Hi! Was wondering if anyone switched with their local Power company to a Time of use program that has lower rates during off peak hours and seen a difference in their bill? Is it worth while to make the switch? I know during Peak hours the rates are high, but off peak times its dirt cheap, was figuring that'd be best for charging at night. I only live less than 10 mins from work but travel 3.5hrs one way on the weekend so will probably only be charging Thursday nights. I know that I will need to make some personal changes like using appliances at off peak times as well and adjust my AC which is the biggest power draw of em all. Its a 3 month wait to have the new meter installed and my EDD for my MYLR is 31mar - 12 May so was wanting to set it up now.
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Time of Use/ Off peak charging Programs
- Thread starter Blacked_Y
- Start date
beatle
Active Member
Kinda depends on the plan. Some penalize you heavily for "peak" times. It's pretty easy to offset EV charging and to run your dishwasher at night, but consider your appliance and HVAC use throughout the day. Even if you have a programmable thermostat, check the settings to see if you'd actually be cranking it during peak rates. Some things may be non-negotiable for me, like running my dryer at night or taking a shower after peak rates. You may want to get a smart water heater to take full advantage of the TOU plan as well depending on your usage.
I think the only thing I worry about is hvac in summer. I have a Google thermostat that I can manually program, thinking of maybe precooling the house in the morning and off in the afternoon. Not sure how effective that'll be when it gets 90+ outside
We have a TOU plan here in San Diego and it saved us a ton. We only use our AC a couple of weeks a year, but even then our smart thermostat helps ensure the house is cool before the peak rates start from 4pm-9pm. We set the dishwasher to run after midnight and try to do laundry before the peak rates. The washer/dryer are on the same floor as the bedrooms so can be a bit loud if they kick in at midnight. The lifestyle changes were pretty easy for us and definitely worth it given how cheap the rates are at night.
That's a good peak time, from April 1 to 31 Oct the peak hours in Florida are11am -8pm. Not sure how well my house can do without AC for that long
I think I may just have to try it and see. If I can pre cool down in the AM maybe keeping ac off till 8pm may workCan you download your energy use for the last year? If so, a bit of excel work can help you model what it would cost using the TOU rates. We can download ours as granular as 15 minute tranches.That's a good peak time, from April 1 to 31 Oct the peak hours in Florida are11am -8pm. Not sure how well my house can do without AC for that long
Yea I believe I can, I moved Nov 21' so I only have last year to look at and summer 22' my ac screwed up so have inaccurate summer readings. I think I'll just have to give it a try and see for myself. I read in other places that you have to consider how limited you are during those peak rates and when family and friends visit it'll be pricey.
Super off-peak rates depend on your electricity provider and plan. I’m in San Diego on the SDGE TOU5 plan and super off-peak is 1/4-1/6 the cost of off-peak or on-peak, depending on the time of year. I pay about $0.13 per kWh at night, which I would consider dirt cheap compared to our standard prices. Still expensive compared to a state like WY, but I’m not complaining. I haven’t lived in San Francisco for a long time so can’t speak to PGE rates these days or in LA, so YMMV in other parts of the state.
Scheduled charging seems to work fine, but I’ve only been using it for a few days. If you have a short window for off-peak charging and your charging sessions might run long, you can use the Tessie app to schedule start and stop times. It’s also nice if your off-peak times change on the weekends. I’m not sure why Tesla hasn’t built this into the OEM app or car UI as it is a pretty obvious feature and easy to implement.
Our utilities are investor-owned, so they get a nice profit. Electricity prices are continuing to rise too which is why we installed solar last year. Now it’s almost free
The issue is this: there are two times when it will try to charge up to the specified charge limit you have set:
1. Your scheduled charging time
2. When your off-peak rates end
I have my scheduled charging time set to either 10am or 1pm depending on whether or not I plan to go anywhere the next day. But my off-peak rates end at 5pm. So if the vehicle is connected to the EVSE, it will start charging at whatever time it has to start to reach the charge limit by 10am/1pm or 5pm. Now the issue is this: if I come back at say 12:59pm, it will begin charging and it will not stop until it hits the charge limit. This isn't a big issue because 1pm to 5pm is all off-peak rates. But if I come back at 4:59pm and plug in, it will start charging and won't stop until it hits the charge limit, pulling power through the peak time of 5pm to 8pm if it has to. So if I come back just before 5pm, I either have to not plug in until just after 5pm or manually stop the charge at 5pm.
