One half-hour set March's bill.
Ausgrid puts new homes on its demand tariff by default. On it, your single busiest half-hour between 3 pm and 9 pm is charged for every day of the month. A Sydney home on Amber found that out the hard way, before PowerPilot.
From one 21.8 kW half-hour. That was 45% of the month's ex-GST charges; the bill netted $497.23. A peak that size usually means several big loads at once (that month's interval data would confirm it), and keeping them apart is PowerPilot's job.
How the demand charge works today
Ausgrid EA116, billed through Amber. Applies Nov–Mar and Jun–Aug.
So one 7 kW EV half-hour in a 30-day demand month costs about $91, and every kW of peak about $13.
Then there are price spikes
Amber's live price as PowerPilot read it, same home, October 2026.
At the $24.19/kWh peak a 7 kW EV charger costs about $169 an hour, and a 4.2 kW spa heater about $102.
This spring's pattern would cost about $140 a month in demand charges.
The biggest lever turned out to be the battery. Every day this spring that went over 3 kW in the 3–9 pm window involved the battery charging from the grid in the window, or running empty before 9 pm. The consult checks that SmartShift's demand-window buffer is on and that nothing else is scheduling the battery, and PowerPilot holds the loads that can wait.
Sources: the home's own Amber bills, Sep 2024 – Apr 2026, and Amber's live prices as logged by PowerPilot, Oct 2026. Every bill shown predates PowerPilot, which went live in July 2026. We've since compared this home's bills before and after (Aug and Sep–Oct 2026 against 2025): market prices and the battery moved them more than PowerPilot did, so we don't claim a saving. Your house will be different: the consult works from your own data.
Quiet most days. Quick when it counts.
Your EV charger, aircon and spa keep their own settings. PowerPilot only steps in when the price spikes, or when a load would set the month's demand peak. If it loses data, it does less, not more.
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Mon 12 Oct · 15:05:54● automatic
Stopped the EV charge 10 minutes before Amber flagged the spike.
The price crossed its 50c line at 15:05:48. Six seconds later the car stopped charging. The spike went on to peak at $24.19/kWh.
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In every spike● automatic
Puts the spa into Away mode.
Jets off, keypad locked, heating paused. When the spike ends it puts back only what it changed, and never restarts the jets.
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3–9 pm on a demand tariff● automatic
Holds the loads that can wait.
EV charging and spa heating wait unless your solar covers them, so one busy half-hour doesn't set your month. In demand-charge months, if the battery is about to run flat before 9 pm, it says so over your speakers in time to switch something off.
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When you take over● stands back
Leaves it to you.
Set any device to manual in the panel and PowerPilot keeps its hands off it. Change a device by hand and it adopts the change rather than fighting it.
The work you don't do.
From PowerPilot's own log for the same home. For 18 of the 30 days the owner kept most devices on manual, so the daily rate comes from its first 6–8 days with full control; a monthly figure would be an extrapolation. Prices were read every 5 minutes that month; they're now checked every 30 seconds.
On the wall, or in your pocket.
PowerPilot's panel lives on a wall tablet or your phone. Family mode says what the house is doing in plain words. Console mode shows Amber's prices for the hours ahead, the spike timer and every decision.
A wall tablet that explains itself
The same live panel on a wall tablet or any phone. Family mode for everyone; console mode when you want the detail.
Spike alerts on your Sonos
It tells the house out loud when a spike starts, gives updates while it lasts (as often as you like, say every 5 minutes) and says when it's over. Through Home Assistant; tested on Sonos speakers.
Amber's prices, ahead of time
The next six hours of Amber's forecast, with spikes flagged, so you can see why it's waiting.
Screens from the real PowerPilot panel running on demo data, not a real home's numbers. In this demo PowerPilot runs the battery, so the screens show export earnings and a "saved today" estimate. In your home the battery stays with SmartShift: on this home's own numbers, PowerPilot driving the battery did not beat SmartShift with its demand-window buffer on.
Then the house is yours to automate.
PowerPilot runs on Home Assistant, and so can the rest of your home. The same Sydney home runs 50 automations and 10 one-tap routines on that one box: watering that checks for rain first, a front door that locks itself at bedtime, a leak alarm that speaks, and a running cost for every big appliance. Most of the switching is Sonoff gear from about $19 a part.
