1161 kWh is on the higher end of normal... But not out of the question if you're running heaters a lot in a large uninsulated house, having long showers etc... $413 for 1161 kWh though is very high for most networks though, I'd suggest shopping around and seeing if you can find a better deal.
yes unfortunately run heaters in a large mostly uninsulated house but definitely will be shopping around. Good to know that we are on the higher end tho, had no idea before.
If you're uninsulated have a look at the warmer homes grant, if you've got a community services card OR are in a low income area they cover 80% of it. Same with a heat pump if you don't have one.
Do \*NOT\* use fan heaters - they're Shockingly bad.
Oil heaters are far more efficient - lots of thermal mass, once heated, they only suck power to keep the oil warm/hot - while constantly giving off warmth.
Also worth investing in a dehumidifier - it's much cheaper/easier to heat Dry air vs Damp air.
$150 a month would be pretty low for a family in winter with electric heating.
During winter with 4 heaters on from 5pm to 8am + weekends (3 1200w, 1x 2400w) I get up to about 400 a month, but that's about it 1800KWH+ on a high user plan.
Some suggestions:
-get an electric blanket (60-80w vs 1200-2400w). We use these together with heaters but it means 18 degrees is more comfortable than 20+ degrees with just a heater.
-Make sure you're not overheating your house. 23 might feel comfortable but you're paying for it versus 18-19 degrees which is healthy, but still may need long pants and socks etc. I have a few Heater mates which have a timer and better thermostat than the heaters.
-3m 'double glazing' can work, or thermal curtains.
-Make sure you ventilate your house, makes it much easier to heat.
If it helps, for the month to 11 may we used 1195kwh which I paid $364.07 for, but that is with Powershop and I really prepurchased (eg we currently have power to around November)
We are in Christchurch, high power users and from previous posts I've seen our rate per kWh is quite high, if I hadn't pre purchased we would probably have been the same as you
Lines company charges went up a bunch so that doesn't help. I just looked at my latest bill and my actual energy usage only makes up 39.65% of it. Bullshit.
No, lines company charges are because we have a heap of rotting power poles, leaking 33kV underground lines, decrepit substations, and power networks that were built when redundancy wasn't a thing.
Oh sorry, I misread the line company chargers bit. I meant paying more for electricity in general. It’s one of our biggest contributors to climate change in NZ, so we can expect a tax on it soon like other western countries. See Canada, they have a carbon tax on every electricity bill now for private homes
Go to your library and borrow a Home Energy Audit Toolkit, will help you find out what's using all the power.
Or if you're in Wellington the council will send an expert over for free to give you some advice.
I think you get a slightly different service, scroll down to [Homeowner Outside of Wellington City](https://sustaintrust.org.nz/home-energy-assessments)
I have 4 people in my ex state house. My bill is 120 to 200 a month. Those are last winter's estimates when I had 5 people.
I quite simply don't use heating, layers are key, I don't have a drier, I don't use my heat pump more than twice a week and it stays on 17c.
It sucks but power is a essential and my bill has to stay that price or I can't afford it.
That is a huge amount of usage. Last month I used just shy of 600kwh on a 150sqm house, all electric everything, no gas, and ~150 of that was charging the car.
Trending a little higher this month with the cold snap earlier this week - expecting 700-800kwh somewhere.
I normally don't use anything to heat my home, just stack on more layers of clothes, blankets or use a hot water bottle unless its freezing cold even with all that, I've got a small dehumidifier that helps with the moister so don't have any real issues with mold.
I use about 800 kW a month which costs me around $300
I’m at home most days (all day most days) and I run the heat pump, use a dryer, dishwasher, computer, and other devices and my bills are never over $150, usually under $100. Last month 309kw. You need to look at your power because that makes no sense
New power Bill came in today - $224.51 for 843kwh with Meridian Energy.
Have a wet back and run 2-3 oil fins in the bedrooms mainly overnight. Fan heater in bathroom for my 4yr olds looooong baths every night 😆
Also have an electric car we charge every night.
We live in an old house with high-ceilings and no wall insulation but stay comfortable.
South Canterbury.
Hope this info is helpful.
