Time Of Use SMART Meters

Posted on August 8th, 2009 by Bruce

Time Of Use SMART Meters

Time of Use Smart Meters are being rolled out across North America. What are they and how will they impact you?

Smart Meters – What Are They?

Smart meters don’t just record the amount of electricity you consume each day, they store the “time of day” that electricity was used, into preprogrammed intervals.

Most electrical distribution companies have choosen three “intervals” for billing purposes.

Highest Rate or On-Peak – (ex – 9.1 cents per kwh)

Mid Rate or Mid-Peak – (ex – 7.6 cents per kwh)

Lowest Rate or Off-Peak – (ex – 4.2 cents per kwh)

The time of day is then broken into these 3 classifications. Often, weekends and holidays are treated separate from workdays (Monday – Friday). Let’s look at the Time Of Use (TOU) intervals for Toronto during the winter months, as an example:

As you can see in the images above, the lowest price for electricity would be between 10PM and 7AM. The HIGHEST rate for electricity is between 7AM to 11AM and again between 5PM and 8PM. Mid priced intervals are also split between 11AM-5PM and 8PM-10PM.

How Will This Impact Me?

In most locations, the Time Of Use (TOU) electricity rates for On-Peak and Mid-Peak time intervals are significantly higher that the flat rate prices. Thus if you do NOT defer some of your typical electrical usage into the lowest priced interval, you’ll see a jump in your electrical bill. At the same time, if you ARE able to move a significant amount of your usage to the evening, you could see a drop in your bill.

Big ticket items include – electrical hot water heaters, clothes driers, electrical heaters and dish washers. Want to save on your electrical bill… wash your clothes on the weekends and turn on your dishwasher when you go to bed.

You can also purchase a “usage” meter for inside your home, that will show you just how much power you are consuming at the moment. Turn on the oven and what the meter jump. These meters are available in wired and wireless models. Google has also introduce an application for FREE, that will show you just how much electricity you are using. Google has partnered with several local utilities, as they introduce Smart Meters. Here is a link to Google’s PowerMeter.

Test Drive a Smart Meter

Toronto Hydro has a nice little application on their website that lets you see just how much electricity a typical appliance uses and what it would cost you to use that appliance during different times of the day. You can pick the appliance and the start and end time that you would use it. Your cost is added to your “bill” .

Here is the link to their pop-up application. Click on GO NOW to start the process..

SEE TOU IN ACTION

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