Electricity Tips

[joillian]

This is a thread to brainstorm ways to save money on electricity/heating. Chime in with your tips and tricks so together we can all save our cents.

So far I have got,

Check out different power providers. If you haven't changed in the last year, have a hunt around and see if you can swap to cheaper. Or someone offering a decent perk for joining. Often switching companies will get you credit or a discount.

Run the slow cooker/dryer/dehumidifier etc at night. Often power companies have a cheaper night rate. If this is you, do the things you don't need during the day at night. Honestly, waking up to the smell of dinner simmering, the bread baking, the laundry finishing and the home feeling dry makes you feel very accomplished and put together at 6.30am.

Ask yourself if you really need to run XYZ. A hand beater for Cream will take longer but is free compared to electric ones. There is some great tables and charts out there like this one. https://www.consumer.org.nz/articles/appliance-running-costs
Check out what it costs to run your appliances and decide if your happy to spend and what you would rather save. Maybe you can live with cold towels but absolutely need your straightener

Keep your home as dry as you can. Damper is harder, and therefore more expensive to heat. Squeegee, open windows, run a dehumidifier, properly ventilate with cooking, showering or using a dryer etc can all help keep dampness down.

Choose certain rooms to occupy to the day, only heat them.

Bust out the hot water bottle, invest in flannel pajamas, snuggle into to a jersey and socks. You might not need a heater at night with that power combo. Dressing warmly during the day might mean your heappump can run at 17 rather than 23

If your work or gym has showers, use the free hot water. If you do it at the end of the day, it might not be something there is a queue for, and so you can lather, shave and exfoliate without hogging.

Line dry laundry as much as you can and then shove into into the dryer to finish.

If you can afford it, look at getting a more efficient fridge/dryer/washing machine etc. Work out if you will save more in the long run to do this.

Only run one load in the dishwasher (even cheaper if you turn it on to run during the night and get the night rates).

Make sure your hot water tank is seat to 60..this is hot enough to kill germs in the tank, but cheaper than running it at 80 etc. Also look into getting a hot water tank cover.

 

[gpink]

@joillian +1 for comparing electricity / internet costs.

i recently did reviewed our electricity and internet bundle and realized Contact didn't have us on the low user plan. I also signed up for their Good Nights plan, which has free electricity from 9pm - midnight every day. Not sure yet how much we'll save each month but so far it looks like we're spending maybe 1-2 bucks less per day as compared to last month, EVEN THOUGH we're now running heaters, electric blankets, etc. more often. We'll see come the next bill due date.

Beware that powerswitch (a prominent price comparison site) doesn't include some great indie retailers that offer low prices because of how they charge those retailers for any click-throughs, e.g. https://www.electrickiwi.co.nz/blog/why-were-not-currently-appearing-on-powerswitch/

i think i went to PowerCompare instead.

 

[kakerot0]

@gpink Contact energy's good nights plan has saved us buttloads. It's awesome.

We have an electric water cylinder, and we heat it up entirely within the free 3hrs, using a timer we had installed on the switchboard. Hot water was something like 1/3+ of our power use, so it's been awesome. No more counting minutes in the shower.
(Note - you're gonna want to make sure you're able to fully heat your hot water cylinder contents in that time, or you risk legionnaires disease).

We also run heaters, heat pump, dryer and EV charging all within those 3hrs.

We haven't paid a cent to charge our car in months. It's so good.

 

[truthbetold]

@kakerot0 It comes into it's own when you've got nobody in the house 10 hours a day & 5 days a week. Only major catch is your smart meter needs to be consistently transmitting.

 

[gpink]

@kakerot0 I've found that, under the new plan, the hot water doesn't get as hot even with the temp turned up all the way during the 3 hours (we leave it on the minimum 60C the rest of the day). But it is livable.

We now take showers, baths, etc. and use the laundry machine and dryer and dishwasher fully within that 3 hour time period. It's been working really well so far!

Great idea to turn the hot water heater off the rest of the time as long as it is safe to do so. I hadn't thought about doing that.

 

[gregoryzim]

@joillian Close your curtains before it gets dark to retain the heat.

I know it feels odd to shut out the daylight but it's easier to maintain heat than to warm the room.