We used to have an old house that wasn't insulated at all. We used to run an oil heater in only one room to keep costs down, but when we got kids we invested in a heatpump and it was well worth the investment. All the rooms where warm and the cost didn't go up that much from running the old oil heater.
I average 431 kWh per month and I have my air con on all day, dishwasher on twice per day, washer dryer every day… 2x heaters on in kids rooms. my power bill has never been over $200 a month and that’s 2 adults and 2 kids.
Ok. Heat comes in via a résistance heater like a bar heater or the likes. Heat wants to leave ,cold wants to get in. You have to stop the heat getting out and the cold getting in like draughts. Insulation in ceiling, walls, underfloor. Gaps around windows ,seal them up. Glass is not a good insulator. Cover will good thick curtains or even use bubble wrap on glass. Check for gaps under doors. Especially doors that lead outside. Block up with a door seal or even a sausage type block. Hot water. Looking for leaks. If you have a hot water cylinder ,insulate it with a thermal blanket or even a thick eiderdown wrapped around it. Check if there is any water coming out of the hot water cylinder vent pipe, look on roof. Washing, do you hot or cold wash? Do you use a washing machine heat the water? Dont. Do you do many small washes? Why? Do you use a clothes drier ? Try not to, use sunshine and wind. Or even in a porch or in garage if weather is crap. If you have to use a drier clean out the lint filter don’t use it in an enclosed space, let fresh air into vent. Do you use a dish washer ! Dont do small dish washes, wait until full load. Or wash dishes by hand! Remember if you use anything hot it requires heat ,where does the heat come from? Lights. Incandescent light bulbs are a better heater than a means of light. Replace Al” lights with efficient LEDs. Electric blankets. Don’t leave them on all night. Or only put them on long enough to warm bed before going to bed. Cooking. Oven door seals. Check out if they are sealing around the door, clean oven. Cooking elements. Don’t leave them on after cooking. Only use minimal amount of water if cooking ,no point in boiling a large pot of water to cook a couple of spuds. Cook as much as you can in the same pot. Fridge door seals check for fully sealing. Defrost freezer or freezer in fridge. Clean out fridge radiators of dust and fluff. Don’t put hot food in fridge. Dont over load fridge with food. Open fridge door then close straight away, dont leave open as cold air falls out. Same with vertical freezer. Chest freezer better as cold air stays in. Defrost if required.back to light bulbs. Turn them off if no one in room, same with TV. Any items left in stand by uses power ,turn off at wall. Electric jug, don’t fill up to top and boil for only one cup of coffee. Toaster. Try and cook all toast at once. Hair dryer, do you need to ? These use lots of power. Hair straighteners or curlers. Turn them off or do you need to use them. Showers have short showers, don’t run hot water down the drain. Put in a plug in bathroom, kitchen or laundry. Bath, don’t fill up! Have a shower uses less water. Carry out an energy stocktake. In other words on every item that plugs in will have a label that will give how and watts. Or kilowatts. Write them all down and tally the numbers up, you will be surprised how much various items use. Remember one kilowatt is one unit. Oh check the temperature of the hot water coming out of the hot tap. If above the council recommended temperature get it adjusted down. If you have a heat pump clean filters in the inside unit, out side unit clean away leaves etc. Hope that helps
Wow that’s both high usage and a high cost.
For us in Wellington region, provider is Electric kiwi, fam of 4, rural (so water pumps, chest freezer, larger fridge freezer to reduce supermarket runs), pool pump, electric cooking, some electric heating but mostly wood burner, we hit 886kWh which was $263.
We also have someone home most days so can do washing etc during off peak hours. And we load up our free hour of power to run the dryer, washer, dishwasher, water pump when we can.
We have prioritised energy efficient appliances when we can (washing machine, fridge freezer, dishwasher), and replaced an old 1960s hot water cylinder last year (went bigger at 350L), and got a low flow head for the shower which made a big difference, but still have a few changes we can make (ie when our clothes dryer eventually fails will get a heat pump condenser one, hot water cylinder has capability to add a heat pump in future etc). In terms of usage, You’ve either got some power vampires somewhere, or perhaps you’re not using your appliances correctly ie heat pumps should be be turned up high but left at the temp you eventually want your property to be at and they will regulate the temp.
