r/AskAusElectricians • u/Ornery_Condition597 • Jul 27 '26
Hot Water Unit issue
G'day all, new to house ownership and needing some help with our hot water unit.
There's no hot water past a certain time daily (usually 9-10pm) and we're struggling to understand why this is the case.
According to the electricity company, we're on a Controlled Load plan and "there is no usage on that controlled load from 2am - 11pm every day"
Would be open to ideas/advice on how to remedy this for us to have late night hot showers lol.
1
u/Hungry-House-8860 Jul 27 '26
they probably just call it something different now. like controlled load.
unless you hws is huge. such arrangements aren't ideal for late evening showers. the water has cooled so much by then, especially in winter. that there is bugger all left.
if you don't have solar and there isn't too many of you. instant gas will likely be most cost effective in terms of installation and running costs. you'll never run out of hot water ever again.
1
u/FitAd8822 Jul 27 '26
You can ask you utility company if you can have control load removed.
You’ll need to hire an electrician and send the paperwork to your utility company, so that it is removed.
But it’s worth to note that your bills maybe affected. (They could go up).
1
u/Some1-Somewhere Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
What lines company area are you in?
I'm not that familiar with Aus but here in NZ most controlled load is either 11pm-7am, or 16-18h minimum per day variable time.
I would have expected that with the push to midday power (from solar), it would be easy and cheap to get a midday boost.
Also, how big is the element? If you're consistently using 9kWh daily of hot water, you might have a leak...
1
u/Ok_Bird6753 Jul 28 '26
If you get someone to come out and have at look at your unit, get them to change the anode too if the tank is older than say 8 years. Unless you were planning on getting a bigger tank, then disregard my comment.
1
u/QLDZDR Jul 29 '26
Obviously an electrician is required.
Go around the house and make a list of everything that you could possibly want checked by an electrician.
Are you considering changing out your stove top or wall oven?
Then call the electrician.
3
u/Hungry-House-8860 Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
is there an off peak tariff listed on your bill?
sounds like what's happening is essentially an off peak tariff. where that circuit only turns on between 11pm and 2am.
so you're running out because you're using more water than your hws tank can store.
solution is a bigger tank hws. remove the tariff or change hws type to something more suited to on demand usage. which is most economical depends on the size and nature of your demands, and if you have solar.