Advantages and disadvantages of dual tariff meters

Before installing a two-tariff electricity meter, everyone wonders how profitable it will be, and whether it will be profitable at all? In fact, not everyone will experience the economic effect of installing a two-rate meter. For some, the benefit will immediately become apparent, for someone it will appear after a while. Let’s figure out how things really are with two-tariff electricity meters, and in which cases the transition is not at all advisable, and it’s more profitable to leave a single-rate meter.

Continuously, throughout the day, everywhere there is a dynamics of electricity consumption, and this applies both to apartment buildings in megacities and to private houses. Most people sleep at night, and during the period from midnight to 5 a.m., electricity consumption is minimal.

Waking up in the morning, getting ready for work, people begin to use electrical appliances, they include microwaves, electric stoves, electric kettles, etc. It turns out a jump in electricity consumption, which occurs in the morning, and a peak in electricity consumption, falling from 7 to 10 in the morning, and is called the morning peak.

After 10 o’clock in the morning, consumption decreases, and from 10 to 18 o’clock does not particularly jump. But in the evening, during the period from 18 to 23 hours, the electricity consumption increases sharply again, it becomes three times more than in the morning, this is the maximum hours - from 18 to 23 hours, the maximum peak load when people turn on the lights, washing machines, televisions, microwave ovens, electric stoves, etc. And after 23, after midnight, consumption again drops to 5-7 a.m. until the morning peak again, and so on in a circle, every day.

The idea of ​​introducing two-tariff meters is intended to unload the evening maximum of energy consumption, and thus facilitate the operation of power supply systems, and reduce the risk of their failure. The bottom line is as follows. If a single-rate meter is installed in the apartment, then accounting is carried out at the same rate around the clock. If a two-tariff meter is installed, then accounting is carried out separately: from 7 to 23 - the daily rate, from 23 to 7 - the night rate.

Obviously, in the first case, when a single-rate meter is installed, the consumer has no motivation to even think about what time he turns on, say, a water heater or a washing machine or dishwasher, but in the case of a two-tariff meter, when the night tariff saves money , a certain motivation appears. A person simply changes his daily routine a little, and receives real money savings, consciously reduces costs.

And what really is? What is the real situation with tariffs? Let's estimate. Depending on the region of your residence, the cost of electricity and tariffs are determined individually. For example, for the Moscow and Sverdlovsk regions, as of May 2015, daily rates were 4.9 rubles / kWh and 3.1 rubles / kWh, respectively, but nightly rates were 1.26 rubles / kWh and 1.46 rubles / kWh, respectively. At the same time, single-rate meters (without dividing by night and day tariffs) in the Moscow region formed an account at the rate of 4.68 rubles / kWh, and in the Sverdlovsk region - 3.07 rubles / kWh. As they say, feel the difference.

So, we see that the ratio of the cost of electricity to the consumer in the daytime and at night is calculated several times (in Moscow it is almost 4 times more profitable to use electrical appliances at night if you install a two-tariff meter!).

Now let's calculate the payback. Suppose you bought a two-tariff meter for 1300 rubles, and its installation cost you 1000 rubles, a total of 2300 rubles you spent.

Consider Moscow rates for a rough estimate.A regular meter wound you around the clock at 4.68 rubles per 1 kW-hour, but after installing the two-tariff meter, you had a nightly rate - 1.26 rubles per 1 kW-hour. The difference is 3.42 rubles for each night kilowatt hour. Suppose we want to recoup a new meter using only the nightly rate.

It is necessary to generate savings of 2,300 rubles, that is, 672 kW-hours. Want to pay for modernization in a year? Then we consider: 1.84 kWh per day should be consumed from 23-00 to 7-00 for 365 days. This means that the refrigerator and the washing machine, as well as, for example, the water heater included in the night and early morning periods, will definitely be able to recoup your meter for the year.

For full confidence in the appropriateness or inappropriateness of installing a two-tariff meter, simply record the readings of your usual single-tariff meter during the month in the morning and in the evening, and calculate how much you pay. Then compare the readings with the two-tariff prices for your home. This will give a real picture, you will understand whether you should spend money on installing a two-tariff meter.

The advantage of the two-tariff meter will be fully appreciated by those who prefer to go to bed late, or get up early in the morning, or simply turn on powerful household appliances according to an automatically set schedule, now this function is implemented, for example, in many washing machines. In extreme cases, you can use the outlet with a timer. However, in any case, take care of the neighbors' quiet sleep so that there is no loud noise.

The disadvantage will be the inefficient use of night time if you go to bed at 23-00, and wake up at 7 in the morning, and at this time only the refrigerator works. In this case, you will have to overpay, because the daily tariff for the two-tariff mode is somewhat more expensive than the round-the-clock single-tariff, and it is better not to change anything.

As they say, to each - his own. If you are ready to change your daily routine a little, and have the opportunity to turn on powerful household appliances at night or early in the morning - the two-tariff meter is definitely for you. If you use powerful electrical appliances exclusively during the day, and go to bed early, and wake up late, then the two-tariff meter is clearly not for you.