Understanding Ripple Control

If you’re experiencing no or patchy hot water and your home uses a hot water cylinder (not gas-heated), you might be in a ripple control area.

Ripple control is a system electricity providers use to manage power demand. During peak usage times – especially in colder months – providers may temporarily switch off hot water cylinders to reduce pressure on the grid.

This means if you use most of the hot water during these peak periods, your cylinder might not reheat immediately, and it can take 6 to 8 hours before it heats back up.

You can check if your area is affected by ripple control by visiting the Aurora Energy website here:👉 Aurora Ripple Control Status

If you still have no hot water hours later, and ripple control isn’t in effect:

• Check your switchboard fuses and the hot water cylinder switch.

• If that looks fine, please lodge a maintenance request through TAPI and give us a call on 03 466 7783 so we can follow it up promptly.

  
  

If you’re on a ripple‑controlled (controlled‑load) tariff in Dunedin you may experience the following reduced hot water.

Category	Details
When	Cold winter days, May–September, typically on 20–50 days each season
Time of day	Anytime between 7:30 AM – 10 PM, with morning and evening peaks. Moreso in the morning (7:30–9:30 AM) and evening (5:30–8:30 PM).
Duration	Usually 2–3 hours; occasionally up to 10 h