Cameron Wood, external affairs manager at smart AC and heating controller company, tado, explains how smart meters are set to transform the energy landscape in Australia and drastically reduce the cost of air conditioning.
The Australian Energy Market Commission recently proposed that all Australian homes should be fitted with smart meters by 2030, so that Australians can make more informed decisions about their energy consumption as energy prices continue to surge across the country.
In Europe, more than 56 per cent of electricity consumers had a smart meter by the end of 2022 (Smart Metering in Europe, study by Berg Insight).
Free from the energy provider, these devices help Europeans view their energy use in real time. A small screen in the house, wirelessly connected to the electricity meter outside showcases the yearly, monthly, daily or even hourly cost and amount of energy that’s been used.
However outside the home is where the real value of these devices can be found. Whilst taking away the surprise of the energy bill before it arrives is valuable to the consumer and the supplier, these devices are the key to unlocking a renewable energy future. Their insights can provide live data on the energy demand of entire energy networks, on a national and international scale.
In a renewable electricity market of intermittant sources, volatile pricing is reflected based on the availability of supply provided by renewables. When the supply of electricity cannot match the demand, the price of energy increases. Inversely, when supply outstrips demand, the price of energy is lowered.
Smart meters in the home can unlock these cheaper prices. Customers can actually take advantage of these times of high and low pricing through the adoption of Time-of-Use tariffs. EVs already work with chargers that sync to tariffs and only charge the car overnight or during times of low pricing.
Imagine your air conditioner doing the same thing, actively seeking these low prices to do the bulk of your home’s heating or filling up your hot water tank.
With a perfect landscape for solar panels and wind turbines, Australia has the opportunity to become a renewable energy powerhouse, rewarding its people with cheaper electricity on the sunny days to power their AC units, whilst keeping temperatures stable.
AEMC chair Anna Collyer has already announced legislation to require smart meters for enabling better consumption patterns and regenerate Australia’s energy grid. An added benefit will provide incentives to Australian energy consumers to make use of the renewable energy that is available during those times of lower prices.
Whilst we can’t control when the sun shines or the wind blows, we can control the consumption in homes to match those times. We need to match the demand of energy to the supply that is available, in order to grow our energy network’s share of renewables.
The solution to this comes from Time-of-Use tariffs and a smart controlled home, that actively seeks to only use electricity when the price is low. By creating homes with dynamic energy usage that seeks and avoids the higher priced energy times, homes will become closer in sync with nature, and the supply of renewables.
This allows the share of renewables to increase, as the intermittant renewable sources will be able to match the demand of homes connected through Time-of-Use tariffs.
About the Author
Cameron Woods is busy showcasing tado’s AC product called Balance. It uses these times of low energy prices throughout the day to do the bulk of your home’s cooling or heating. The system will turn off your AC during the peak times for a couple of hours within your pre-determined comfort zone, or preferred temperatures.