moving to electric kiwi

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#1806369 25-Jun-2017 13:07

Good points.

I have just looked at this website ... http://www.switchme.co.nz/

When using their comparison tools by address & Household size Electric Kiwi did not feature in any of the results. All the other major players in order of cheaper to dearest were displayed.

How can someone make an informed decision when the recommended web tools don't function accurately or in some cases without major result errors ?

Pumpedd

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#1806446 25-Jun-2017 16:07

I suspect that once the novelty of the free hour wears off....the overall savings to a monthly power bill by having a free hour is quite small.

Currently most of my energy intensive type activities like laundry is done when the weather suits outside drying.

clive100

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#1806467 25-Jun-2017 16:35

Yes the Laundry washing machine & clothes dryer. Plus dishwasher, baking with the oven / stove, hot water cylinder heating, household heating & charging the electric car if you are fortunate enough to own one. Significant saving can be made once you align all or most of these activities to a suitable off peak time & generate a new routine that becomes a habit after a short time. Or by the use of portable plug in timer(s) or inbuilt timers where included within the appliance or fitted at the switchboard eg Hot water. We are saving an average of 18-22% over the colder months by using as many of these appliances during our free hour. Shame I don't have an Electric Vehicle as the savings would then be much more.

timmmay

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#1806473 25-Jun-2017 16:48

Agree that for most people the free hour of power would be difficult to approach 20% savings. I have timers on both heat pumps, hot water, dish washer, clothes drier, under floor heater in the bathroom. I plan to have it preheat the house in the morning, which according to my power usage monitoring is the time we use most power. I think I'll get more out of it that most, with very little effort.

I don't think laundry uses all that much power. We wash in warm water but that water heats off peak.

michaelmurfy

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#1807549 27-Jun-2017 12:02

My switch to Electric Kiwi has happened. Flick now shows that I am not a customer and the EK portal is saying they're still setting me up - been told it can take a day or two.

I'm going to miss Flick, they were a great company.

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timmmay

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#1807578 27-Jun-2017 12:45

Same here, I switched over this morning. In my case I now have two good power companies, and I expect I'll change between them depending on rates and how annoyed myself and my wife get at having to actively monitor power prices.

If the off peak line charges came back that could motivate me. Based on my conversation with Wellington Electricity I don't think that will happen any time soon.

jonathan18

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#1807581 27-Jun-2017 12:51

I'm still waiting after switching on the 16th; I've used Flick's website's online chat tool to ask how much longer it may take, and apparently I can expect a reply within "a few hours"! Luckily I could provide my email for a reply, but still that sure does make a mockery of an online chat function!

michaelmurfy

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#1807582 27-Jun-2017 12:52

timmmay:

If the off peak line charges came back that could motivate me. Based on my conversation with Wellington Electricity I don't think that will happen any time soon.

That was one of the main things that got me to switch - before with the day / night rates Flick would have still been cheaper but it just doesn't work with the other person in my household. Just not having to think about when you use power is the main reason I'd pay the ~$5/wk extra.

solutionz

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#1807604 27-Jun-2017 13:26

For those of us with a higher than average consumption of pixies (+2gWh /month) to fuel our residential datacentres and the like; I don't see why we couldn't have the best of both worlds by running Flick spot pricing off-peak then switching load to a secondary meter running EK or similar during peak pricing...

garbonzai

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#1807758 27-Jun-2017 16:04

Yes I'm another one that has jumped ship, getting a bit sick of monitoring spot pricing and Orion's super peak rate.

I just got confirmation email from Electric Kiwi to confirm my connection, I have to say Flick was pretty good up until May/June, I saved quite a bit with them.

But this super duper high peak line charge from Orion plus the high spot prices was not good, there's only so much you can shift usage too off peak, the food still has to be cooked and the place heated during peak times.

So let see how it goes with Electric Kiwi, and PS, here's my Friend referral link to get $50.00 off joining->

https://www.electrickiwi.co.nz/go/refer-a-friend?Igkzy7YBEy%2BCX7KSYjL%2BjA%3D%3D

Cheers Peter

clive100

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#1807789 27-Jun-2017 16:56

Now where is the spaming police when you want them ?

freitasm

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#1807873 27-Jun-2017 20:12

Chill out. Since some people posted links before, I think it's fair someone posts ONE link. Continuously link dropping is another story.

That's why I usually tend to not let people post any. One thing is a signature link, another is continuous posting. Also signature links and then posting replies that don't add to the conversation or are just one words I consider spam.

Are we clear?

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timmmay

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#1807981 28-Jun-2017 05:43

We lost power at 5am this morning. It turns out Electric Kiwi doesn't have a faults line.

Wellington Electricity only have an emergency number, you're meant to call you retailer during an outage. Fortunately they accepted my call and will investigate.

Goodbye electric kiwi. One day may be a record.

michaelmurfy

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#1807985 28-Jun-2017 07:10

timmmay: We lost power at 5am this morning. It turns out Electric Kiwi doesn't have a faults line.

Wellington Electricity only have an emergency number, you're meant to call you retailer during an outage. Fortunately they accepted my call and will investigate.

Goodbye electric kiwi. One day may be a record.

Most faults are automatically picked up by the lines company - they have a page here: https://www.electrickiwi.co.nz/contact-us/#outages

To be perfectly honest I don't bother phoning for faults, they normally resolve themselves. You can check faults on WE here. Faults are rare at best anyway.

timmmay

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#1807988 28-Jun-2017 07:31

I think a fuse or similar on the pole outside our house blew. There's a guy up a ladder fixing it now. They don't notice localised faults.

I probably put a 45A load on, it blew about 20 mins into my free hour of power. The guy said that shouldn't be a problem. Will find out more when he's down from the pole.

When things go wrong is when you most need help. We have a few outages per year here, probably because of old overhead lines.

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