off peak electricity

[fenderbelly]

In South Australia.

My last two bills have the same number of days, IE 92 days.

I would have thought that as my off peak hot water meter starts and stops at the same time each night that the
costs would be the same but they are not.
Anybody know why.

[Acco]

If you use the exact same amount of water everyday and the ambient temperature is the same all year, the electric bill should stay the same, but if you factor in different water usage and fluctuating temperatures through the year the cost will be different.

Lets say for example, for a 100lts unit, you used 25lts of hot water today but tomorrow you’ll use 50lts, the hot water service only needs to heat approximately 25% today but tomorrow it has to heat approximately 50% of the water.

Clear as mud?

[rrich]

If your electric utility is the same as ours, they are playing games to fleece you out of more money.

[aldav]

Although power may be available to the meter for the same period each night the meter doesn't start and stop at the same time every night, it's thermostatically controlled. Patterns of hot water use can vary significantly in different seasons. There are likely to be unaccounted for additional calls on both electricity and hot water through the winter months; for instance in the winter here (Albury) the incoming cold water is so cold that the washing machine adds hot water to the wash even when the machine is set for cold to bring the temperature up to 'cold'. So a double whammy for your electricity bill, incoming water is a lower temperature and requires more power to heat it up AND you're using more hot water than you would in the more temperate seasons.

[Bohdan]

Plus in the colder weather the insulation on water heaters is so poor that you loose a lot more heat thru the sides of the tank. This is replaced by using more electricity.

[rwbuild]

We use instantaneous LPG hot water and 4 burner hot plate (runs on 2 D cell batteries) $90-00 for 5 months.....just comparing

[fenderbelly]

Thanks guys

[KBs PensNmore]

Recently got our bill, $300 more than the same time last year, and we used less power!!!!!
We received a letter saying that the cost of electricity was going down, a whole .5cents a Kw.
Kryn