Tesla Powerwall helps family save over $8,000 on their power bill

A family who was among the first to get a Tesla Powerwall installed at their home four years ago said in a review that the home battery pack helped them save over $8,000 on their power bill.

We reported on Nick Pfitzner and his family when they got the first Tesla Powerwall installation in Australia, at their suburban Sydney home.

Natural Solar, who did the installation, came out with a report this week on the Pfitzner’s Powerwall after four years.

They claim that the Tesla Powerwall saved them $8,463.42 so far:

Today, Nick Pfitzner, along with Australia’s largest solar and battery installer, Natural Solar, can reveal how this landmark piece of technology has really stacked up over the past four years, with the Pfitzner family using their Tesla Powerwall system to save a whopping $8,463.42 on the price of their power over the full four years. Pfitzner has saved an average of $2,115.86 each year on household electricity bills, and has managed to power his home for just 46 cents per day, all while using air-conditioning, electricity, and appliances as normal.

Before the Powerwall, the Pfitzners used to pay $572.29 per quarter for their electricity, but they are now proudly displaying their bill of no more than $45.16:

Chris Williams, CEO and founder of Natural Solar, commented on the report:

When you crunch the numbers, it’s astonishing to see the real time, real life savings. For the full four years, the Pfitzner household has only paid $677.34 to power their entire home — their quarterly electricity bills used to be just $105 less than this. When the price of power is increasing by an average of 10%-15% per annum, these unprecedented savings really speak to the benefits of battery power. At Natural Solar, we are seeing most of our customers that install solar and battery storage in their homes experience a reduction in their power bills by up to 90% and like Nick, have an ROI period of just seven years.

Natural Solar says that it received more than 425,000 consumer enquiries for battery power since the launch of the Powerwall in Australia in 2015.

They have installed batteries at “thousands of homes.”

Electrek’s Take

That’s impressive.

But here’s what even more impressive: That’s just the first generation of the Powerwall.

Tesla has since released Powerwall 2, which has twice the energy capacity and is less expensive, resulting in a quicker return on investment.

Now, let me be clear. While this is impressive, it wouldn’t be as impressive in other markets. The Tesla Powerwall is a nice piece of technology, but it only makes sense financially in markets where electricity is very expensive, like Australia.

However, combined with solar and as a backup power system, it can be a useful product in other markets, too.

What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.