Off Peak and Controlled Load Metering Sydney
If your hot water heats overnight on a cheaper rate, you have a controlled load circuit, and it needs handling deliberately whenever your metering changes.
- Controlled load preserved, not lost. The tariff survives.
- Hot water, slab heating, pool circuits. All covered.
- Common in pre-1990s Sydney housing. We see these weekly.
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What Is Off Peak Metering?
Off peak metering, also called controlled load, is a separate supply arrangement for appliances that can run when demand on the network is lower. It is metered separately from the rest of your property and billed at a different rate.
The classic use is an electric storage hot water system, heating a tank overnight and holding it through the day. Slab heating, pool heating and some larger fixed appliances use the same arrangement.
The key point is that it is a genuinely separate circuit with its own metering, not merely a setting. Any change to your metering arrangement affects it directly.
Why Does Off Peak Matter During a Meter Change?
Because it is easy to lose.
When a meter is replaced, a switchboard upgraded or a supply reconfigured, the controlled load circuit has to be identified, carried across and reconnected correctly. If nobody looks for it, three things can happen: the circuit is left disconnected and hot water simply stops heating; it is reconnected to general supply so it runs on the standard tariff; or the arrangement is left in a state that does not match the distributor's records.
None is dramatic on the day. All of them show up later, usually as a cold shower or an unexpected bill.
Which Sydney Properties Have Off Peak Metering?
If your property was built or last upgraded before about 1990 and has electric hot water, assume you do until established otherwise.
It is very common through the post-war suburbs across Sydney's west, south west and south, in the older housing through the inner west and inner south, and right up through the Blue Mountains where electric heating was the standard answer for decades and the winters justify it.
The tells are a second meter or second dial on your meter, a hot water tank rather than an instantaneous unit, a separate circuit on your switchboard labelled hot water or off peak, and a bill showing a separate controlled load charge.
Our Services
All your Level 2 electrical needs covered
Our team has the skills, expertise and accreditation to cover any Level 2 requirement they come across. Every service is backed by safety, quality and experience.
Power Connect and DisconnectConnect a new property to the grid, or disconnect safely for demolition and works.MeteringMeter installs, relocations and changes, with the paperwork handled.
Overhead Service LinesRepair, replace and install overhead service lines and storm damaged connections.
Underground Service LinesUnderground mains installed, located and repaired, including overhead conversions.Consumer MainsInspect, repair, upgrade or install the mains feeding your switchboard.Switchboard UpgradesAgeing fuse boards replaced with a compliant board and safety switches.We handle 23 Level 2 services in total. See the full list.
Why Choose Sydney Level 2 Electrician for Off Peak Metering
Shower gone cold after electrical work and nobody can explain why? There is a good chance a controlled load circuit was disturbed and not properly restored. It is one of the most common loose ends left on older Sydney properties, and it is entirely avoidable when somebody knows to look for it.
Sydney Level 2 Electrician has been working on off peak and controlled load metering across Sydney for 15 years. We are an accredited Level 2 ASP under the NSW Government's ASP Scheme, authorised on the Ausgrid and Endeavour Energy networks. Off peak metering work is completed to AS/NZS 3000:2018 and the NSW Service and Installation Rules, documented with a Certificate of Compliance for Electrical Work, and covered by our Lifetime Labour Warranty. Free quotes, Sydney and the Blue Mountains, available 24/7.
Should You Keep Your Off Peak Circuit?
Usually yes, but it deserves an actual decision rather than an assumption, and the answer has changed for some properties.
The traditional logic was straightforward: heat the tank overnight on a cheap rate. That still holds for plenty of households.
It holds less well with solar, because the cheapest power you have is now generated in the middle of the day rather than bought overnight, and a tank heating at 2am is heating on power you paid for rather than power you made. Plenty of solar households are better served shifting hot water to daytime, which is a conversation worth having during a smart meter installation.
It also matters less if the storage system is being replaced with an instantaneous or heat pump unit, which changes the requirement entirely. The point is that a meter change is the natural moment to decide deliberately rather than defaulting to what was decided in 1978.
Where we work
Level 2 electricians across Greater Sydney
We are on the road across the whole metropolitan area, from the CBD and the Eastern Suburbs out to Penrith, up to the Hills District and down through the Sutherland Shire. If you are not sure whether we reach you, call and ask.
What Other Work Affects a Controlled Load Circuit?
Any job touching the metering or the switchboard touches this.
A smart meter installation or general metering change. A switchboard upgrade, particularly where the old board is replaced entirely. A meter box relocation. A consumer mains replacement. Any power supply upgrade or conversion to three phase.
In every one of those, the controlled load arrangement is part of the scope whether or not it appears on the quote. Ours says so explicitly.
Solar, Hot Water and the Timing Question
This is the conversation worth having if you have solar or are about to install it.
A storage hot water tank is one of the largest single loads in most homes and also one of the most flexible. It does not care when it heats, only that it is hot when you want a shower. That makes it the best candidate in the house for soaking up solar generation that would otherwise export for very little.
Moving hot water from an overnight controlled load to a daytime run is a metering and control question, not a plumbing one, and it is exactly the change to make while someone is already working on the meter rather than as a separate exercise later.
Get Your Controlled Load Handled Properly
If you have off peak hot water and any electrical work is planned at your meter or switchboard, mention it when you book. It takes thirty seconds and saves the cold shower.
Call 0485 824 714 or send an enquiry describing what you have and what is planned, and we will quote free. We will make sure the controlled load arrangement is part of the scope from the start. Sydney and the Blue Mountains, 24 hours.
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How it works
A simple process for excellent service, right when you need it.
01Contact our team
Reach out by phone, email or the contact form to start the process.
02Discuss the details
Tell us what you need, including property information and any specific concerns.
03Assessment and quote
We schedule a visit or request photos, then provide a detailed quote and timeline.
04Confirmation and booking
Once the quote is approved we book your job at a time that suits you.
05Job completion
We arrive on time with every tool needed to finish the work properly.
06Final check and payment
We inspect and test the work before finalising the paperwork and compliance.
Network checker
Are you on Ausgrid or Endeavour Energy?
Every Level 2 job is lodged with the network that owns the wires in your street, and the paperwork differs between the two. Type your suburb and we will tell you which one you are on. We are accredited for both, so either way you are covered.
A guide only. Network boundaries can split a single street, so we always confirm the network before we lodge anything.
FAQs
Off Peak and Controlled Load Metering questions, answered
The things people ask us most about off peak and controlled load metering in Sydney. If yours is not here, call and ask.
How do I know if I have an off peak circuit?
Check your bill for a controlled load or off peak tariff line, and look at the meter box for a separate circuit feeding hot water. Sydney housing built before the 1990s with electric storage hot water very often has one.
Will I lose my off peak tariff if the meter is replaced?
Not if it is handled deliberately. The circuit can be carried across to the new metering arrangement. It gets lost when nobody mentions it and the new arrangement is set up without it, which is why we ask about it before the job.
Is off peak still worth keeping?
Usually yes for electric storage hot water, because the cheaper rate applies to the load that uses the most energy in many homes. It is worth reviewing if you have solar, since self-consuming your own generation during the day can beat the off peak rate.
Can I add an off peak circuit if I do not have one?
It depends on your metering arrangement and what your retailer offers. It is not simply a wiring change; the tariff has to exist on your account. Tell us what you are trying to achieve and we will tell you whether it is possible on your setup.
My hot water stopped working after a meter change. What happened?
That is the classic symptom of a controlled load circuit that was not carried across. It is fixable. Call us with the date of the meter change and what your bill now shows, and we will work out what was missed.
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