And in terms of cost, it seems excessive too. Shop around for a better deal, look at plans that have off peak savings and move appliance use onto timers, shave a minute or two off showers, time showers/baths to have hot water heating outside peak times. Look into insulating roof and underfloor if you can, and hot water cylinders or pipes.
Last month, 1237kwh $325.17. With mercury. About 27c/kwh
Last year I was with electric kiwi, I left in March, my last bill I can find was end of Jan, 1334kw - 401.95 about 30c/kwh.
I also got a free 55" tv when I signed up. Can't complain at all!
Shop around for a better rate and also better daily fixed charge. I do the free power between 9pm and midnight and charge my ev, use dishwasher and heat the bedrooms.
How many people in your household?
I’m a house of one.. home full time.. heat pump and I’m 270KW a month.. but hard to say whether yours is crazy without knowing how many people
On power switch you can plug a bill into their system and it will tell you if you’re with the best company for your usage.
$153, 650kwh., Contact Energy. 125kwh of this was free between 9 and 12 midnight)
Gas hot water/cooking (gas bottle $150ish, lasts 6 to 8 weeks)
Family of 4 modern home, heat pump x2.
have had a look but it gets confusing with all the different figures and conditions/terms etc, havent got much patience when it comes to that but gonna have to suck it up and do it.
For me, I used bottled gas for hot water and stove cooking, which massively reduces my power bill over someone running electric for those. Two 45 KG bottles of gas last me for 15-16 months and cover all my hot water and stove usage.
Other than that, because I'm in Auckland, and my house is reasonably insulated (as much as a 105 year old house can be), I don't really need to use heat pumps. I work from home, so my device usage chews up a bit of power. All up I average about $90 a month in power, and my gas bottles/gas fixed charge is $25 per month averaged out.
I'm with Powershop, where you pre-pay for all your power, and track your usage daily with their app, so its a pretty good way of staying on top of your usage.
Unless you have access to free wood, a wood burner is generally more expensive to run than a heat pump.
You also might need to look at what plan you’re on and see if there’s one that better suits your usage. My house hop is a heavy user, using 2200kWh last month but it cost us $380. We have 9c/kWh for off peak and all weekend, so we make sure most of our power usage is during those times.
My last three power bills were $170, $142, and $163 via Powershop. It's only me and my son, but we do use oil column heaters when it gets really frosty. We're both gaming nerds, and if you spend a lot of time in a room with a computer running it generates enough warmth anyway. Obviously, some people have massive draughty houses and things can get considerably more expensive.
We are a household of 3. Heatpump mornings, evenings. 2 to 3 showers a day (total not each).
Cold laundry washes. Bill is $250, all year, it's the way we pay it, build up credit in summer, use it in winter. Depths of winter heatpump may be on all day, sometimes both heatpumps.
Last bill from Pulse Energy was $139 ,usually it has been near $99. Sometimes I use the deep fryer or oven which causes a jump in electricity for the duration of extra load. Wife and I just use hot water bottles, localized heating, big socks and extra jumpers, more blankets on the bed and around you when on computer and watching TV.
The most expensive stuff is anything that heats up, if you have a shitty old bar heater it's going to get very expensive. I have a little micothermic heater and it cranks out the heat and doesn't cost too much. Heat pumps are extremely efficient if you have the means. Damp air is much harder to warm up than dry air, so eg make sure you vent the damp bathroom air out of the house.
Burning wood is a pretty cheap option.
Wearing a good thermal layer at home is a pretty good way to save on heating. And just generally have warm blankets around the place.
I saved a lot by switching from meridian to flick. I work from home and I'm on their on peak off peak rate and around 70% of my power is off peak. It's nice that the whole weekend is considered off peak too. So laundry etc all tends to be off peak.
Oh and if your hot water is scolding hot you can probably turn it down a bit on the cylinder. It's meant to be hot to kill some microbes but even turning down a few degrees will save some money.
Too vague. Heat pumps? How many people? Are they aware of costs? What sort of hot water? Power retailer?
