Brrrrr! Feel winter creeping in?
The days are getting colder and darker, and naturally, your power use goes up as you turn on all the things to combat the chill. Combine that with the current high costs of living, and it can really start to take its toll on your bank balance.
So we're getting you prepped with some hot tips on how to save energy and make sure you're not paying more for your power than you should be.
Win, win, win(ter!)
If you love a freebie (who doesn't!?), all through June we'll be keeping our Flick whānau warm and toasty with winter prize giveaways and power credits each week. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram pages to get yourself in the draw. Trust us… you don’t wanna miss these prizes!
Energy saving tips
All Kiwis should be on the fairest power deal, full stop – it shouldn’t be up to you to save energy to make a regular bill affordable.
That said, for most of us the winter months go hand in hand with an increase in power usage, and that also means higher power bills. So, it’s always worthwhile having some energy savings tips up your sleeve to keep those sky-high bills in check (and help to conserve Aotearoa's power while you're at it).
In hot water
The majority of your home’s electricity is used by your hot water cylinder – around 33%. Make sure your cylinder is insulated, and keep a timer handy in the shower to remind those hot water-wasting family members when their four minutes is up!
Heating your home
Basic heaters are a bit of a money-sink, with the average fan heater using 1.2 units every half hour. If you have the choice, use a heat pump – for that same half hour, you'll only use 0.5 units of power! If a heat pump isn’t an option, look for a heater that has both a thermostat and a timer (an in-built fan to help circulate the warm air is a bonus, too) so that you can better control how much power you’re using.
Go for slow
Ovens are power-hungry, using an average 1.7 units of power per half hour. Ouch! In contrast, the humble slow cooker uses on average a teeny, tiny 0.043 units of power every half hour. You'd need to use it for a whopping 19 HOURS to match the cooktop's half hour!
LEDs for the win
Energy-efficient lightbulbs can cut your lighting costs by around $400 per year, or 20% of the average household’s total electricity cost. LED bulbs have a lifespan of around 10 years when used correctly (they need good ventilation, so no closed in covers!) and just changing a few bulbs in the house can make all the difference.
Take your power use Off Peak and save
Your power bill is made up of a number of charges from different companies including generators, your local lines company, your metering company, and your retailer (that’s us!). There’s also the Electricity Authority levy (which is the same for everyone), and GST.
But your power bill can also be impacted by your choice of pricing plan, the amount of power you’re using and when you’re using it – and making some adjustments here can result in big savings.
Our Off Peak plan gives you cheaper rates during off-peak hours throughout the week, and all weekend long, to help minimise the bigger bills of winter. It’s as easy as shifting a few tasks into off-peak hours when prices cheaper – think late-night baking, or saving the laundry for the weekend. With Off Peak, the power’s in your hands!
Get predictable bills with Bill Smoother
Sometimes life happens, and no amount of energy savings tips can keep a lid on your power usage and those higher power bills. But Bill Smoother is on hand to help keep your bills sailing smoothly.
When you create your Bill Smoother account, you’ll choose a set amount that you’d like to round your power bills up to so that you always know what you’re paying in advance. Whoop! When your power bills are lower than that set amount, the difference will top up your Bill Smoother credit and, over time, build up a stash of cash that you can put towards any higher-than-usual bills.
When your power bills are pushed above your chosen Bill Smoother threshold, we’ll dip into your Bill Smoother credit to help out. And you can pause it, or change your contribution amount, at any time.
Flick whānau who sign up to Bill Smoother by 31 August will go in the draw to win an entire year’s worth of free power, as well as our weekly draws of a $100 Bill Smoother credit. The earlier you join, the more chances you've got to win, so head to your dashboard to set up your Bill Smoother account, pronto!
Cut your costs on the correct user plan
Are you on the most suitable user plan for your household’s power consumption? If not, you could be saving money on your power bills!
Households that use more than 8,000kWh each year should be on a Standard User plan, and those that use less should be on a Low User plan. From Christchurch south, the threshold is 9,000kWh.
Earlier this year we ran a check to identify those Flicksters whose usage fell outside of their current user plan threshold. If you received an email from us suggesting that you change user plans but you haven’t yet made the switch, now’s the time – it’s a simple and easy way to save.
Simply locate that email in your inbox and hit the ‘Change my user plan’ button – or if you’ve lost the email, head to the Contact Us link below and we’ll get you sorted.
If you didn’t receive an email from us, that’s because our analysis showed you’re on the right user plan for your consumption (woohoo!). But if you’d like to keep tabs on your usage, or you think your usage patterns might have changed recently, head to the ‘Analyse’ tab of your dashboard to see how much power you’ve been using and give us a call if you think you might need to change. We’re here to help!
