Time to give electricity the flick?

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Reply # 1334016 30-Jun-2015 11:26

I have also been on Flick since Feb. I havent noticed a spike at all and the lower cost over time more than compensates for any spikes if there have been any. Our current bills are around $130 month compared to close to $190 this time last year on another provider, and thats before that provider put both line charges and power prices up earlier this year.

k14

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Reply # 1334026 30-Jun-2015 11:44

timmmay: Right now I'm sitting at 30% saving over Mercury Energy. Summer could be interesting though, prices go up when hydro lakes go down. I mean to do an analysis of the last few years before we hit summer, if the prices look to be higher than I want to pay I'll just switch - maybe even just for summer, if that's an option.

Pretty unlikely for power prices to go high during summer. Power companies usually talk in "Hydrology years" which run from 1st September to 31st August. Generally speaking (in a perfect year) storage is empty by the end of August and the snow starts melting in spring filling up the lakes (Lake Tekapo, Pukaki and Hawea being the line share of long term South Island storage) to be used the following winter. Summer has the lowest demand period and usually the snow is melted by January and then in March/April/May some fronts will come through and top up the hydro lakes a little before winter starts.

However, in saying that, in the last 3 years we have had dry spells in Jan/Feb one year and March/April the other two, so these two periods have made people a little weary in the Feb to May months. If you were to swap I would probably do it Feb/March if the storage was a little lower than average. You can see the storage here http://www.electricityinfo.co.nz/comitFta/ftaPage.hydrology

In terms of price volatility. IMO I would say that winter is the season where you could be burn the easiest. Wait till you see a $10k price for a trading period or two (that is $10 per kWhr), this has happened a few times in the past. That could be $30 for cooking your dinner. The end of summer/autumn low lake prices could see sustained daily prices in the $250 region (25c per kWhr) so that is unlikely to effect you too massively but it could go on for 4-6 weeks. With that situation you would see the trend and the prices would most likely gradually rise over a few weeks. Although in saying that, I have seen some companies put a step change into the spot market from $80 to $250 at midday on a Monday (presumably after their weekly strategy meeting) which has put the market into a bit of a fluster, so not guaranteed prior warning using price as the only signal.

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miked

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Reply # 1334030 30-Jun-2015 11:48

I like the idea that the Winter prices are slightly lower, when we use more.... and that when the prices are slightly higher in the Summer, when we use less. Gives potential to even the bills out slightly across the seasons.

linw

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Reply # 1334226 30-Jun-2015 15:44

Interested in your findings/comments, Tim, as I am in the process of switching from Mercury to Flick. No smart meter yet so still in limbo. Not in any hurry, though.

timmmay

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Reply # 1334340 30-Jun-2015 17:24

linw: Interested in your findings/comments, Tim, as I am in the process of switching from Mercury to Flick. No smart meter yet so still in limbo. Not in any hurry, though.

So far saving money. Not much else to say really :)

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mpc

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Reply # 1338959 7-Jul-2015 23:24

Have been with Flick for just over a week after moving from Powershop. Customer service seems pretty good thus far and the switch over was done within 3-4 days (already had a smart meter installed).

Grid exit points I found here http://electricity.org.nz/Site/Map/default.aspx (source data here http://www.electricity.org.nz/delivery/kml/gxp.KML?34) but that seems to identify them down to the substation level(?), so some of the GXPs mentioned may have more than one e.g. Central Park has CPK0111 and CPK0331.

Does anyone know if Flick are using the 30min or 5min spot prices? I know their website shows 30min consumption and I seem to recall the data from Powershop (from the smart meter) was also in 30min time periods but I notice a couple of the spot price websites quote 5min spot prices.

After very little analysis it would appear hot water heating is the biggest consumption for us. Would be great if there was a way to delay hot water heating for a couple of hours, especially in the evenings. Despite having an 'inclusive' meter with Powershop it would appear our hot water isn't being ripple controlled.

kiwitrc

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Reply # 1338978 8-Jul-2015 06:13

mpc: Have been with Flick for just over a week after moving from Powershop. Customer service seems pretty good thus far and the switch over was done within 3-4 days (already had a smart meter installed).

