Time to give electricity the flick?

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Time to give electricity the flick?

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#1275347 1-Apr-2015 14:29

I just put an inline suitably rated timer on the board to control when the hot water is on or off. Not expensive and easy to do .

jonathan18

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#1295460 2-May-2015 07:17

I was wondering, as a relatively new Flick customer, whether there was a way to export data on usage/cost? I'd like to have access to more easily manipulated data than just the graphs or the PDF bills.

Also, what's it with the bills providing a per unit cost (for both night and day rates) - is that the average charged across the period?

hobsonlea

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#1307084 18-May-2015 11:33

I am a Powershop customer - and have been with them for 3.5 yrs.
I was keen to explore whether Flick could provide a better deal - and so provided the 12mth of 30min meter data - and Flick cam back - sorry we cant beat this, in fact were honest enough to say they would be >$300 more expensive over 12mths. They were helpful - but couldnt beat PowerShop on price.
This is a real benefit to me as I now have a number of years of data of our usage - and the PowerShop tools are really helpful.

(I have no interest in Powershop or Flick or the power industry)

kiwitrc

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#1307086 18-May-2015 11:37

hobsonlea: I am a Powershop customer - and have been with them for 3.5 yrs.
I was keen to explore whether Flick could provide a better deal - and so provided the 12mth of 30min meter data - and Flick cam back - sorry we cant beat this, in fact were honest enough to say they would be >$300 more expensive over 12mths. They were helpful - but couldnt beat PowerShop on price.
This is a real benefit to me as I now have a number of years of data of our usage - and the PowerShop tools are really helpful.

(I have no interest in Powershop or Flick or the power industry)

What part of NZ are you in?

hobsonlea

219 posts

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#1307090 18-May-2015 11:46

kiwitrc:
hobsonlea: I am a Powershop customer - and have been with them for 3.5 yrs.
I was keen to explore whether Flick could provide a better deal - and so provided the 12mth of 30min meter data - and Flick cam back - sorry we cant beat this, in fact were honest enough to say they would be >$300 more expensive over 12mths. They were helpful - but couldnt beat PowerShop on price.
This is a real benefit to me as I now have a number of years of data of our usage - and the PowerShop tools are really helpful.

(I have no interest in Powershop or Flick or the power industry)

What part of NZ are you in?

Central Auckland

miked

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#1307529 18-May-2015 22:02

I'm just considering making the leap over to Flick myself, so was glad to see it being discussed here. I've just read this whole thread to check I was still happy (Thanks everyone for the great information!!!)

I'll be happy to time-shift my household usage where possible (Dishwasher, Water Heating, Washing machine etc) to use less power during the more expensive times to make greater savings, so hopefully Flick will work out great for us.

The challenge will appear to be knowing the instantaneous costs at any specific time to react to them. (perhaps in time I'll work out a Geeky solution to solve it - like maybe an Oak - (wifi arduino) running a little display that gives a colour rating and price per unit based on spot price! That could work well!)

I'm still trying to understand the reports, graphs and data available on the www.emi.ea.gov.nz website.

I did find the datasets though (someone was asking after downloadable data).
http://www.emi.ea.govt.nz/Datasets/Browse?parentDirectory=%2FDatasets%2FWholesale

If I am reading these correctly, the important ones for historic data is probably Final Price.
eg: April 2015 CSV file

Which lets you download a month's worth of data which gives the price at every node in the country per half hour, per day of the month. (the half hours are numbered 1 to 48, presumably 1 being from Midnight until 12:30am, and 48 being from 11:30pm til midnight.... is that correct?)

With a little bit of manipulation, it would seem you could theoretically therefore download the full historic price per half hour for a whole year (or even further back if you were patient enough) and extract from it just the prices for the node you live in.

A few questions though:

Is the "Wholesale Final Price" the correct dataset to be reading to get a feel for the historic prices in my location?
Does anyone know if that data is already available for a whole year for just one particular node? (rather than all nodes lumped together in monthly chunks)
Does Flick give you instant prices for that 30mins, or do the prices lag and get published after that 30 mins has finished?
What format is the instant pricing available in? And is there already a Geeky way to access this?

