The boost button on your electricity meter allows you to heat your hot water immediately, rather than waiting for off-peak hours. The boost button is also referred to as the hot water boost button.
The boost button is usually only available for those who have off-peak hot water heating. It is a convenient function if you happen to run out of hot water, or if you or your electrician needs to do some testing of the functionality of the hot water heater and/or underfloor heating.
Important Note: When using the boost button, the electricity used to heat your water will be charged at your peak rate.
The boost button usually isn’t needed if you have an electric hot water system fitted with an automatic reheat function.
How to use your smart meter boost function
Most smart meters will provide you with the functionality to boost your heating a limited number of times every 24 hours.
The electricity meter in your home supports your hot water heaters. Power is sent to your hot water heaters at off-peak times when it’s cheapest. If you need to generate heat outside of off-peak times, you can use the ‘boost’ functionality to provide a temporary boost to your heating.
Follow these steps to use your smart meter boost function:
- Locate the boost button on your smart meter.
- To boost your hot water, press and hold the boost button for 5 seconds.
- An icon will usually display indicating that the boost function is now active.
Can I get a boost button for my hot water?
We often receive questions from customers who have off-peak electric hot water heaters asking if they can install a boost button in order to get hot water during peak hours if they run out. They also then ask who should they call when there is no hot water?
If you live in NSW, and are operating off the Ausgrid or Endeavour networks, you are more than likely on a Tarrif 1 electrical supply. This would commence your heating at 11:00pm and concludes at 6:30am. You may find the cheapest option for you is to look into Tarrif 2 (also known as Off Peak 2), which supplies heating between 10:00am to 4:30pm.
If you would like to proceed with having a boost button installed, you will require a dual-element hot water heater. One element functions during off-peak hours whilst the other element functions during peak metering.
Some hot water systems have an override button on the off-peak meter, allowing a button to be pressed which enables a one hour heating period.
