What the Heck is Time of Day Metering?

We’ve talked to dozens of Nova Scotian home owners wanting to cut down on their energy bills each month, and one thing we’ve come to realize is that a lot of them weren’t aware of Time of Day electricity metering was. We of course explained this excellent program to them, but felt it was time to share it with everyone else here on our blog.

What is Time of Day Metering?

Time of Day is a service offered by Nova Scotia power that charges you variable costs for electricity at different points during the day and week. The amount you’re charged at various times reflects the actual cost for Nova Scotia Power to generate and deliver that electricity to your home.

For example:

Mid Day on a Tuesday it’s expensive to generate and deliver electricity as there is huge demand on the grid both from residential homes and buildings but also commercial and government buildings as well. For this reason electricity is more expensive during the daytime on weekdays.

In contrast 10 am on a Sunday morning many of the demands made on the electrical grid aren’t there which means you pay a lower rate.

What are the Rates?

The time of day rates vary by day, month and season. Nova Scotia Power keeps a current table of rates on their website here.

As a rule of thumb you pay the least amount for electricity all day on weekends & holidays as well as through the night on weekdays.

How Can you Take Advantage of Time of Day?

Alright, so cheap electricity this sounds great, why isn’t everyone doing it? The reason is because you need certain equipment in your home for NS power to set you up on the program. More specifically you need an Electric Thermal Storage (ETS) unit.

An ETS unit contains many high density ceramic bricks wrapped in electric heater elements. These units take a “charge” of electricity during the off-peak hours (evenings, weekends and Holidays) then store that heat in the ceramic bricks to heat an area of your home during the on-peak times of day.

This helps Nova Scotia Power reduce the draw on electricity during the peak hours, especially during the colder months, but allows you to keep your home warm and comfortable while paying less to create that heat.

If you’d like to learn more about Electric Thermal Storage units and Time of Day Metering submit the form to the right of this article to arrange a free assessment of your homes energy potential.