Savings & payback
Your home's daytime base load (and why it matters for solar)
Every home draws a small, more-or-less constant amount of electricity all day for things that are always on. This is your base load, and for plug-in solar it's the most valuable output to capture — because it's used the moment it's generated.This guide explains what makes up your base load, how to get a rough sense of yours, and how it connects to solar self-consumption.
Written and edited by Christopher Panteli
Christopher is the founder and editor of MyPlugInSolar. He oversees the site’s research standards, data tools and editorial process. He is not an electrician or solar installer, and specialist technical claims are sourced from official documentation or reviewed by appropriately qualified professionals.
What is a base load?
Your base load is the floor of your electricity use — the amount you draw even when nobody is actively switching anything on. It comes from appliances and devices that run continuously or cycle on and off through the day.
- Fridges and freezers cycling to stay cold.
- Broadband router, smart-home hubs and always-on electronics.
- Standby power for TVs, consoles and chargers left plugged in.
- Background heating controls, alarms and similar.
Why it matters for plug-in solar
A plug-in system generates during the day and saves money only on electricity you use as it's produced. Your base load is, by definition, being used all day — so solar output up to that level is almost always self-consumed rather than exported. That makes base load the easiest, most reliable saving a small system delivers. The wider principle is covered in solar self-consumption.
Getting a rough sense of yours
You don't need precise figures, but a smart meter or energy monitor makes it easy: look at your usage in the small hours, or during a quiet daytime hour when little is actively running. That steady figure is roughly your base load. Many homes sit somewhere in the low hundreds of watts, but it varies a lot with how many always-on devices you have.
Once you know roughly what your daytime floor is, you can size a system sensibly — see the wattage guide and try the calculator.
Lifting savings above the base load
Solar often generates more than your base load during sunny hours. To use that surplus rather than export it, shift flexible jobs — laundry, dishwashing, charging — into daylight. This is the practical side of raising self-consumption, and it's where a plug-in system earns its keep.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a typical home base load?
- It varies widely, but many homes draw somewhere in the low hundreds of watts continuously for always-on devices like fridges, freezers and routers. A smart meter or energy monitor is the easiest way to estimate yours.
- How does base load affect plug-in solar savings?
- Solar output up to your base load is almost always used as it's generated, so it reliably offsets electricity you'd otherwise buy. That makes base load the most dependable saving a small system provides.
Sources
- 1. Smart meters and in-home displays — Citizens Advice
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