Off-peak electricity times in SA and the 12-hour peak
By Sithum Imarsha Last reviewed
On the SA Power Networks default market offer, peak is 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am. Solar soak is 10am to 4pm. Off-peak is 12am to 6am. Time of use is about $73 a year cheaper for a typical 2-person home: 13.8 kWh a day, with 51.4% of it in the peak. It stays cheaper while less than 55.8% of your use is 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am.
Your result
For your home
Time of use is about $73 a year cheaper
- Time of use, a year
- $2,695
- Flat, a year
- $2,768
- Peak share used
- 51.4% (typical home)
- Daily use
- 13.8kWh
The rates behind it
- Peak rate
- 56.22c/kWh, 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am
- Rest of the day, averaged
- 23.82c/kWh
- Flat rate
- 41.91c/kWh
- Supply charge, time of use vs flat
- 180.05c vs 180.05c a day
Fix the highlighted field to update.
Break-evenTime of use wins while less than 55.8% of your use is 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am.
ClockTimes follow the clock, including daylight saving.
Season
Rates
Your planThese are the times on the SA Power Networks default market offer. A market plan can use other times. Check your plan.
Your whole billEstimate your whole bill.
How we calculated this
- The peak rate is averaged over the year, because some days and months have no peak.
- The rest of the day is priced by the use of a typical home in each band.
- A year on the flat rate is compared with a year on time of use. Break-even is the peak share where they cost the same.
Full method, tables and sources: Peak and off-peak times calculator
| Band | Times | Days | Season | c/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peak | 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am | Every day | All year | 56.22c |
| Solar soak | 10am to 4pm | Every day | All year | 17.04c |
| Off-peak | 12am to 6am | Every day | All year | 32.55c |
The peak hours over a year
56.22c/kWh
The rest of the day
23.82c/kWh (Official source: AER DMO 8 final determination (26 May 2026), Appendix C s.6(2) pattern of supply, read via a Wayback Machine copy, PDF p.123; annual usage from Appendix C)
Flat for a year
(180.05c + 13.8 kWh × 41.91c/kWh) × 365 = $2,768
Time of use for a year
180.05c a day supply, peak share 51.4% (typical home): $2,695
Break-even
Time of use wins while less than 55.8% of your use is 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am.
This version starts with a 2-person home on SA Power Networks, where the peak runs 12 hours a day.
South Australia: what to know
Official source
- SA's peak is 12 hours: 6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am, every day, at 56.22c a kWh. Solar soak runs 10am to 4pm at 17.04c, and off-peak is only 12am to 6am.
Dated third-party source
- For smart meters the times follow the clock. Only controlled load and old accumulation meters stay on standard time all year.
Estimate
- Because the peak is so long, time of use only beats flat while less than about 55.8% of your use is in those hours. A typical home is at 51.4%.
| Household | kWh a day | Flat | Time of use | Cheaper | Break-even |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 8 | $1,881 | $1,839 | Time of use by $42 | 55.8% |
| 2 people | 13.8 | $2,768 | $2,695 | Time of use by $73 | 55.8% |
| 3 people | 16.7 | $3,212 | $3,124 | Time of use by $88 | 55.8% |
| 4 people | 19.3 | $3,610 | $3,508 | Time of use by $102 | 55.8% |
| 5 or more people | 23.9 | $4,313 | $4,187 | Time of use by $126 | 55.8% |
- At default offer prices, with a typical share of use in the peak, time of use is cheaper in every row of the table: by $42 a year for 1 person, up to $126 for 5 or more people.
- Household size does not move the break-even in any row of the table, because the flat and time of use default offers have the same supply charge, 180.05c a day. A typical home sits 4.4 percentage points under the break-even.
- On the default time of use offer, a typical 2-person home that moves 10% of its use out of the peak and into the other hours saves $163 a year. Moved into the cheapest band instead, 10am to 4pm, the same 10% saves $197 a year. A typical home has 27.4% of its use in that band already, and 21.2% from 12am to 6am.
Each row is a whole year on SA Power Networks at the AER benchmark daily use for Adelaide at that household size (Official source), with a typical home's share of use in each band (Official source). Break-even: time of use is the cheaper plan while less than this share of the home's use is in the peak hours, with the rest split over the other bands as in a typical home. 2026-27 flat and time of use rates: Official source.
What else matters for time of use in South Australia
Controlled load on SA Power Networks
Controlled load on SA Power Networks: 22.03c a kWh from 1 July 2026. Supply hours: set by the network.
Source: Nectr’s own standing offer price from 1 Jul 2026 (one retailer, not the regulated price), read on Nectr’s rate update page on 1 Oct 2026. The regulated cap for 2026-27 differs: 22.2497c for SA Power Networks controlled load (AER DMO 2026-27 determination, s.9 table (5)) (Dated third-party source). Checked 1 October 2026.
On the default time of use offer, the solar soak band on SA Power Networks (10am to 4pm) costs 17.04c a kWh (Official source): 4.99c less than that controlled load rate. Each kWh a day of hot water heated in those hours on time of use, not on controlled load, costs $18 less a year at those two rates.
Solar Sharer on SA Power Networks
The Solar Sharer on SA Power Networks has free power from 12pm to 3pm, on up to 24 kWh a day. Outside those hours it charges 58.84c a kWh in its peak band (6am to 10am and 4pm to 12am), 35.17c in its off-peak band (12am to 6am) and 19.66c in its solar soak band (10am to 12pm and 3pm to 4pm).
Each of those rates is above the default time of use offer's rate for the same band (56.22c, 32.55c and 17.04c: Official source). The Solar Sharer SA Calculator: Free 12pm to 3pm works out what the free hours are worth for your home.
Every network and your own peak share: use the main peak and off-peak times calculator.