Electricity plan shopping

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104 posts

Master Geek

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#3068204 26-Apr-2023 17:10

michaelmurfy:
Maybe in the future. Currently it is just the $10/mo which IMHO is still worth it. I just have my car start charging regardless at 11pm (when off-peak starts) the Octopus control the charging from that point. Basically is a free $10 for me and my car still gets charged overnight at off-peak rates.

Thanks for that. Good to know you can still control and get the $10.

k1w1k1d

1519 posts

Uber Geek

#3068209 26-Apr-2023 17:26

I found that the best way to find the pricing is to ring the power companies and give them your address.

About to shift from Meridian to Mercury.

hsvhel

1237 posts

Uber Geek

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#3068234 26-Apr-2023 20:12

k1w1k1d:

I found that the best way to find the pricing is to ring the power companies and give them your address.

About to shift from Meridian to Mercury.

Really? I moved from Mercury a year ago based on the online chat. You reckon better value can be had on a person to person on a call Vs the same on a chat?

Edit- Spelling fails

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AklBen

102 posts

Master Geek

#3068235 26-Apr-2023 20:21

hsvhel:
k1w1k1d:

I found that the best way to find the pricing is to ring the power companies and give them your address.

About to shift from Meridian to Mercury.

Really? I moved from Mercury a year ago based on the online chat. You reckon better value can be had on a person to person on a call Vs the same on a chat?

Edit- Spelling fails

I recently did a scan (moved from Genesis to Contact) and found that Contact, Mercury and Flick had the best rates.

Meridian, Genesis and EK were the worst.

hsvhel

1237 posts

Uber Geek

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#3068236 26-Apr-2023 20:24

Was that also a shift from low user to all inclusive?

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Free Setup use R502152EQH6OK on check out

k1w1k1d

1519 posts

Uber Geek

#3068247 26-Apr-2023 21:04

Low user with day/night.

AklBen

102 posts

Master Geek

#3068742 28-Apr-2023 10:35

Low user day/night for me (Dream Charge).

jsnz

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3069803 1-May-2023 09:01

First post here after reading through all the really good info on this forum.

I put in all our details into powerswitch and it stated that Powershop our current retailer was the cheapest.

After downloading our half hourly usage for the last 5 years and crunching the numbers it looks like Contact Goodnights with their 3 hours free between 9 - 12pm will work out best for us.

We will shift heating our 300L hot water cylinder to this period and night rate after as well as some other things.

We are also going to be installing solar with a battery soon - does anyone have any experience using a battery with Contact's 3 hours free? I'm interested to hear anyone's experience about how much you were able to top up the battery over the 3 hours and use this to offset other usage etc.

Also does anyone have a referral code for Contact?

AklBen

102 posts

Master Geek

#3069855 1-May-2023 09:35

jsnz:

Also does anyone have a referral code for Contact?

[mod redacted code]

We just moved to Contact for their Dream Charge plan and also broadband. Their broadband is very good and I've found it faster/better performance than the Skinny plan we were on.

michaelmurfy

meow
13242 posts

Uber Geek

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#3069874 1-May-2023 10:49

Just note with Contact's 3hr plan has a much higher per unit charge outside of the free hours (for me almost 80% more) - it is like Electric Kiwi, you basically have to game your use. These can be among the most expensive plans these days and often the cost savings won't be significant as compared to going to another plan with a cheaper rate. It is also important to note you have no fixed rates on this plan. You've got to consider the "gaming" aspect of your power use vs the convenience of just being able to fire up anything when you want (or high draw appliances, eg, charging an EV overnight) and working out the savings with time, convenience and money with that. Often the free 3 hours plan just simply isn't worth gaming it.

@AklBen The broadband side of thing is not really true. You likely have a different router now with your change as Contact do what is essentially a managed service. It can be sometimes more expensive also to bundle broadband / power. For your basic user this may be OK but it also makes it harder to switch away from them too. You're better to keep broadband unbundled if you can (also this can be cheaper too).

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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jsnz

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3069883 1-May-2023 11:17

This must vary quite a bit depending on where you are in the country I presume, Contact's rates for us here in the top of the south were actually the lowest for the most part even without considering the 3 hours free. The daily charge was a bit lower at 2 other retailers but not enough to compensate for the higher rates.

AklBen

102 posts

Master Geek

#3069886 1-May-2023 11:21

michaelmurfy:@AklBen The broadband side of thing is not really true. You likely have a different router now with your change as Contact do what is essentially a managed service. It can be sometimes more expensive also to bundle broadband / power. For your basic user this may be OK but it also makes it harder to switch away from them too. You're better to keep broadband unbundled if you can (also this can be cheaper too).

A few things incorrect with your post (I know you were making assumptions though!).

It's the same router we had with Skinny (our own Huawei AX3 router). Broadband is $70 vs. $78 p/m. Neither the power or broadband has a contract. It came with 3 months free and if you leave you just won't get the discount in that respective month (they pay it monthly).

You're correct about needing to game the free hours in order to make the savings. Unless you make the effort or have an EV to charge, the latest round of peak/offpeak or free hour plans don't stack up compared to flat rate.

That being said I was surprised by Contact's dream charge plan having such a low-user peak-time rate of 24c (incl. GST) - so for us the electricity is still relatively cheap even when not making an effort (daily is 69c, which is similar to all others now too).

HarmLessSolutions

972 posts

Ultimate Geek

Subscriber

#3069900 1-May-2023 11:53

@jsnz also worth comparing solar export rates us unless you're going to be able to self consume/store your generation this is a major consideration when choosing your supplier. Powerswitch has a separate page that gives export tariffs and Contact is near the bottom.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

jsnz

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3069958 1-May-2023 13:04

@AklBen thanks for the code.

jsnz

5 posts

Wannabe Geek

#3069961 1-May-2023 13:17

@HarmLessSolutions

Yes it's a good point.

Contact actually has the worst solar FIT but we will have a 20.5Kwh battery to maximise self consumption. In summer we should be able to cover near 100% of our electricity with the solar and battery. In Autumn through to Spring we will be using electricity from the grid but I plan to charge the battery from the grid in the free period. I'm hoping we can pump around 12Kwh into the battery most nights. We will give it a run for a few months and then see where we end up and consider where we go from there.

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