Is TNB’s Time-of-Use (TOU) Plan Worth It? - Emit Solar | Home Solar Panels

Electricity

Is TNB’s Time-of-Use (TOU) Plan Worth It?

For most homes in Malaysia – it’s a no brainer.

TOU typically delivers small but consistent savings with minimal effort.

What is TOU?

TOU means you pay different rates for electricity depending on the time of day:

More Expensive

2pm – 10pm

Cheaper

10pm – 2pm

All you need is a smart meter.

How Much Difference Are We Talking About?

Energy

27.03

37.03

Capacity

4.55

Network

12.85

Total

44.43

54.43

Peak

45.92 +3%

55.92 +3%

Off-Peak

41.83 −6%

51.83 −5%

In summary:

Off-peak rates are ~5% lower
Peak rates are ~3% higher

Small difference – but it adds up over time.

When Are Peak Hours?

2pm – 10pm

Excludes weekends & 15 designated public holidays

That’s about 40 hours per week

Which means:

Over 75% of the time, you’re on CHEAPER off-peak rates.

Why Is Peak in the Evening?

It may seem odd – but it reflects how electricity is actually used and produced:

It matches real demand on the grid

Peak generation typically happens in the evening, at around 8pm. (You can see this here →)

Most homes use more electricity at night

Everyone is home > lights, cooking, air conditioning.

Electricity is more expensive to produce at night

The grid relies on more expensive fuels like gas and coal instead of cheaper solar.

Electricity simply costs more to produce in the evening – and that’s reflected in TOU pricing.

How Do Most Homes Use Electricity?

While every home is different, typical patterns look like this:

Daytime (working hours)

Evening (7pm–11pm)

Late night

Based on our simple AI research, and considering that peak hours only apply on weekdays, most homes use about 30%–40% of their electricity during peak hours.

Will You Actually Save Money?

If less than 65% of your usage happens during peak hours, TOU will save you money – which applies to most households.

Typical savings are around 3%–5% per month.

It may not sound like a lot, but it’s consistent savings without having to do much.

How to Save a Bit More

You don’t need to change your lifestyle – just shift a few things:

Turn on AC after 10PM

Do laundry on weekends

Delay heavy appliance use when possible

Small Adjustments

More Savings

When TOU Might Not Be Suitable

TOU may not be ideal if you use most electricity during weekday afternoons/evenings:

AC running all day

Home-based business

You have constant heavy loads (e.g. pool pumps)

In these cases, standard tariffs may work better.

What If You Have Solar?

This is where TOU becomes more powerful

With solar:

Line graph showing available solar power (kW) over 24 hours of a day on a black background. The pink line starts near zero at 1am, rises sharply after 6am, peaks around 0.55 kW between 11am and 2pm, then gradually declines, returning to near zero after 6pm until midnight. The x-axis is labeled "Hours of a day" and the y-axis "Available solar power (kW)".

Typical daily solar generation curve

Daytime usage is covered by your system

You use your own energy → close to zero from TNB (you won’t even see it on your TNB bill). This means your peak charges (2pm to 7pm) should be practically nil.

Solar Export

Excess Solar Electricity exported to the grid offsets peak charges first. Then off-peak once peak is fully offset.

This means that even morning solar can help offset your night-time peak usage charges.

In many cases, you may end up paying mostly off-peak rates.

The Bottom Line

Time-Of-Use is worth it:

Low effort
Low risk.
Consistent savings.

For most homes, it’s worth trying.

What Should You Do Next?

If you’re unsure, switch to TOU, monitor your bill for 2–3 months.

If it works, you save. If not, switch back.

There’s very little downside to trying.

Want to Maximise Your TOU Savings with Solar?

Click the button below to see how much you could save.

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