- Battery and solartracked all day
- Every circuitits running cost at live prices
- Gardenwaters unless it rains
- Plantssay when they're thirsty
- Leaksevery speaker says where
- Front doorlocks itself at bedtime
- Garagewarns you when it's left open
- Away modelocks up and looks lived-in
- Door alertsthe sitter's code, or a stranger
- Lightsfollow sunset and sunrise
- Morning briefbattery, price and doors on your phone
- Voicean assistant that runs the house
- Musicyour playlist in any room
- Wall panelsa dashboard by the doors
- Watchdogalerts when key gear goes quiet
- Price spikesannounced on the speakers
Home Assistant is a trademark of the Open Home Foundation. We install and set it up; we are not affiliated with the Home Assistant project or the foundation.
The house remembers its own maintenance.
KasaKeeper is the maintenance side of the same Home Assistant box. We set it up with your address and it builds the house's schedule, tracks costs and warranties, and finds local trades.
- Starts from your address. It reads public listings and satellite imagery to spot the pool, spa, solar and garden, and you tick what's real.
- Snap a nameplate. It reads the make, model and serial, then applies the maker's own schedule.
- One dashboard. A home-health score, what's overdue or due soon, upcoming cost and warranty status.
- Trades and quotes. Quote requests are drafted for your approval and replies are read back into the job. Nothing sends without your tap.
- Live Home Assistant data. A device can raise its own task when it reports a fault or a low consumable.
- Ask the house. Answers come from your own assets, schedules, warranties and quotes.
No KasaKeeper fee: the AI features run on your own Anthropic key, and Anthropic bills you for what you use.
Your house records stay on your Home Assistant box. Research, nameplate photos and Ask go to Anthropic on your own key. Screens show a fictional demo house.
What it works with today.
Got an EV, aircon, sauna and a pool? Here is the honest list. Anything marked "not yet" needs product work before we can promise it.
Other brands connect over wifi: through Home Assistant's Tuya integration, a wifi controller, or a wifi smart plug for plug-in appliances. Something not on the list? Tell us in the form. The consult tells you what's controllable before you spend anything on the install. In NSW, anything hard-wired (relays at switches, contactors, switchboard metering) is licensed electrical work: a licensed electrician quotes and does it, and gives you the compliance certificate. [WHO CONTRACTS FOR WIRING · owner to confirm]
Consult, quote, install, support.
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01 · at your place
Consult
We walk the house: switchboard, solar inverter, battery, EV and charger, aircon, pool and spa, sauna, laundry and wifi coverage. We check your Amber tariff (demand charge? two-way export?), whether SmartShift's settings protect the 3–9 pm window (its demand-window buffer on, nothing else scheduling the battery), and build a money-at-stake report from your own Amber data.
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02 · fixed price
Quote
One fixed price, every part itemised. What is already controllable, and what needs a relay, contactor, meter or wifi upgrade.
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03 · install day
Install
We fit the Home Assistant Green, set up Home Assistant, PowerPilot and KasaKeeper, and bring devices live one at a time. Then we tune it through your first season.
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04 · only if you want it
Support
Updates, a seasonal re-tune and remote fixes, priced at what it costs us to provide.
Your Amber token: you create it in Amber's app and paste it into the report tool and your box yourself. We never handle it.
One install fee. No ongoing fees from us.
PowerPilot runs on your own box, so there's nothing to keep paying us for. Support is there if you want it, at cost. Two running costs aren't ours: Amber's $25/month membership, and KasaKeeper's AI usage, billed to you by Anthropic.
Credited in full against your install. You keep the money-at-stake report either way.
- Home Assistant Green and every part, itemised
- Install and setup labour
- Home Assistant, PowerPilot and KasaKeeper set up
- Tuned through your first season
Any wiring an electrician does is quoted by them, shown on the same page. Your quote sits next to the money at stake in your own Amber data, with every assumption written down.
Our time at cost, no margin, in 15-minute blocks. Or a care plan at $360 a year: two seasonal re-tunes, updates and an hour of fixes.
What you save depends on your tariff, your appliances, market prices and how you live in the house, so we won't promise a number we haven't measured. Any estimate in your quote is an estimate, with its assumptions shown, not a guarantee.
Fair questions.
Do you need my Amber login?
No. You create an API token in Amber's app and paste it in yourself. We never see your password or your token.
What if the internet drops?
PowerPilot holds. Losing data makes it do less, not more, and your devices keep their own thermostats.
Can I override it?
Yes. You decide, device by device, what PowerPilot is allowed to switch.
Are you part of Amber?
No. We're an independent Sydney installer, built for Amber customers. We're not affiliated with Amber Electric.
Tell us about your house.
Two minutes. We'll call or email to book a time.
We use these details only to contact you about a consult, and delete them if you ask. They're kept in our own Cloudflare database, and nothing is emailed. Please don't include account numbers, your Amber token or payment details.