How Smart Plugs and Energy Monitors Can Cut Your Australian Power Bill

Smart plugs and energy monitors can help lower your power bill by showing which appliances actually cost the most to run, then letting you schedule, automate or switch them off remotely. The savings come from trimming standby power, moving flexible loads out of peak-tariff periods and catching faulty or forgotten devices before they quietly add to your bill. None of it needs solar panels or a battery.

Where Your Power Bill Actually Goes

Most Australian households have a rough idea of their biggest power users — the air conditioner, the heater, the hot water system — and that is often right. But rough ideas rarely change behaviour, and a surprising share of usage can also come from smaller devices left running around the clock. A smart plug with built-in energy monitoring shows real kilowatt-hour (kWh) figures for a single appliance. You can then see whether that old bar fridge in the garage, the chest freezer or the kids' gaming console is worth what it costs to run.

Standby Power and Phantom Loads

Set-top boxes, game consoles, microwaves, chargers left plugged in and stereos can keep drawing power while switched "off" — often called standby or phantom load. The Australian Government's energy advice site says standby power can account for up to 3% of household energy use and cost up to $100 a year. It suggests switching appliances off at the wall or using smart plugs on timers. The exception is fridges, freezers and critical medical equipment, which should stay on.

A monitoring smart plug lets you measure this rather than guess, and then decide whether a scheduled cut-off makes sense. Bear in mind the plug itself draws a little power to stay connected, so on a modern low-standby device it may not pay its way. We cover where that line sits in whether smart plugs actually save money on Australian electricity.

The Appliances Worth Watching

Good candidates for monitoring include entertainment systems, second fridges and bar fridges, chest freezers and countertop appliances such as air fryers or slow cookers. These tend either to run longer than needed or to get left on by accident. For fridges and freezers, use the plug to measure, never to switch them off.

Appliances with heating elements, such as portable heaters, are worth understanding too. But many should not be switched by a smart plug at all, and some heater manuals specifically warn against timers or automatic switching. Before you automate anything that heats, cools or runs a motor, read what you should never plug into a smart plug.

Time-of-Use and Demand Tariffs

On a time-of-use tariff, you pay a higher rate per kWh in the peak period and a lower rate off-peak, and some plans add a shoulder rate in between. Energy.gov.au notes that peak rates usually apply on weekday evenings and off-peak rates usually apply overnight and on weekends, but the exact windows are set by your retailer. Some plans also add a demand charge based on the highest amount of power you draw from the grid at one time — for example, when many appliances run at once.

Rates and windows vary by retailer, distributor and state, so check your bill or your retailer's plan details rather than relying on a general figure. If you are on one of these plans, monitoring helps you confirm when heavy, flexible loads actually run, and scheduling lets you move them without flicking switches at odd hours. For motor loads such as pool pumps, check the plug's motor rating first, or use the pump's own timer or properly rated fixed equipment. Some plugs, such as the Tapo P110 below, list a far smaller motor limit than their headline wattage. One exception: electric hot water is often already on a separately metered controlled-load circuit that only runs at set times, in which case leave it alone.

If you are unsure whether you are on the right plan at all, comparing offers is free. Energy.gov.au's Switch to save page points to the government comparison service for each state. That's Energy Made Easy in most of the country and Victorian Energy Compare in Victoria. Western Australia and the Northern Territory have state government pricing information. A better plan can matter more than any device.

How Can You Soak Up Rooftop Solar and Daytime Tariffs?

Rooftop solar feed-in tariffs have dropped significantly as midday solar supply saturates the grid. Because export rates are much lower than retail import rates, maximising self-consumption delivers the greatest financial return for Australian households. Some distribution networks now even apply two-way export pricing to discourage excess midday grid exports.

To absorb this surplus power, networks and retailers provide daytime solar soak tariffs and free electricity windows. Smart plugs, wireless load controllers, and inverter relays allow you to align heavy household energy use with these daytime peaks automatically.

Hot water systems act as effective thermal batteries. Upgrading from overnight heating to midday smart diversion dramatically lifts self-consumption. Smart consumption regulators can continuously route excess solar generation into resistive water cylinders in real time.

Additionally, you can configure smart plugs to run pool pumps, EV chargers, and air conditioning during discounted daytime windows. Automating these appliances ensures you use clean local generation first, cutting reliance on peak grid power.

Smart Plugs vs Energy Monitors: What Each Does

A smart plug sits between the powerpoint and your appliance, letting you control it from an app, a voice assistant or a schedule. An energy monitor measures how much electricity a device — or your whole home — uses. Many plugs now combine both, but plenty only switch and do not measure anything, so if lowering your bill is the goal, check that the listing specifically includes energy monitoring.

Scheduling and Remote Switch-Off

Instead of relying on memory, you can schedule devices to turn off overnight or outside peak periods. That's useful for things like outdoor lighting or an entertainment unit that does not need to be on all day. Remote app control also helps when you leave the house and realise the TV, games console or lamp is still on. For anything with a heating element, check the appliance manual and our safety guide above before relying on a plug to switch it.

Plug-Level vs Whole-Home Monitoring

Plug-level monitors are the simple option: plug the monitor into a standard powerpoint, then plug the appliance into the monitor, with no rewiring. They are the most accessible choice for renters and apartment dwellers.

Whole-home energy monitors typically connect at the switchboard and give a household-wide view. Because that involves fixed wiring, installation is a job for a licensed electrician. Before buying one, check what you already have. If your home has a smart meter, many energy retailers offer apps and online portals that show when you use the most electricity. That can be enough of a whole-home picture to decide which appliances to monitor individually.

Smart Plugs Worth Considering for Monitoring

The TP-Link Tapo P110 is built for this job. TP-Link's Australian page says it tracks the energy use of connected devices and lets you enter your electricity rate for bill estimates, alongside schedules. It lists a maximum load of 10 A, 2300 W and a 1/10 HP motor. It suits single-appliance monitoring — measuring a bar fridge, or monitoring and scheduling an entertainment unit — without extra hub hardware. Check any motor's rating against that figure before plugging it in. The trade-off is that, like most Wi-Fi plugs, it depends on your home network and the app for historical data.