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FeedbackStarter #1: Keeping Warm This Winter – How And How Much?
Dear Pioneers,
The 1st of this week’s subjects for discussion (with an opportunity to win $50 of free power) is “Winter – how are you keeping warm – and how much is it costing”. The idea being that perhaps we might learn a little from each others experience.
How are you keeping warm?
What’s it costing?
How are you purchasing Powershop Power?
I’ll kick the discussion off below with my experience up here in frozen Karori.
Alastair Thompson
Powershop Pioneer Wrangler
Here in Karori it has been the coldest winter I can recall – the temperature plummeted in April and has stayed down. Consequently our electricity bill has been similarly huge.
Since late April our daily power usage has doubled from 25-55 units per day. And while I am confident that I am buying competitively priced electricity – the cost of our monthly electricity bill is certainly alarming at the moment.
According to my Monthly Power Cost report we went from $192 of power in April to $287 in May. The June report isn’t posted yet but seems likely to be even more.
What are we doing to keep warm?
We have limited insulation in our 1928 bungalow and even with the heaters on at present the heat seems to just evaporate through the walls, ceiling and windows.
Our primary heating is provided via four oil column heaters. We have them on during the day in the lounge and dining room (if we are home and thanks to the School Hols we are). And at night in bedrooms. If we do not use these heaters in the bedrooms they quickly get not only cold as a fridge but also damp as condensation seems to creep into the room at night.
In April we had 4 cubic meters of Douglas Fir delivered and that is certainly helping to keep the bill down – but that too cost $400.
What do I want to do to keep warm?
The more we spend and the colder we feel the more I think it would be a good idea to invest in an HRV as I think that most of the heat is just heading up through the ceiling and then out. Plus it would help dehumidify as well.
How I purchased Power this Winter?
In March and April we topped up on Winter Power packs purchasing what we initially thought would be two/thirds of our power usage. This saw us sepnding nearly $300 in March and a bit over $600 in April. Since then we have had to top up monthly to keep the power indicators turning red. $132 in May, $165 in June and $134 so far in July.. (we expect to have to spend probably another $100 in July.
In terms of products I have mainly been purchasing the cheap weekly power packs and Standard power as it is the cheapest. The Flower Power catch up packs have also been very good value.
According to my average unit price report I have seen a gradual increase in cost from 19.97 cents a unit in February to 21.71 cents in May. (Note to Ari – it would be nice if these reports were a bit more up to date.)
So how much money am I saving?
Short answer I don’t have a clue. What is definitely clear is that we are using more power this Winter than ever before – and also that I have a much clearer view of that usage.
Using the Monthly Power cost report I can see that power usage jumped in May. If I split all the money spent on Power over the three and half months since then I think we are looking at $350 per month on electricity from May through August. It seems like a lot. How does it compare with your usage?
Alastair Thompson
Powershop Pioneer Wrangler
(Note: This post is not eligible to win $50)
How are you keeping warm?
Our main form of household heating is gas-fired ducted central heating. To keep the cost down, we close the ducts in the bedrooms and try to head, for the most part, just the main living areas of the home. We supplement this with a small oil-filled heater in the guest room, if we have folks staying with us.
What’s it costing?
While our power bill has increased slightly over winter, our gas bill has hit the roof! I suppose some electricity is also used to drive the fan under the house that pushes the hot air to the ducts. Interestingly in terms of the comparison to Powershop, earlier this year we switched gas companies to a new company offering a zero daily charge option! At least this means that when we use no gas at all for heating over the summer, we get a zero bill.
One of the other reasons we’re not noticing much of an increase in our Powershop bill is that we’ve achieved 20% savings by switching from an Anytime/Controlled meter setup to a Day/Night meter. That extra 20% savings means our bill has managed to stay pretty constant.
How are you purchasing Powershop Power?
Anticipating rising winter power prices, I stocked up a full two months ahead earlier in the year – mostly by using the weekly power packs (as we used less than the quantity of units which could be purchased each week). That meant that when prices peaked, we already had a good store of electricity credits. Now that Powershop’s electricity prices have stopped rising, and perhaps slightly falling, I am switching from a two-months pre-paid strategy, to a one-month post-paid strategy. This will allow me to take maximum advantage of prices falling as we move into packs that expire in October and November (Spring).
How are you keeping warm?
Well, living in Auckland it’s not as cold as most places, but this winter has been plenty cold enough for me. My two teenagers, and myself live in an older house that has high ceilings (i.e. no roof insulation whatsoever!!), wooden floors, and lots of high windows including very drafty louvres. So certainly not built to with a cold winter in mind. It also boasts a 1970’s wood-burner that puts out as much heat as an “elderly relative blowing on you” as Danny Bhoy would say – isn’t he a crack up!