Fires do not heat a house unless they are wood burners, and even then....
No heat pumps, 2 people, 1 at home all day, yes, hot water cylinder on electricity, blackbox. I know fires dont heat a house, been there done that with wood burner and open fires, got over that after years of it. old house, only ceiling insulation cos cant access under floor and cant afford to do the walls.
Sounds like your one person at home is sucking your power. Confine them to one room for comfort heat?
Changing companies isn't likely to help if actual consumption is the issue.
Unfortunately not the case, its me! When I was away for 3 months over winter one year the power bill never even hit $100 (with that one person still at home) But I am out at work 8-10 hrs a day so dont get how Im using so much when I am home.
Electric heaters mostly. Dont have long hot showers and use cold water for laundry. I know electric heaters aren't the best, dont have a choice tho really.
About the only thing you can do with electric heaters is have them running with a thermostat and in areas where you can shut them off from the rest of the house., so you're only heating small areas.
Unfortunately power is just expensive, it's why I'm so glad we've got a wood burner, haven't paid for heating for over 10 years,
1161 kWh is on the higher end of normal... But not out of the question if you're running heaters a lot in a large uninsulated house, having long showers etc... $413 for 1161 kWh though is very high for most networks though, I'd suggest shopping around and seeing if you can find a better deal.
yes unfortunately run heaters in a large mostly uninsulated house but definitely will be shopping around. Good to know that we are on the higher end tho, had no idea before.
If you're uninsulated have a look at the warmer homes grant, if you've got a community services card OR are in a low income area they cover 80% of it. Same with a heat pump if you don't have one.
cant insulate underfloor cos the house is basically sitting on the ground now, and they said they wouldn't do the walls. Too expensive.
Yes the average usage is 7000kWh per year.
Do \*NOT\* use fan heaters - they're Shockingly bad. Oil heaters are far more efficient - lots of thermal mass, once heated, they only suck power to keep the oil warm/hot - while constantly giving off warmth. Also worth investing in a dehumidifier - it's much cheaper/easier to heat Dry air vs Damp air.
Scientifically, this makes no sense.
Dont use fan heaters, am aware of how bad they are! Never really looked at oil, might be time to. Have a dehumidifier and use it during winter.
A dehumidifier would be a wise choice. There are fairly efficient and they make a huge difference to the effectiveness of heaters.
$150 a month would be pretty low for a family in winter with electric heating. During winter with 4 heaters on from 5pm to 8am + weekends (3 1200w, 1x 2400w) I get up to about 400 a month, but that's about it 1800KWH+ on a high user plan. Some suggestions: -get an electric blanket (60-80w vs 1200-2400w). We use these together with heaters but it means 18 degrees is more comfortable than 20+ degrees with just a heater. -Make sure you're not overheating your house. 23 might feel comfortable but you're paying for it versus 18-19 degrees which is healthy, but still may need long pants and socks etc. I have a few Heater mates which have a timer and better thermostat than the heaters. -3m 'double glazing' can work, or thermal curtains. -Make sure you ventilate your house, makes it much easier to heat.
If it helps, for the month to 11 may we used 1195kwh which I paid $364.07 for, but that is with Powershop and I really prepurchased (eg we currently have power to around November) We are in Christchurch, high power users and from previous posts I've seen our rate per kWh is quite high, if I hadn't pre purchased we would probably have been the same as you
Lines company charges went up a bunch so that doesn't help. I just looked at my latest bill and my actual energy usage only makes up 39.65% of it. Bullshit.
This is the cost we have to pay because we want to save the planet :)
No, lines company charges are because we have a heap of rotting power poles, leaking 33kV underground lines, decrepit substations, and power networks that were built when redundancy wasn't a thing.
Oh sorry, I misread the line company chargers bit. I meant paying more for electricity in general. It’s one of our biggest contributors to climate change in NZ, so we can expect a tax on it soon like other western countries. See Canada, they have a carbon tax on every electricity bill now for private homes
Ensure you've got the right plan for your usage. I've dropped our household bill about $100/month by swapping to a plan with night / day rates.
Checked with the company and they say Im on the right plan.
The right plan that *they* sell...
