MY TIPS FOR KEEPING OUR POWER BILL DOWN OVER WINTER

As the cooler months creep in the power bill creeps up. Every winter our power bill gets rather expensive as we crank multiple heaters in the bedrooms to keep the house warm. Thinking ahead this year knowing that we would have a new wee baby (and our first winter baby) I looked into the best options for us to efficiently heat our house and the best power company for our family and the way we live.

Our house came with a heat pump…it was a dinosaur of a thing and when we used it, it barely heated or cooled the 1m2 space directly in front of it, let alone the whole house. Last winter when we did use it it cost us a bomb and never actually warmed the house enough to be comfortable!

Before bubs arrived we had a cold snap and it made me realise how cold our house can be over winter and that we will need to sort out our heating before baby arrived. I had a few companies over giving us the best heating options for our sized house (and they also laughed at the old heat pump because its so ancient) and we decided to go with a new energy efficient heat pump with wifi that was able to heat the whole house including the bedrooms so we wouldn’t need to run separate heaters in each of the rooms.

I also got approached by Powershop around the same time asking whether I would be interested in working with them. I did the math and worked out whether they would be able to save us money and happily made the switch!

Using the Powershop app I have been monitoring the use of our power with our new heat pump and figuring out the best way to use it to keep us warm and not increase our power bill too much. Our heat pump has come with an app on my phone and wifi so I have set up some rules on the app so that the heat pump only turns on if the house gets below a certain temperature. I have also set it to come on by itself in the evening and then again with a high fan speed in the early hours of the morning to heat up the whole house including our bedrooms so that there are no early wake ups from the babes and we can get out of bed and get ready in toasty warm rooms instead of wanting to stay snuggled up in bed.

We are also blessed to live in a north facing house so we get all day sunshine streaming in so to help keep our house toasty warm without using any power I close up the windows and curtains before the sun goes down to trap in that natural warmth.

I must admit that prior to changing to Powershop I hardly thought about our power. Some months I didn’t even know how much we were being charged as it just automatically got taken from our account and I didnt have to think about it and just thought it is what it is and its a bill we have to just pay so why ponder it.

Since changing I feel like I have so much more power over our power.

I track our usage, especially now having to heat the house and adjust things around the house if I can see our usage creeping up and costing too much. I also make the most of their Power Packs which is how you buy your power with Powershop. You can buy power weekly, fortnightly, monthly or even months in advance. Whatever best works for your budgeting. We tend to buy in advance allowing us to budget ahead of time and spread out the costs.

It did take me the first month or so to get my head around how it all works as its not like your average power company but now that I have gotten the hang of it I feel more in control than ever before and hopefully as the month get colder I am able to keep our bills lower

Tips to keep the power bill down

Use the sunshine – close up the windows and curtains just before the sun goes down to trap in the warmth
Turn off appliances and lights when not being used
Use a timer for your heater/heat pump so its not running unnecessarily.
Use energy efficient heating
Cook with your slow cooker over winter – it uses way less power than the oven/stove and its nice to come home to dinner all ready and waiting. You can also use cheaper cuts of meat!
Use a cold cycle on the washing machine when washing your clothes.
Make sure you are with the best power company for your needs/usage
Track your usage
Make the most of Power Packs and specials to purchase your power at a discounted rate
Switch using my recommendation link and get $150 credit to your account (and I get $100 credit too)

Powershop is sharing the love this winter! If you switch to NZ’s most loved power company you’ll score a $150 power credit just for making the move and if you do so with this link I will get $100 credit to my power bill as well!

It’s a win win! Who doesn’t love free power!

Start the switch by clicking the link below, or simply call one of their helpful customer service representatives.

https://secure.powershop.co.nz/friend_invitations/X9RTLM