Which plan, for which house
Every retailer in the Energex area now sells a plan with three free hours in the middle of the day. Whether it saves you money depends on what your house can move into those hours, and on the cheaper plan the same retailer sells next to it. This page prices both for five kinds of home, from the retailers’ own published rates.
Rates as at 20 October 2026, postcode 4169, 982 plans read. Refreshed every two weeks. We are electricians, not a comparison site, and we take nothing from any retailer. This is a general guide to help you ask the right questions, not advice about your own plan.
The free-hours plan, in plain terms
Every retailer now sells a plan with free power from 11am to 2pm. The catch is that power at other times costs more, and so does the daily charge. It only saves you money if you use enough power in those free hours.
The regulator sets the most a retailer can charge, and all 18 retailers charge that maximum per kWh (a few take a few cents off the daily charge):
- 11am to 2pmFree (first 24 kWh)
- 2pm to 4pm8.1c a kWh
- 4pm to 9pm48.9c a kWh
- 9pm to 11am26.4c a kWh
- Daily charge, just to be connected$1.78 a day
So is it worth it?
than the ordinary plan the same retailer sells, for a typical home.
The dishwasher, a load of washing and a hot-water boost in the free hours will do it.
That much takes a battery filling up in the free hours.
Flat rate means one price all day. Time of use means cheaper in the middle of the day and dearer from 4pm to 9pm. Figures for a typical home using 16 kWh a day, as at 20 October 2026; yours will differ. New to the free hours? Start here.
Five kinds of house
Find yours. Each one is priced for a typical home of that kind; the assumptions are under each heading and in the method at the bottom. They are estimates, not quotes, and your own bill will land somewhere different.
Two plans decide each case: the cheapest ordinary plan anyone can sign up to, and the cheapest plan with a free window of any kind, including retailers’ own versions with a longer window or a lower daily charge. The government scheme plan itself, priced at the same maximum by every retailer, is the third line.
No solar or battery yet
- Home uses 16 kWh a day from the grid
- No solar, no battery
- Used at normal family times, mostly mornings and evenings
The goal: Pay less now, keep the door open for solar and a battery later.
An ordinary plan wins here, by about $169 a year over the cheapest free-window plan. The free hours only pay once the battery is doing the shifting.
- Lowest cost for this homeTime of useGloBird FullHouse (time of use)28.6c peak 4pm to 9pm · 18.6c all other hours · $1.44 a day · monthly billing$1,799a year
- Free-window plan (OVO’s own version)28.0c peak midnight to 11am, 3pm to midnight · free 11am to 3pm · $1.63 a day · monthly billing$1,968a year
- Government free-window plan, any retailerFree 11am to 2pm, 48.9c 4pm to 9pm, 26.4c overnight and morning, $1.78 a day$2,341a year
Estimated for this typical home from published rates as at 20 October 2026. Before switching, it’s worth checking the plan’s fact sheet against your own bill.
Solar, no battery
- Home uses 12 kWh a day from the grid
- Solar panels, no battery
- Evenings and nights bought from the grid
The goal: Buy as little evening power as possible and get something back for exports.
An ordinary plan wins here, by about $299 a year over the cheapest free-window plan. The free hours only pay once the battery is doing the shifting.
- Lowest cost for this homeFlat rateGloBird GloHome (flat rate)22.4c every hour · $1.49 a day · monthly billing$1,538a year
- Free-window plan (OVO’s own version)28.0c peak midnight to 11am, 3pm to midnight · free 11am to 3pm · $1.63 a day · monthly billing$1,837a year
- Government free-window plan, any retailerFree 11am to 2pm, 48.9c 4pm to 9pm, 26.4c overnight and morning, $1.78 a day$2,242a year
Estimated for this typical home from published rates as at 20 October 2026. Before switching, it’s worth checking the plan’s fact sheet against your own bill.
Solar and a battery
- Home uses 16 kWh a day from the grid
- Solar panels and an 8 kWh battery
- Battery fills 6 kWh a day between 11am and 2pm
The goal: Fill the battery for next to nothing and run the evening on it.
About level. The cheapest ordinary plan and the cheapest free-window plan land within $7 a year of each other, so pick on the conditions, the feed-in rate and the window length rather than the price.
- Lowest cost for this homeFree-window plan (OVO’s own version)47.8c peak 4pm to 9pm · 25.3c shoulder midnight to 11am, 9pm to midnight · 7.0c off peak 3pm to 4pm · free 11am to 3pm · $1.51 a day · monthly billing$1,196a year
- Time of use1st Energy Emerald (time of use)38.2c peak 4pm to 9pm · 20.1c shoulder 9pm to 11am · 5.5c off peak 11am to 4pm · $1.42 a day$1,203a year
- Government free-window plan, any retailerFree 11am to 2pm, 48.9c 4pm to 9pm, 26.4c overnight and morning, $1.78 a day$1,343a year
Estimated for this typical home from published rates as at 20 October 2026. Before switching, it’s worth checking the plan’s fact sheet against your own bill.