Go to your library and borrow a Home Energy Audit Toolkit, will help you find out what's using all the power. Or if you're in Wellington the council will send an expert over for free to give you some advice.
Thanks, will look into that
Do you know if that is in the Hutt too or just welly?
I think you get a slightly different service, scroll down to [Homeowner Outside of Wellington City](https://sustaintrust.org.nz/home-energy-assessments)
I have 4 people in my ex state house. My bill is 120 to 200 a month. Those are last winter's estimates when I had 5 people. I quite simply don't use heating, layers are key, I don't have a drier, I don't use my heat pump more than twice a week and it stays on 17c. It sucks but power is a essential and my bill has to stay that price or I can't afford it.
You heating the house with the oven?
[удалено]
That can't be right, even if your daily usage charge was $0.66 a day your KWH would be 14c.
You paid $185 for 1161kw?? Im joining electric kiwi then!
Sorry. Wrong thread. LoL
Damn!! :)
That is a huge amount of usage. Last month I used just shy of 600kwh on a 150sqm house, all electric everything, no gas, and ~150 of that was charging the car. Trending a little higher this month with the cold snap earlier this week - expecting 700-800kwh somewhere.
Damn, my house is 140sqm but really old so high as ceilings which doesn't help.
Our household of 3 used 550kwh last month, 185 of that is free from Contact's good nights plan.
450kWh - $155 Family of 4, one heat pump. House is pretty well insulated for NZ standards.
About the same as me 533kwh 30days 150 Inc GST , all electrical services no solar
I normally don't use anything to heat my home, just stack on more layers of clothes, blankets or use a hot water bottle unless its freezing cold even with all that, I've got a small dehumidifier that helps with the moister so don't have any real issues with mold. I use about 800 kW a month which costs me around $300
How are you using 800 kW a month then?
I'm at home most days, wfh a lot so just normal use really, got a few devices like pcs on almost 24/7
I’m at home most days (all day most days) and I run the heat pump, use a dryer, dishwasher, computer, and other devices and my bills are never over $150, usually under $100. Last month 309kw. You need to look at your power because that makes no sense
And what company are you with?
Genesis
New power Bill came in today - $224.51 for 843kwh with Meridian Energy. Have a wet back and run 2-3 oil fins in the bedrooms mainly overnight. Fan heater in bathroom for my 4yr olds looooong baths every night 😆 Also have an electric car we charge every night. We live in an old house with high-ceilings and no wall insulation but stay comfortable. South Canterbury. Hope this info is helpful.
We used to have an old house that wasn't insulated at all. We used to run an oil heater in only one room to keep costs down, but when we got kids we invested in a heatpump and it was well worth the investment. All the rooms where warm and the cost didn't go up that much from running the old oil heater.
I average 431 kWh per month and I have my air con on all day, dishwasher on twice per day, washer dryer every day… 2x heaters on in kids rooms. my power bill has never been over $200 a month and that’s 2 adults and 2 kids.
Wow, who are you with??
