Load Management
The Land Management Corporation is running an electricity load management trial exclusively at Lochiel Park. The trial will assist Lochiel Park residents to better understand the way they consume electricity. Importantly, it will provide them with the opportunity to lower their electricity demand and reduce their electricity bills.
Lochiel Park residents will elect to keep the total electricity load in their homes below a certain threshold. Each will then be charged for their electricity under a "capacity-based tariff". By ensuring the load in their home is kept below the level specified in the tariff, a resident should see a reduction in consumption and cost.
How does the load management trial work?
A resident's chosen load limit will be regulated by a load limiting device. This is a miniature circuit breaker (MCB) placed between the home's main service fuse and the meter. The MCB is rated at the load level chosen by the resident. To make the trial easier for residents to understand and manage, a load management device (LMD) will be provided at no cost.
The LMD enables households to choose which appliances "trip off", and in what sequence, should the home at any time draw more load than that agreed through the tariff. This is possible as the device monitors the total load of a home and can operate four circuits within the home separately in the prioritised order pre-selected by the resident.
An example of how it might be used:
During summer a home may have the air conditioner, television, computers, washing machine, stove and a number of other appliances operating at the same time. If this exceeds the specified maximum load agreed to by the resident, and for more than a set period of time, the first circuit chosen to trip (e.g. the air conditioner) would turn off.
If the load is still above the maximum after approximately five minutes, then the second chosen circuit (e.g. the washing machine) would turn off. This would continue until the load falls to a level below the maximum agreed to by the resident.
What if the maximum load chosen proves to be too onerous for the household?
Load limiting is one of a suite of initiatives being used within South Australia to manage electricity demand, especially peak demand. In this trial the maximum load limit can be adjusted if required at any time.
The maximum load limit will be set in conjunction with a resident, taking into account their daily activities around the home. Also, as set out above, the four circuits can be nominated in order of preference by the resident.
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