Well as long as you are making a benefit from that power you would not have otherwised used. That justifies to me that using it is not wasting it.  

You point is very valid that the acheived power saving percentage is inflated as you would not normally have used all that extra free power if you were paying for it. 

sidefx:

 

Well I must say I'm very happy with how quickly EK switched everything over, and I much prefer the graphs, etc on the EK website to the previous companies I've been with. 

 

The hour of power is interesting though... don't get me wrong, it's great, but I also think that depending on how you use it, you have to be careful using it as a measure of "savings" - my plan is to crank on as much heating as possible during that hour, but that also means I'll be using a lot of power that I possibly wouldn't have just because it's "free" 

 

There is no such thing as a "free lunch"!

May have been mentioned before, but do you still receive a yearly electra sales discount when on EK?

I'm not using any additional power, or minimal. We heat the house up a bit warmer than usual 5-6am, but then there's less power used later, so it probably balances out more or less. We heat hot water that has to be heated some time. We run dishwasher and clothes drier. All that uses all the capacity our lead in cable has, without blowing the pole fuse (again).

Currently between 18% and 22% free hour of power. We're paying a little more than we were on Flick before when it was quite high, so I suspect EK is making money - that's not my problem though. I don't run hot water, dish washer, or clothes drier on peak because I figure it could cost EK more and we don't need to.

You twisting my rubber arm now!

What about that yearly discount? Do you get it with EK?

Wiggum:

 

You twisting my rubber arm now!

 

What about that yearly discount? Do you get it with EK?

 

Who offers a yearly discount? No provider I know. There's no prompt payment discount AFAIK.

Looks like it:

Electra provides Kapiti and Horowhenua electricity users (the beneficiaries of the Electra Trust) with regular sales discounts.

You receive your sales discount no matter which electricity retailer you use. The sales discount is highlighted on your electricity bill.

Electra is able to give you these regular sales discounts because of on-going efficiencies in the way we run our business.

These vary with region. In the BOP you only get a discount if you use Trustpower as your provider - which seems dodgy to me.  Auckland (AECT) and Waikato (WEL Networks) I know it doesn't matter who you're with.  I've recently moved to Wellington and it doesn't seem to be a thing here ??? 

timmmay:

 

Wiggum:

 

You twisting my rubber arm now!

 

What about that yearly discount? Do you get it with EK?

 

 

Who offers a yearly discount? No provider I know. There's no prompt payment discount AFAIK.

 

I get a yearly Electra discount, not sure why, maybe its region specific? I have received one via most electricity suppliers I have been with. (Flick/Meridian/Genesis.)

Here is a snapshot of my last one. Just curious If I will continue to receive this yearly discount if I switch to EK. maybe I should give Electra a call.

Yep you should get provided this. If you're thinking of it then sign up - both EK and Flick are great providers.

Ive done a bit of a calc. We are with Genesis, 26.68 /kWh and 33.33 daily less 10% Prompt Payment

All calcs after Genesis discount and after EK no discount, but not including the free hour

On the last bill, $369, EK is $320   

Med bill of $242 EK is $216

Lower bill $137, EK is $130

Lowest bill $93 is $93

Have another house Im renovating,  where we moved from, hardly use any power, EK rate is about the same, but daily is half

Quite compelling, especially with the free hour not included. 

Where do I sign lol. I'll check the thread if any referral discounts EDIT saw on Michael's link.

looks like they have stopped taking new customers

sidefx:

 

Well I must say I'm very happy with how quickly EK switched everything over, and I much prefer the graphs, etc on the EK website to the previous companies I've been with. 

 

The hour of power is interesting though... don't get me wrong, it's great, but I also think that depending on how you use it, you have to be careful using it as a measure of "savings" - my plan is to crank on as much heating as possible during that hour, but that also means I'll be using a lot of power that I possibly wouldn't have just because it's "free" 

 

I think that too, but its not like downloading 2TB of torrents cos you can. You may heat the house more because of that hour, so while thats not a $ saving, its a quality of life saving.

Signed up tonight, ChCh. I'll advise how long it takes from Genesis

EDIT 22 July

I got the email yesterday that Ive been moved over. 9 Days. Good. Email had good info to get started

Email this morning gives all the basics of using EK, excellent email, everything is there. 

So far 10/10

caminham:

 

@timmmay How did you go about verifying the 30min time shift? I see that I also have a Atlas Mk7C meter, although it has no Metrix branding.  My usage data has finally started appearing and the graph shows my usage dropping off in the last half of each "Hour of Power".  Is it enough to just get them to take a look or did you do some testing/evidence gathering with higher load at known times to prove the point?

 

EDIT - Actually I've noticed that Sat and Sun are identical graphs so one (or both) must be estimates.  I'll give it a few days before I start investigating.

 

Those Mk7C meters do have an internal real time clock. I bought one of those meters myself from Ebay UK. It was NOS, factory calibrated in July 2011. When I got it it's internal battery still had plenty of life left. And the clock has only approx 8 min time shift. And it also shows the correct date. (only comparing to my cellphone, which I have not checked against any official reference). Although it has been programmed to UK time as it actually lags NZ time by 11 hours. (allowing for NZ and UK daylight savings offsets).

I bought it solely to use as a next level plug in power meter - I wired it into a 2m extension cord.

I got the email yesterday that Ive been moved over. 9 Days. Good. Email had good info to get started

Email this morning gives all the basics of using EK, excellent email, everything is there. 

So far 10/10