So due to the fact I only own one small portable fan heater and of course the hopeless wood-burner we keep warm by the following:
Electric blankets for toasty, cosy, warm beds. My daughter likes to spend a lot of time in her room and she will be found during the day snuggled in her bed with the electric blanket on! She’s as happy as Larry, with her cell phone, ipod with speakers and laptop. Talk about an electric overload. Everything a teenager needs excepting food. I like to cook hearty, warming food, which warms the kitchen as well as our tummies, and when we dine together we put the fan heater on under the table and that works a treat. When we spend time watching TV or a DVD we get out a couple of unzipped, sleeping bags which are warm and snugly and use them Nana-style over our knees on the sofa. The rest of the time we are dressed warmly – I now can’t do without my ugg boots that I bought this year. Also the best way to get really warm is to do something that gets you moving, some games are good for this and also housework (hands keep warm whilst doing dishes; vacuuming & mopping are also good). Gardening in my suburban jungle is excellent if the weather is bearable.
I also got some weather seal strips for the louvres but had to leave the very high ones as I couldn’t reach them.
Another great way for me to get warm is to go to work at the office. It’s lovely and warm there. Am I mad??
What’s it costing?
I’m very happy with the price of the Powershop Power. Before I had signed it was costing me 23.80 cents
per unit on average. The highest I have paid since joining Powershop is 22.40 and the lowest has been 18.15 plus I also got free power when I joined so I am definitely better off.
I am considering getting one of those “John Key special” heat pumps but don’t know whether I can justify the expense as am hoping to move in the near future due to lack of space and sunlight. (Too many tall trees which are council protected)
How are you purchasing Powershop Power?
I have bought Value Packs or Flower Power catch up packs and also have bought some Winter & Spring Packs for the future. Wish I had of bought extra Winter Packs though as I would have saved even more. If I see any specials then I buy them too. Haven’t spotted one of these for an over a month now though so I’m sure there will be a special soon?
How are you keeping warm?
For many years I have relied solely on the sun coming in through my main rooms’ windows, which face generally north. I regard keeping my footprint small as a challenge. Even when the outside temperature is low, I’m generally comfortable provided there is/has been sun during the day. This winter, at least in Wellington, there seems to have been significantly less winter sun. That’s meant indoor temperatures sometimes dropping to single digits – not good and to be avoided by anyone vulnerable (infants, elderly etc) or anyone not in the best of health.
I adopt tactics like debz (see above): if you don’t have a sleeping bag to cover you when sitting still perhaps you have a duvet; dressing warmly indoors – in addition to ugg type boots I suggest a wool “beanie” to reduce heat loss from the other end. Make good use of curtains (windows & doors). Yes, a building shared by many (whether a work or public place) may be able to be heated more efficiently than your home (but some are not).
What’s it costing?
As any keeping warm I achieve doesn’t use power, this isn’t applicable. However, the cost of the amount of power that I do use (some 6kwh/day) from Powershop has been around 30% less than the amount I would have been had I not switched and that’s ignoring the $50 of free power for switching in March.
How are you purchasing Powershop Power?
Once I made the switch further savings from purchasing strategies have been comparatively small. Probably the most important step is to avoid having any units expire. That’s easiest if your consumption is comparatively uniform and so predictable. Mine has been – I’d been keeping a weekly record for four years before switching. So I have been able to buy value packs for most of my consumption with confidence.
I keep my eyes open for real bargains (specials) – “Easter Bunny” and “Queens Birthday Power” stand out (perhaps there will be one around Labour Weekend ?).
This is intended as for information only, not to compete with the earlier comments for the prize.
I’m down in Outram, which is just outside Dunedin. We tend to get more frosts but less snow than Dunedin itself.
How are you keeping warm?
Our house is just a few years old and was designed when gas was cheap so the heating source for our open-plan living aread is a real flame gas fire. We also have a gas wall heater in the hallway ostensibly to heat the bedrooms. Because of the price of gas increasing (about $105 per 45kg from Nova – heaps cheaper than Rockgas) we have been using the heatpump in an adjoining room to heat the main living areas. This means that we end up heating an extra room that we’re not using and have to set the heatpump to 26 degrees in order to achieve a comfortable temperature in the living area. We are using the gas fire a bit too and are chewing through gas at up to 1 bottle a week because it heats our water too. I’m going to investigate putting in another heatpump in the living area before next winter.
We also have under floor heating in the en suite and family bathroom but i’ve turned it off in the family bathroom because we don’t using it very much. I’m using an oil-filled heater in the baby’s room and have just put in a ceramic wall-mounted heater there too to heat up the room quickly at bedtime.
We don’t heat our bedroom but do use an electric blanket
What’s it costing?