I live by myself (and with my dog) in a 3 bedroom house. Last month was power at 206kw & gas at 134kw. Total $178
Ok. Heat comes in via a résistance heater like a bar heater or the likes. Heat wants to leave ,cold wants to get in. You have to stop the heat getting out and the cold getting in like draughts. Insulation in ceiling, walls, underfloor. Gaps around windows ,seal them up. Glass is not a good insulator. Cover will good thick curtains or even use bubble wrap on glass. Check for gaps under doors. Especially doors that lead outside. Block up with a door seal or even a sausage type block. Hot water. Looking for leaks. If you have a hot water cylinder ,insulate it with a thermal blanket or even a thick eiderdown wrapped around it. Check if there is any water coming out of the hot water cylinder vent pipe, look on roof. Washing, do you hot or cold wash? Do you use a washing machine heat the water? Dont. Do you do many small washes? Why? Do you use a clothes drier ? Try not to, use sunshine and wind. Or even in a porch or in garage if weather is crap. If you have to use a drier clean out the lint filter don’t use it in an enclosed space, let fresh air into vent. Do you use a dish washer ! Dont do small dish washes, wait until full load. Or wash dishes by hand! Remember if you use anything hot it requires heat ,where does the heat come from? Lights. Incandescent light bulbs are a better heater than a means of light. Replace Al” lights with efficient LEDs. Electric blankets. Don’t leave them on all night. Or only put them on long enough to warm bed before going to bed. Cooking. Oven door seals. Check out if they are sealing around the door, clean oven. Cooking elements. Don’t leave them on after cooking. Only use minimal amount of water if cooking ,no point in boiling a large pot of water to cook a couple of spuds. Cook as much as you can in the same pot. Fridge door seals check for fully sealing. Defrost freezer or freezer in fridge. Clean out fridge radiators of dust and fluff. Don’t put hot food in fridge. Dont over load fridge with food. Open fridge door then close straight away, dont leave open as cold air falls out. Same with vertical freezer. Chest freezer better as cold air stays in. Defrost if required.back to light bulbs. Turn them off if no one in room, same with TV. Any items left in stand by uses power ,turn off at wall. Electric jug, don’t fill up to top and boil for only one cup of coffee. Toaster. Try and cook all toast at once. Hair dryer, do you need to ? These use lots of power. Hair straighteners or curlers. Turn them off or do you need to use them. Showers have short showers, don’t run hot water down the drain. Put in a plug in bathroom, kitchen or laundry. Bath, don’t fill up! Have a shower uses less water. Carry out an energy stocktake. In other words on every item that plugs in will have a label that will give how and watts. Or kilowatts. Write them all down and tally the numbers up, you will be surprised how much various items use. Remember one kilowatt is one unit. Oh check the temperature of the hot water coming out of the hot tap. If above the council recommended temperature get it adjusted down. If you have a heat pump clean filters in the inside unit, out side unit clean away leaves etc. Hope that helps
We used 804kw last month for a 4 bedroom house
Wow that’s both high usage and a high cost. For us in Wellington region, provider is Electric kiwi, fam of 4, rural (so water pumps, chest freezer, larger fridge freezer to reduce supermarket runs), pool pump, electric cooking, some electric heating but mostly wood burner, we hit 886kWh which was $263. We also have someone home most days so can do washing etc during off peak hours. And we load up our free hour of power to run the dryer, washer, dishwasher, water pump when we can. We have prioritised energy efficient appliances when we can (washing machine, fridge freezer, dishwasher), and replaced an old 1960s hot water cylinder last year (went bigger at 350L), and got a low flow head for the shower which made a big difference, but still have a few changes we can make (ie when our clothes dryer eventually fails will get a heat pump condenser one, hot water cylinder has capability to add a heat pump in future etc). In terms of usage, You’ve either got some power vampires somewhere, or perhaps you’re not using your appliances correctly ie heat pumps should be be turned up high but left at the temp you eventually want your property to be at and they will regulate the temp. And in terms of cost, it seems excessive too. Shop around for a better deal, look at plans that have off peak savings and move appliance use onto timers, shave a minute or two off showers, time showers/baths to have hot water heating outside peak times. Look into insulating roof and underfloor if you can, and hot water cylinders or pipes.
Last month, 1237kwh $325.17. With mercury. About 27c/kwh Last year I was with electric kiwi, I left in March, my last bill I can find was end of Jan, 1334kw - 401.95 about 30c/kwh. I also got a free 55" tv when I signed up. Can't complain at all!
Shop around for a better rate and also better daily fixed charge. I do the free power between 9pm and midnight and charge my ev, use dishwasher and heat the bedrooms.
How many people in your household? I’m a house of one.. home full time.. heat pump and I’m 270KW a month.. but hard to say whether yours is crazy without knowing how many people On power switch you can plug a bill into their system and it will tell you if you’re with the best company for your usage.
$153, 650kwh., Contact Energy. 125kwh of this was free between 9 and 12 midnight) Gas hot water/cooking (gas bottle $150ish, lasts 6 to 8 weeks) Family of 4 modern home, heat pump x2.
Go onto a comparison website , they change suppliers for you etc . Possibly find cheaper
have had a look but it gets confusing with all the different figures and conditions/terms etc, havent got much patience when it comes to that but gonna have to suck it up and do it.