Solar, a battery and an electric car
- Home uses 26 kWh a day from the grid
- Solar, a battery and an electric car
- 16 kWh a day charged between 11am and 2pm
The goal: Charge the car and the battery in the cheap hours, nothing at peak.
A free-window plan wins here, by about $276 a year over the cheapest ordinary plan.
- Lowest cost for this homeFree-window plan (OVO’s own version)47.8c peak 4pm to 9pm · 25.3c shoulder midnight to 11am, 9pm to midnight · 7.0c off peak 3pm to 4pm · free 11am to 3pm · $1.51 a day · monthly billing$1,021a year
- Time of use1st Energy Emerald (time of use)38.2c peak 4pm to 9pm · 20.1c shoulder 9pm to 11am · 5.5c off peak 11am to 4pm · $1.42 a day$1,297a year
- Government free-window plan, any retailerFree 11am to 2pm, 48.9c 4pm to 9pm, 26.4c overnight and morning, $1.78 a day$1,173a year
The free window is capped at 24 kWh a day. A battery alone never reaches it; a car charger at 7 kW for three hours is 21 kWh on its own, so battery plus car can.
Estimated for this typical home from published rates as at 20 October 2026. Before switching, it’s worth checking the plan’s fact sheet against your own bill.
Battery, no solar (renting, or no roof for it)
- Home uses 16 kWh a day from the grid
- An 8 kWh battery, no solar
- Battery fills 6 kWh a day between 11am and 2pm
The goal: A battery filled from the free window, no panels needed.
About level. The cheapest ordinary plan and the cheapest free-window plan land within $7 a year of each other, so pick on the conditions, the feed-in rate and the window length rather than the price.
- Lowest cost for this homeFree-window plan (OVO’s own version)47.8c peak 4pm to 9pm · 25.3c shoulder midnight to 11am, 9pm to midnight · 7.0c off peak 3pm to 4pm · free 11am to 3pm · $1.51 a day · monthly billing$1,196a year
- Time of use1st Energy Emerald (time of use)38.2c peak 4pm to 9pm · 20.1c shoulder 9pm to 11am · 5.5c off peak 11am to 4pm · $1.42 a day$1,203a year
- Government free-window plan, any retailerFree 11am to 2pm, 48.9c 4pm to 9pm, 26.4c overnight and morning, $1.78 a day$1,343a year
Without panels the federal battery rebate does not apply, so the battery costs more up front. The running saving is the same.
Estimated for this typical home from published rates as at 20 October 2026. Before switching, it’s worth checking the plan’s fact sheet against your own bill.
Retailer by retailer
Every retailer sells the government free-hours plan beside its own ordinary plans. For each one: what a typical home pays on its cheapest ordinary plan, what it pays on the government plan, and how much power you’d need to move into 11am to 2pm before the government plan becomes the cheaper of the two. The last column says whether there’s a better option altogether.
A typical home using 16 kWh a day, nothing moved, as at 20 October 2026. Retailers’ own free-hours plans, like OVO’s Free 4, are a separate list further down. Tap any price or plan name to open that exact plan on Energy Made Easy, the government’s comparison site.
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
| Retailer | Their cheapest ordinary plan | Their government free-hours plan | Government plan becomes cheaper once you move | Better option when we last checked* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Energy | $1,861 | $2,341 | 10 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| AGL | $2,216 | $2,335 | 4 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$367 less than their government plan |
| Alinta | $2,006 | $2,341 | 8 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| Amber | $2,333 | $2,341 | 1 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| CovaU | $2,203 | $2,334 | 2 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$366 less than their government plan |
| Diamond | $2,293 | $2,341 | 2 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| Dodo | $2,014 | $2,341 | 2 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| ENGIE | $2,099 | $2,341 | 6 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| EnergyAustralia | $2,053 | $2,341 | 7 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| Flow Power | $2,275 | $2,341 | 1 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| GloBird | $1,799 | $2,341 | 4 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| Kogan | $2,061 | $2,321 | 2 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$353 less than their government plan |
| Momentum | $2,096 | $2,341 | 6 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| OVO | $2,138 | $2,341 | 2 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| Origin | $2,111 | $2,341 | 2 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| Powershop | $2,061 | $2,321 | 2 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$353 less than their government plan |
| Red Energy | $2,218 | $2,341 | 1 kWh a day | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
| Tango | $2,469 | $2,341 | Already cheaper | OVO Free 4$1,968 a year$373 less than their government plan |
* Last checked 20 October 2026. We re-check every two weeks. OVO’s own Free 4 Plan came out about $150 to $410 a year cheaper than the government plan for every home we tested (as at 20 October 2026). It sits outside the government scheme, so unlike the government plan its price isn’t locked in until June 2027, and it comes with its own fair-use terms and conditions. Please read its fact sheet, and check it against your own bill, before you switch.