Doesn't change my plan, but I was shocked to find out our local electrical provider (co-op) does not differentiate rates for off-peak. They charge the same rate 24/7 - seems positively brain dead to me. I'll still charge overnight, maybe some day they will wake up?
And furthermore, the actual power plant operator DOES offer peak, shoulder and off peak rates, but the Co-Op does not pass those along - they charge us all the same rate 24/7.
And furthermore, the actual power plant operator DOES offer peak, shoulder and off peak rates, but the Co-Op does not pass those along - they charge us all the same rate 24/7.
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We have a time of use option in Chicago based on real time pricing. I average about 6-7 cents/kWh. Simply ending charging at 5am creates an average low price. But I use the power companies API plus the Tesla API to look for low prices, which are occasionally negative.
The future has to be real time pricing for EV. Every grid operator has low cost periods which is the best time for EVs to charge. The way to communicate those periods is through price. The trouble with a simple off peak rate is that occasionally the cost to the utility is very high during those times. A off peak high cost condition may be due to extreme weather or equipment failure.
My software looks at weather and chargers to 90% ahead of extreme cold.
My primary complaint with the Tesla charging implementation is that the 50% minimum is too high. I want a lower minimum charge to have more headroom to add watts at very low prices. Also, being forced to set a departure time to use off peak charging makes no sense.
The schedule section of the app seems to be an area where the developers gave up after getting Musk's approval. Given Musk's weirdo lifestyle its ironic that inherent in the design is the drive to work five days a week assumption. It's fine to have the intention of leaving complex user interaction to third party developers. But they need to allow all automatic charging to be turned off in the app or the API.
The future has to be real time pricing for EV. Every grid operator has low cost periods which is the best time for EVs to charge. The way to communicate those periods is through price. The trouble with a simple off peak rate is that occasionally the cost to the utility is very high during those times. A off peak high cost condition may be due to extreme weather or equipment failure.
My software looks at weather and chargers to 90% ahead of extreme cold.
My primary complaint with the Tesla charging implementation is that the 50% minimum is too high. I want a lower minimum charge to have more headroom to add watts at very low prices. Also, being forced to set a departure time to use off peak charging makes no sense.
The schedule section of the app seems to be an area where the developers gave up after getting Musk's approval. Given Musk's weirdo lifestyle its ironic that inherent in the design is the drive to work five days a week assumption. It's fine to have the intention of leaving complex user interaction to third party developers. But they need to allow all automatic charging to be turned off in the app or the API.
Cali is expensive because we have turned off most of our Nuclear plants and purchase from neighboring states. In Florida, most electricity is produced from Hydro, which is lots cheaper (and cleaner)
California utilities forcing many of their customers away from tiered pricing to Time of Use pricing. More closely aligns the costs of use to the cost of production.
When I hooked up to Solar I was only able to stay on Tiered pricing for one year, then switched to time of Use. They give me a lower price/kWh due to having a Tesla. State also sent me a check for driving a Clean Air Vehicle. Very confusing out here.
Right now my monthly statement have been showing a credit, but am now in the 12th month of a cycle. At the end we will settle up with them with perhaps a small bill or credit. Looking good so far.
In Socal the magic solution seems to be a combination of Tesla Solar Panels, plus a Quiet Cool Whole House Fan. Chill the entire house with the fan in the cooler evenings, and only run the AC if necessary beyond that. Does not work in zones where the evenings do not cool off (Florida). Charging my two EVs, two Electric bikes, and electric Golf Cart makes running on Sunshine truly possible. Tesla Solar cost me $9,000, minus $3,000 tax credit, Utility rebates and California grant. Net cost of Solar...$5,800. Payoff just over 3 years. 33% return on investiment and possibly increase in home valuation.
People are pretty clever in keeping their energy costs as low as possible.
Yeah...no. Besides not even fact checking your statements before posting them, do you even think about things logically? Hydroelectric power requires taking water from a high place and letting it move to a low place, spinning turbines as it does so and converting all of that potential energy to electrical energy. Florida's highest point is only 105m/345ft MSL, which is the lowest high point of any of the 50 states. So it's not surprising that hydroelectric generation in Florida is basically nonexistent.
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