On the same topic, you can use closed curtains during the summer to block heat coming into the house.

 

[mamadukez]

@joillian DIY Draft Stoppers

I got some tubes of thick packaging foam from a bike shop. They're a semi circle of foam designed to wrap around the bars on the bike and protect it in transit. Bike shops throw them away regularly. These pinch around the base of the door really firmly, stopping drafts. I put some on last week and am noticing a difference in warmth retention already.

 

[holysamurai]

@joillian I've definitely found going with Powershop has lowered my power costs overall, but part of this involves gaming their power packs as much as possible.

Background: Powershop runs a slightly different model where you pre-buy "packs", which gives $X amount of power for $Y price. The normal packs have small bonuses, giving $207 worth of power for $200 in the largest one, down to $20.40 for the $20 pack (there is a $10 that just gives $10). The bigger discounts come from three different pack types:

• Monthly packs with 20% discount, plus 1% for each year, up to 5 years, since you signed with them.
• Future packs, which give a 2% discount multiplied by the number of months in the future the pack is, up to 6 months. I just picked up 2 Jan 2024 packs with 10% off
• Smaller but more regular special packs, in the 10-15% discount range & usually priced around $20-30

There are three other benefits from using Powershop:

• You can "buy" packs but not pay for them immediately, as long as you've paid up by your monthly "account review" date.
• They have an "invite your friends" offer of a $100 credit for you & a $150 credit for your friend, both spread over 12 months
• The mobile app makes it easy to buy packs, and also view usage history with comparisons to the previous year.

It won't be the absolute lowest cost power company, but it is fairly close. It does not have off peak cost changes, so if you focus your use on off peak times then they may not be the best for you.

If you do want to switch send me a DM to get an invite code for the join credit. I don't need the extra credit much myself, so if there are more than a few people I'll let others do the referrals.

 

[nguyenanh126]

@joillian

A hand beater for cream

If you’re struggling you’re not buying cream.

Also, the cost to run an egg beater for 5-10 mins is not worth penny pinching for, it’s probably less than a cent.

Don’t run a dryer, use a clothes line.

If you need washing aired and you have a heat pump, set the heat pump to dehumidify over night (or when you’re running it anyway) and hang your washing in front of it.

Using a ducted or condenser dryer should help keep humidity down, a regular dryer will just pump more moisture into the house.

 

[joillian]

@nguyenanh126 Your spot on about the cream. And ice cream I don't even think about any more.

 

[baccamudkipz]

@nguyenanh126 Would perhaps not recommend using a heat pump to dehumidify in winter. It basically just runs it in cycles of heating and cooling which is not effective. A dessicant dehumidifier, while expensive, will be worthwhile in the long run (and are often sold for cheap on marketplace).

 

[nguyenanh126]

@baccamudkipz If you already have and use a heat pump, it’s there use it.

Yes, there are more efficient ways of reducing humidity but if you have your heat pump set up right it will help keep humidity down in the home. Also, I don’t recommend drying washing inside, just airing it out and getting the remaining moisture out after drying it outside

 

[snlmommy]

@joillian Leaving the heatpump running on the same temperature at all times being cheaper is a myth - don't do it, heat when you need it and for how long you need it.

In saying so, running a heatpump is something like 3 times more efficient than a fan heater.

 

[keobong79]

@snlmommy Not exactly a myth - the question posed about heat pumps was should you turn the heating off if you went out for a few hours or even overnight to save money. It's complex and the answer depends on insulation levels of the house and not letting the inside / outside temp differ too much. So it can be true if a certain number of conditions are met at the same time.

Heating a room from cold again takes a lot more energy than maintaining it (because people tend to crank a heat pump up in heat / fan settings to feel warm 'faster') but logic goes, if you're not using a space then don't heat it.

So it can be true, for many in particularly poorly insulated NZ houses, yes - using the heat pump cautiously when required is what they recommend.

The bigger energy saving comes from not cranking the settings way up and just setting a comfortable temp and leaving it. Setting the timer so a room is warmed to say, 18 before you get up then raising it a few degrees after that.

Also yes, if you're needing heat for longer periods use the heat pump rather than plug in / resistive electric.