topic controlled load in Meters & Connections

controlled load

Henry1950 — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 13:21:36 GMT

Been with AGL for a few years now.

Recently replaced my old solar panels with new.

Also installed a solar battery.

ISSUE 1: When we changed our plan to a seniors plan, we were informed the Controlled Load/Hot Water would be between 10pm and 7am.

My AGL app shows spikes (CL) at various times from 2am to 3pm.
Cutoff was supposed to be at 7am.
Why is this so?

ISSUE 2: Every time the CL comes on, I notice that the same amount of incoming kW is also 'sold to grid'.

How can this be so?....There is no excess solar generated at 2am.

So far this month (June) the AGL app shows I have 'sold to grid' 125 kWh.
On average my battery sits at 50-60% SOC.
There is no excess solar generated by my system.
Can't even fill my battery.

Why would the app show this when my battery needs filling.

Why AGL.....WHY?

Perhaps the CL Smart meter is faulty.
Or perhaps not smart at all.

How can I have this 'smart' meter checked for issues?

Re: controlled load

Lester — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 03:25:38 GMT

Hello Henry,

Issue 1 most likely it just doesn't need a top off later in the morning before 0700.

Our CL used to come on well after start time, and sometimes give a little boost half an hour before the end of that tariff.

Issue 2, I'd guess this is a settings issue (possibly wiring), probably how the system / battery is configured.

As the situation is "Recently replaced my old solar panels with new. Also installed a solar battery.", cont . . .
I would contact the installer of the new panels, likely new inverter, and battery and tell them what's happening and if they can assist in configuring correctly.

Note, you should be able to top off your battery from the grid if it doesn't fill daily, either cheap tariff time, or in windows of free power (three for free etc) with some plan offers from AGL and other retailers.

They *should* do this when finishing / commissioning the install, many installers just don't ask what the retailer plan / tariffs are, tailor to suit your solar / battery best, what you want / need from the battery behaviour etc.

For what it's worth, we had our CL connected HWS put onto our regular circuit after our solar went in, so we can time it for solar free hours (in summer), or a cheap tariff time we get for 8c for 6 hours a day.
It went form about $1.40 a day to 30c-40c (or free).
CL is totally separate from your regular circuit and solar advantages, and I know you said you don't have the solar to charge your battery daily (not ideal !!), but you could also time your HWS to come up during a free 3 hour window daily which should be doable and cheaper.

Re: controlled load

Henry1950 — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 13:45:56 GMT

Hi Lester,

Thanks for the info.

Issue 1 is not that big a deal.
It's just that I was assured the CL would only be active between certain times.
Now I find out it's all over the place. 0800, 0830, 1000, 1130, 1300, 1400 and occasionally a boost at 1500HRS.

Why tell a customer one thing, then do another?
Dishonesty.

Issue 2 is a bit hard to explain in writing.
But something like this example....FROM AGL APP....
0200HRS CL kicks in to heat water.
1.75 kW in.
At the same time 1.75 kW is sold to the grid (as shown in my AGL App).
This 1.75 kW is taken/discharged from my battery (according to my battery app).

This happens every time the CL kicks in.

So I'm paying for the CL intake and I'm losing the equivalent kW from my battery.
In other words, I'm virtually paying twice.

Contacted AGL and they informed me they have no control over my battery.
Contacted the battery installer and they informed me they did not touch the CL meter.

I don't think it's an issue with the Solar Panel installer.
I checked the AGL App for a time before the new panels were installed.
Same thing was happening.
Whenever there was a charge in the battery, the gremlin took the kW at the same time the CL kicked in....and took the exact equivalent of kW as was supplied by the CL.

Next step is to get an electrician to put the HWS onto the main circuit and hope for the best.

I will be looking into the 'free for three' thing but I don't think it would benefit me as my system should be generating enough power on its own....summer months of course.
And I believe the free for three will only be from 1100HRS to 1400HRS.
And for a total of 24 kW only
And to be on that plan, the tariffs will be much higher at other times.

Re: controlled load

Lester — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 23:36:53 GMT

Yeah, there are SO many things that can affect results, and cause headaches with modern power metering, wiring, working out what's best for an individual home and usage patterns.

Issue 1, the CL timings are very specific to your DNSP Ts&Cs.

Eg, in SA (only one DNSP) before we went solar and required smart meter we were on timed CL through about 2330 to 0530 early morning.

When we went solar and new smart meter install, the solar soak 1000 to 1500 was the cheapest time of day, before we had that all changed and no more CL, so it would do the main heating during the day, and a small boost during shoulder as well, very very briefly.

Yours should not be coming on through all hours of the day, shown in your data (you can only see this in your data download).

Issue 2, I have read of this issue before with battery registering usage, matching CL grid use.

This could be a CT (current transformer) clamp issue, solar companies get these hooked up wrong quite often and it can be very frustrating.

It's a mystery why it would have been like that before the update (new solar panels, possibly new inverter, new battery) and still happening, so you had a battery already before the upgrade ??

If so, it's possible that it was hooked up wrong all along, and if the new sparky hadn't looked at the CL at all may have missed it.

Maybe getting off the CL and onto the regular usage circuit will fix this, it should certainly be better if you can get most of your HW heating done through solar, and during bad winter type days the cheapest tariff you can find for say an hour or whatever is needed to get it hot once a day if possible (depending on unit size and HW needs).

You can get the Solar Catch type devises, that will use whatever excess solar you are generating and put it to HW heating, not cheap (maybe $1500 installed or so) like a timer ($400 or so), but long term it is worth considering.

If your battery is being drained through CL grid usage, then obviously getting that fixed one way or the other might see you getting far better use from your battery !!

Double usage might be registering as such, but not really draining the battery ??

How can 2 lots of power be used, leads back to CT clamps perhaps being wrongly fitted.

Maybe a totally independent solar company sparky is worth engaging ?

A second opinion from a reputable solar company.

Good luck.

Re: controlled load

Henry1950 — Tue, 23 Jun 2026 12:17:26 GMT

Thanks again for the update and tips.

I'm on a flat/single rate tariff.

Re: Double Usage.
When I check the battery APP for those high spikes, I notice the SOC is lower at the end of the spike than what it was at the start.

And it just so happens the amount of kW that is sucked out of the battery to the grid is the same as the kW imported from the CL (as per AGL APP).

So yes, I am paying for it twice....once in $, the other by loss of SOC....if that makes any sense.

I have looked into those Catch Control gadgets and saw the prices ($447 & $726) on their website.
$1500 installed means the sparky makes around $750 for about an hours work.
I call that greed.

I've been stung by a plumber that charged me $200 for a 5 minute job ($2400/hr).
I exposed the pipe and cleaned around it. All he did was fix a leak in a pipe.

I hope the sparky I get to fix my AGL problem is an honest tradesperson.

Thanks again.

Cheers,