The Midday Power Saver and your air conditioner

From today, Thursday 1 October 2026, Victorian households with a smart meter can ask their electricity retailer for the Victorian Midday Power Saver. On this offer there is no charge for the power you use between 11am and 2pm, every day of the week, weekends included. It is a Victorian Government offer regulated by the Essential Services Commission, and most retailers have to make it available.

For a house with a reverse cycle air conditioner, that three hour window is worth planning around. Sustainability Victoria puts heating as the biggest share of energy costs in the average Victorian home, and a reverse cycle system is one of the easier loads to move to a different time of day.

The fine print first

A few things to know before you ring your retailer:

• You have to opt in. Nobody is moved onto it automatically. You need a smart meter, and you sign up through your retailer.
• There is a daily limit. At the time of writing, the no charge period covers up to 24 kWh a day. Power used above that in the window is charged.
• The rest of the day is priced differently. The day is split into four periods: off-peak from 9pm to 11am, the no charge window from 11am to 2pm, a "solar soak" rate from 2pm to 4pm, and peak from 4pm to 9pm. The government says there will be small increases in the price of power used outside the window.
• It won't suit everyone. The government is clear that savings depend on how much of your use you can shift into the middle of the day. Compare it against your current plan on Victorian Energy Compare before you switch. There is a cooling-off period, and you can leave the offer without exit fees.

Winter is where it counts up here

In Daylesford, Trentham and the rest of the ranges, heating is the big bill. The Victorian Government lists air conditioners and electric heating among the appliances worth running in the window, and suggests using timers so the house benefits even when you are out.

The approach we suggest for winter is simple:

1. Run the reverse cycle system properly between 11am and 2pm, at a comfortable setting, and let it bring the whole living area up to temperature.
2. Keep the doors to the rest of the house closed and the curtains open on any sunny north windows, so the house soaks up what it can.
3. Through the 4pm to 9pm peak, drop the setting a degree or two and let the system hold the warmth, not rebuild it.

Brick walls, slab floors and solid timber all hold heat for a while after the system eases off. A well sealed house will carry the midday warmth further into the evening than a draughty one, which is a good reason to fix the gaps under doors before winter, not after.

The federal Energy Rating calculator suggests 18 to 20 degrees for heating and says each degree higher can add about 10 percent to your electricity bill. That still applies inside the window if you go over the daily limit, and it certainly applies at peak.

Summer works the same way, with a catch

In summer the idea is to pre-cool: run the system between 11am and 2pm, close the blinds on the west side, and let the house start the hot afternoon cool. The catch is that the hottest part of a summer day comes later than the window, so the coolness has to last longer. Insulation and shading do most of that work. We go through this in more detail in running your cooling off your own solar.

How far 24 kWh goes

As a rough guide, Renew (the not for profit behind Sanctuary magazine) says an air conditioner's electrical draw is about its rated output divided by three to five. On their example, a 6 kW unit draws about 2 kW at most, so three hours of hard running is around 6 kWh. A single split system won't use the whole allowance on its own, which leaves room for other things.

That room is worth using well. A heat pump hot water system on a timer, the washing machine and the dishwasher can all share the window, and the government suggests exactly that. Just keep in mind the limit is shared across everything in the house. Our piece on heat pump hot water off your solar covers timer settings.

If you already have solar

Your panels are already making power in the middle of the day, so the sums are different. Victoria has had no minimum feed-in tariff since 1 July 2025, and retailers set their own export rates. Whether the Midday Power Saver suits you depends on what you export, what you use at night and what your retailer offers, so talk to them and compare before switching.

Where we come in

We don't sell electricity plans, and we can't tell you which retailer to use. What we can do is make sure the system you have is ready to run in the window: timers and app schedules set up, filters clean, and the unit serviced so it does the job without straining. If the system you have can't heat the house in three hours on a cold day, that is worth knowing too, and we can measure up for a split system or ducted that can.

If you'd like a hand setting your system up around the new window, contact us or ring 0417 734 206 during business hours.