Grid exit points I found here http://electricity.org.nz/Site/Map/default.aspx (source data here http://www.electricity.org.nz/delivery/kml/gxp.KML?34) but that seems to identify them down to the substation level(?), so some of the GXPs mentioned may have more than one e.g. Central Park has CPK0111 and CPK0331.

Does anyone know if Flick are using the 30min or 5min spot prices? I know their website shows 30min consumption and I seem to recall the data from Powershop (from the smart meter) was also in 30min time periods but I notice a couple of the spot price websites quote 5min spot prices.

After very little analysis it would appear hot water heating is the biggest consumption for us. Would be great if there was a way to delay hot water heating for a couple of hours, especially in the evenings. Despite having an 'inclusive' meter with Powershop it would appear our hot water isn't being ripple controlled.

You can put your how water on a timer.

timmmay

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Reply # 1338980 8-Jul-2015 06:17

I believe Flick charge at 30 min price, which I'm pretty sure they've told me but is also backed up by their website billing section. Putting a timer on your hot water's a good option, I think flick may come out with a product of their own in the near future that helps with that, but nothing concrete yet.

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Hammerer

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Reply # 1339005 8-Jul-2015 07:45

mpc:

After very little analysis it would appear hot water heating is the biggest consumption for us. Would be great if there was a way to delay hot water heating for a couple of hours, especially in the evenings. Despite having an 'inclusive' meter with Powershop it would appear our hot water isn't being ripple controlled.

You can control heating of the hot water cylinder by manually switching it off. For example, when we don't want to use hot water heating - in summer when solar heating provides more than enough heating - then we simply switch off the power to the cylinder.

FYI, ripple control isn't controlled by Powershop but by your lines/network company. The rate Powershop pays the lines company is lower for users with ripple control.

We've had long periods where ripple control has not been used probably because peak usage on the local network has not been near maximum load capacity so the lines company hasn't needed to use it.

This Orion guide to ripple control is a useful read if you want to know more.

mpc

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Reply # 1340341 10-Jul-2015 07:58

kiwitrc:

You can put your how water on a timer.

timmmay:

Putting a timer on your hot water's a good option

What's the best way to go about this when the hot water cylinder is hard wired into the socket and it's a rental property?

Hammerer:
FYI, ripple control isn't controlled by Powershop but by your lines/network company. The rate Powershop pays the lines company is lower for users with ripple control.

Cheers, I realise it's controlled by the network company. Was just trying to deduce that by being on an 'Inclusive' rate meant it could be ripple controlled.

timmmay

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Reply # 1340343 10-Jul-2015 08:10

You need to change the switchboard to have a hardware timer put in. If it's a rental you probably can't without the landlord's permission, and it's probably not worth doing it unless you plan to be there a long time.

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richms

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Reply # 1340505 10-Jul-2015 11:58

Why do you need to change the switchboard? Just chuck it in a din module enclosure by the HWC?

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timmmay

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Reply # 1340567 10-Jul-2015 13:00

With my old switchboard you'd need an electrician to change it, no idea about new switchboards. I wouldn't be game doing anything myself.

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graemeh

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Reply # 1340643 10-Jul-2015 14:22

timmmay: With my old switchboard you'd need an electrician to change it, no idea about new switchboards. I wouldn't be game doing anything myself.

Unless you put the timer in at the hot water cylinder end of the circuit. Either way, a job for an electrician.

rp1790

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Reply # 1343456 15-Jul-2015 08:43

I've been on Flick since 4th April this year. Previously with Contact (gas and Electricity), with their maximum discount structure. Thought I'd post my actual figures so far for people to have a gander at:

I "thinK" I've done my calcs right. the Contact sheet is electricity only ($932 of gas for a year not included). Basically with Contact it cost me 35 cents per Kwh, and so far with Flick it works out to 22 cents. So, while there's an occasional spike, who cares, it's way cheaper (so far, touch wood).

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