you have to do your housework after 10.30pm?

I have a smart meter and I can do my housework whenever I like

Do they turn your power off?

I am confused

[protart roflcopt...]

I am sorry but am I missing something?

How can your power company tell you that you have to do your housework after 10.30pm?

I have a smart meter and I can do my housework whenever I like

Do they turn your power off?

I am confused

Ummm, yes. I am confused as well. Perhaps he was just telling you the most efficient (cheapest) time to do your housework?

Guess it was one of those things that could have been picked up before purchase, but wasn't.

[Chocolate Addict]

Another one confused by that. We have a smart meter and just keep doing things the same way as before it was installed. Bills have not increased nor decreased. (well, they have now but that is because we got solar panels installed)

[SoxyMama]

I'm out of the loop of this one too. I have a smart meter and nothing changed here...

[notorico]

We just had our first bill with smart metre pricing and it was double the previous bill. Since then I turn the washing machine and dishwasher on when I go to bed. I try and turn most things off at the power if they are not being used during the peak period. If I do any baking it is also outside of the peak hours. We charge all our devices overnight as well.

The costs are something like

10pm to 7 am - 13 cents/kw
7am to 2pm - 23 cents/kw
2pm to 8 pm - 48 cents/kw
8pm to 10pm - 23 cents/kw

I am really keen to see our next bill and if our changes have made a difference.

eta Our smart metre was put in over a year ago but it took our electricity provider to months to switch to time of use billing.

This post has been edited by notorico: 25/11/2012, 07:14 PM

[Redonk]

Umm... turn it off? Or have it uninstalled or something. You own it, you can do whatever you like!