Yearly cost including GST, usage plus daily charge, less guaranteed discounts. As a guide, 3 kWh a day is the dishwasher, a load of washing and a hot-water boost; 6 kWh or more takes a battery. Retailers can change their ordinary plans at any time, so please confirm the current price with them before you rely on it.
Free hours without the catch
A few retailers sell their own version of the free window alongside the scheme plan: a longer window, a cheaper day rate or a lower daily charge. Priced for the solar-and-battery home above. Read the fair-use terms before you sign: unlike the scheme plan, these can change at any time.
- 47.8c peak 4pm to 9pm · 25.3c shoulder midnight to 11am, 9pm to midnight · 7.0c off peak 3pm to 4pm · free 11am to 3pm · $1.51 a day · monthly billing$1,196a year
- GloBird Four4Free45.1c peak 4pm to 11pm · 23.1c shoulder 3pm to 4pm, 11pm to midnight, midnight to 11am · free 11am to 3pm · $1.54 a day · monthly billing$1,228a year
- Diamond Everyday - Daylight48.8c peak 4pm to 9pm · 26.2c shoulder 9pm to 11am · 8.1c off peak 2pm to 4pm · free 11am to 2pm · $1.69 a day$1,305a year
- CovaU SolarMax49.6c peak 3pm to 9pm · 26.9c off peak 6am to 11am, 2pm to 3pm, 9pm to midnight · 16.5c shoulder midnight to 6am · free 11am to 2pm · $1.52 a day$1,310a year
- 28.0c peak midnight to 11am, 3pm to midnight · free 11am to 3pm · $1.63 a day · monthly billing$1,355a year
- Flow Power 4Free40.5c peak midnight to 11am, 3pm to midnight · free 11am to 3pm · $2.32 a day · direct debit only$1,944a year
Before you switch
- Hot water on controlled load is not in the free window on any plan. It has to come off that tariff and onto a timer in the window, which is an electrician’s job and worth about $400 a year on its own for a typical four-person home (indicative, as at October 2026).
- A smart meter is required. Many homes already have one; the retailer arranges it if not.
- The 24 kWh cap only matters once a car is charging alongside a battery.
- Feed-in rates on the free-window plans run from nothing to 5c. If you export a lot, that is a real difference and it is not counted in the figures above.
- Monthly billing and direct debit are conditions on some of these plans. They are listed beside each plan.
- Prices are fixed until 30 June 2027 for the government scheme plan. Ordinary plans can move any time, which is why this page is redone every fortnight.
How these numbers are made
Hourly shares of a typical SEQ home's daily use (our assumption): 15% midnight-6am, 15% 6-9am, 8% 9-11am, 12% 11am-2pm, 8% 2-4pm, 32% 4-9pm, 10% 9pm-midnight. Shifting moves kWh into 11am-2pm from the evening first.
Yearly cost inc GST: usage by hour x the plan's rate for that hour and day, plus the daily supply charge, less guaranteed discounts. Conditional discounts, sign-up credits and feed-in income are not counted. Free-window caps (24 kWh a day) are applied.
Plan names are shortened to what a person would say: the network suffix, customer type and bracketed tariff type are dropped. Where a retailer sells two plans under one name they are told apart by tariff type.
Left out: plans with demand charges, controlled-load bundles, wholesale or variable pricing, and plans restricted to members, existing customers or comparators.
Source: each retailer’s own plan data as published to Energy Made Easy, the government comparison site, read on 20 October 2026. Indicative only: your house is not the typical one, and your bill is the thing to price against.
Please read before you act on any of this. This page is general information to help you compare, not financial advice and not a recommendation to switch. We take care to read the rates correctly, but plans, conditions and fees change, the feed can lag the retailer, and we can’t see every term that might apply to you. The retailer’s own fact sheet and contract are what count, so please confirm the price, the conditions and any fees with them, or on Energy Made Easy, before you sign up. The choice of plan, and the final check, are yours.
Retailer websites
These go to each retailer’s home page, which may feature different plans from the ones above. To see the exact plan we priced, tap its name or price above: that opens its own page on Energy Made Easy. Then confirm the current price with the retailer before you sign up. We take nothing from any of them. You can also compare every plan on the government’s Energy Made Easy.
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