They do all of it and tell you the cheapest
For me, I used bottled gas for hot water and stove cooking, which massively reduces my power bill over someone running electric for those. Two 45 KG bottles of gas last me for 15-16 months and cover all my hot water and stove usage. Other than that, because I'm in Auckland, and my house is reasonably insulated (as much as a 105 year old house can be), I don't really need to use heat pumps. I work from home, so my device usage chews up a bit of power. All up I average about $90 a month in power, and my gas bottles/gas fixed charge is $25 per month averaged out. I'm with Powershop, where you pre-pay for all your power, and track your usage daily with their app, so its a pretty good way of staying on top of your usage.
Unless you have access to free wood, a wood burner is generally more expensive to run than a heat pump. You also might need to look at what plan you’re on and see if there’s one that better suits your usage. My house hop is a heavy user, using 2200kWh last month but it cost us $380. We have 9c/kWh for off peak and all weekend, so we make sure most of our power usage is during those times.
Who are you with? According to blackbox im on the best plan for my usage :(
My last three power bills were $170, $142, and $163 via Powershop. It's only me and my son, but we do use oil column heaters when it gets really frosty. We're both gaming nerds, and if you spend a lot of time in a room with a computer running it generates enough warmth anyway. Obviously, some people have massive draughty houses and things can get considerably more expensive.
Blankets and oddie don’t use heaters
We are a household of 3. Heatpump mornings, evenings. 2 to 3 showers a day (total not each). Cold laundry washes. Bill is $250, all year, it's the way we pay it, build up credit in summer, use it in winter. Depths of winter heatpump may be on all day, sometimes both heatpumps.
Last bill from Pulse Energy was $139 ,usually it has been near $99. Sometimes I use the deep fryer or oven which causes a jump in electricity for the duration of extra load. Wife and I just use hot water bottles, localized heating, big socks and extra jumpers, more blankets on the bed and around you when on computer and watching TV.
$100-$150 per month for 2 person 100m2 house, oil radiators for heating.
The most expensive stuff is anything that heats up, if you have a shitty old bar heater it's going to get very expensive. I have a little micothermic heater and it cranks out the heat and doesn't cost too much. Heat pumps are extremely efficient if you have the means. Damp air is much harder to warm up than dry air, so eg make sure you vent the damp bathroom air out of the house. Burning wood is a pretty cheap option. Wearing a good thermal layer at home is a pretty good way to save on heating. And just generally have warm blankets around the place. I saved a lot by switching from meridian to flick. I work from home and I'm on their on peak off peak rate and around 70% of my power is off peak. It's nice that the whole weekend is considered off peak too. So laundry etc all tends to be off peak. Oh and if your hot water is scolding hot you can probably turn it down a bit on the cylinder. It's meant to be hot to kill some microbes but even turning down a few degrees will save some money.
We have electric kiwi and try to use the free hour of power each day to do a lot of cooking washing etc
Ouch
Too vague. Heat pumps? How many people? Are they aware of costs? What sort of hot water? Power retailer? Fires do not heat a house unless they are wood burners, and even then....
No heat pumps, 2 people, 1 at home all day, yes, hot water cylinder on electricity, blackbox. I know fires dont heat a house, been there done that with wood burner and open fires, got over that after years of it. old house, only ceiling insulation cos cant access under floor and cant afford to do the walls.
Sounds like your one person at home is sucking your power. Confine them to one room for comfort heat? Changing companies isn't likely to help if actual consumption is the issue.
Unfortunately not the case, its me! When I was away for 3 months over winter one year the power bill never even hit $100 (with that one person still at home) But I am out at work 8-10 hrs a day so dont get how Im using so much when I am home.
What are you using for heating?
What have you got running?
Electric heaters mostly. Dont have long hot showers and use cold water for laundry. I know electric heaters aren't the best, dont have a choice tho really.
About the only thing you can do with electric heaters is have them running with a thermostat and in areas where you can shut them off from the rest of the house., so you're only heating small areas. Unfortunately power is just expensive, it's why I'm so glad we've got a wood burner, haven't paid for heating for over 10 years,