Thanks everyone

Mike

timmmay

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#1307587 19-May-2015 07:14

I'm with Flick, with a smart meter install likely to happen in the near future... no definite date, so on a flat rate with them right now. I asked about tracking prices and got a useful reply yesterday, saying they're developing this as a priority but here are services to use until they do

Price alerting - you have to find your node though

http://www.nodewatch.co.nz/#/

Live stats

http://www.em6live.co.nz/PlanningRegion.aspx?planningregion=uni

khull

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#1307598 19-May-2015 08:20

Gotta love going into winter months, my weekly bill drops below $10 (gas is separate and only used for the showers)

kiwitrc

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#1307602 19-May-2015 08:25

timmmay: I'm with Flick, with a smart meter install likely to happen in the near future... no definite date, so on a flat rate with them right now. I asked about tracking prices and got a useful reply yesterday, saying they're developing this as a priority but here are services to use until they do

Price alerting - you have to find your node though

http://www.nodewatch.co.nz/#/

Live stats

http://www.em6live.co.nz/PlanningRegion.aspx?planningregion=uni

Geez this is info Flick should have on their website.

That node watch is very handy.

timmmay

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#1307603 19-May-2015 08:29

I was surprised how little they have on their website - basically nothing. They're a new company with a good idea, so I don't mind. I'm particularly interested in time shifting hot water heating.

jonathan18

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#1307604 19-May-2015 08:33

khull: Gotta love going into winter months, my weekly bill drops below $10 (gas is separate and only used for the showers)

How many people in your household, and whereabouts in the country are you? I'm happy enough with our last bill which was $20 for a week for a family of four (gas hot water/fire primary heating source).

Off-topic, but I had to laugh at the incompetence of our previous provider (Genesis); I switched to Flick about a month ago, and prior to doing so I rang up Genesis and said I was planning on shifting, so was there anything they could offer me to entice me to stay (as my year-long fixed price had come up); they couldn't offer anything over the current rates, so I went ahead and switched. Last week Genesis rings up my wife to offer us some fixed-term deal... That's the way to keep customers.

Both my times with Genesis have been similarly screwed up (eg, constantly applying the incorrect discounts given as part of the sign-up), but my experience with the small players (Powershop and now Flick) have been really positive. In particular, I appreciate both the speed and the level of detail in the replies to any query I've sent them.

timmmay

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#1307609 19-May-2015 08:46

$10 per week must mean just about no heating. We spend a lot more in winter, up to $350 a month for two people in a decent sized older but well insulated house, but we keep the living area 21-22 degrees evenings and weekends.

cyberhub

224 posts

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#1307615 19-May-2015 09:05

gchiu: A new electricity provider currently in Wgton and Hamilton https://www.flickelectric.co.nz/hello/

Has anyone tried them yet? ( You need to have a smart meter in place ).

They charge a premium on the spot price, and the spot price is always available for you to see to decide whether or not to use power ( I presume that this means dish washers, dryers, and washing machines ) where you are able to control the use.

So, they charge 40c a day for connection and an additional 1.5c a kWh on top of the spot price.
Nothing on their site about buy back from your PV panels.

Flick seems really good if you can change your electricity habits so you use electricity offpeak. Nightstore heaters, electric car charging, dishwashing, laundry all completed afterhours.

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cyberhub

224 posts

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#1307617 19-May-2015 09:09

hobsonlea: I am a Powershop customer - and have been with them for 3.5 yrs.
I was keen to explore whether Flick could provide a better deal - and so provided the 12mth of 30min meter data - and Flick cam back - sorry we cant beat this, in fact were honest enough to say they would be >$300 more expensive over 12mths. They were helpful - but couldnt beat PowerShop on price.
This is a real benefit to me as I now have a number of years of data of our usage - and the PowerShop tools are really helpful.

(I have no interest in Powershop or Flick or the power industry)

Interesting, I have been a big fan of Powershop for ages, I really like their online and iphone app. It is cool how you can prepay for your power etc. Seemed like the only power company embracing technology and trying to empower their end users.

I also have no interest in Powershop other than being a customer.

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kiwitrc

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#1307619 19-May-2015 09:11

At 3:1 plus, efficiency running a heatpump when you want it is cheaper than nightstore heating.

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