Even though our water is gas heated we are still using an average of over 50 units of power per day, compared to the 25 ish we were using in May when we first joined Powershop. That’s on top of the 3 bottles ($315 worth) of gas we went through last month (compared to using one bottle every 6 weeks or so in summer). Ouch. And…that’s in a well-insulated double-glazed house so I dread to think how my neighbours are faring. This year has been particularly cold (coldest in the 10 years I’ve been in Dunedin) and, more importantly, it hasn’t been very sunny. Like Michael, we also rely on the sun for some of our heating. On sunny days our house heats up well and maintains the heat so our heating bill isn’t so scary.
How are you purchasing Powershop Power?
I’ve been purchasing weekly or fortnightly and just buying whatever is cheapest. I was buying Meridian 200 packs weekly but since that price is now available as everyday power I’ve been buying it in bigger amounts fortnightly. The free power from various Powershop promotions has been a big help too. I’m planning to pre-buy some power for next winter come summer to help even out my expenses over the year.
However large my heating bill is I’m confident I’m saving money with Powershop compared to Contact.
Hi, our family has four people and we live in a 26 year house in Auckland. We joined Powershop before the official launch and have been pretty happy about it. We have been installing a range of energy saving products to help keep ourselves warm while minimizing our use of energy.
Heating
We are fortunate that we have a wood burner. We have been collecting free firewood from lots of places. A good time to do so is at the annual inorganic rubbish collection: people will throw out trees they chopped down along with their other junk. We also tell all our friends that if they prune their trees, we will help them remove the cuttings. They get their rubbish removed and we get free fuel, a win-win situation! Our garden shed is full of wood – we estimate there’s eight cubic meters of wood inside. We have more than enough for this year so we are giving some away to our friends.
Yes, using wood does have a bit of cost. It needs to be collected and it needs to be chopped up. (Some of the wood we collect is a meter long!) Despite these drawbacks, it is a great way to heat your house. It’s cheap and it’s carbon neutral!
We only used the electric oil column heater once or twice before we had the insulation installed (see below). Since then, it has been unnecessary.
Insulation
We jumped on the home insulation scheme right after the budget. Ari pointed me towards Right House (another Meridian subsidiary), and we got on to it right away. According to the Right House guy, the insulation in our roof has dissipated over the years and they recommend we add more. Our floor is concrete and cannot have insulation added. Since the government grant made it a bargain (was $2400, now $1600) we decided to go ahead.
Applying for the grant was dead easy and took just five minutes. I don’t know how they did it, but we got it installed before the official start date of 1 July. We must be one of the first people in the country to benefit from the scheme. Two burly guys hauled thirteen bags of Pink Batts up into the roof and installed it in one morning. The result was immediate. The house was noticeably warmer both at night and in the morning.
I highly recommend you to get this cheap insulation installed right now. Apparently, there’s a shortage of insulation installers so the faster you apply the better.
HRV
We have a HRV system installed. This system takes air from the roof, filters it, then blows it into the house constantly. It serves two purposes: it keeps condensation away so you don’t have to wipe down windows every morning, and it warms the house using the air in the roof warmed by the sun. The sun provides free heat into your roof, you just have to use it! Recommended.
Hot water
We have two hot water cylinders. One of them broke recently, flooding half the house. But the good thing about it is that we have been able to replace it with a power saving modern model. The other cylinder is quite old so Right House recommended we insulate it. However, it seems Right House is quite busy at the moment and still haven’t got round to doing it. (Must call them again tomorrow.) I’ll report how much it power it saves once it is installed.
We have been looking into alternative hot water heating systems. We phoned up EECA, they said that heat pump water heaters are not suitable for our area, but we could look into solar hot water heating. There’s just one slight problem. A solar hot water heating system costs eight thousand bucks. After the government grant. Guess we have to keep using electric water heating for now.
Powershop
Power use has increased from 25 units in April to around 35 units a day. Combine this with the increased price of electricity our monthly cost has increased from $160 in April to provisionally $215 in June. According to the provisional data on the Average Unit Prices chart our average price has dropped in July, so this must be a good sign.
I still am a bit annoyed that when the Freeze Winter Costs powerpack was available at 21c I was not able to buy enough to cover the whole winter. FWC provides an equal amount of power for May, June, July and August, but since I already had most of May filled up, I cannot buy a lot of FWC without risking some expiring. When I started using Powershop, I didn’t have much experience and didn’t know which way the market would go so I bought some Winter Power at 23.6c. This proved to be a bad decision. Currently, I am buying the Standard Power Value Pack weekly at 21.4c.
Conclusion
Take a look at the energy saving products available around you. With all the stuff we have installed, we didn’t have to resort to the methods referred to by posters above yet we can keep ourselves warm at a reasonable cost. These energy saving products not only save you money, they help keep the planet green for our next generation.
Anyone can go look at their power meter every day and graph it, but only Powershop gives you the incentive to do it. It gives you a deeper understanding of your power use while delivering you a cheaper price. Go Powershop!