Powerswitch advice

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DamageInc

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#239376 15-Jul-2018 10:38

Hello,

Currently with Trustpower and once in a blue moon we go on to Powerswitch and check out if its worth switching power providers.

This morning punched in all our details and the top 3 picks are:

Electric kiwi

Energy club NZ

Mercury

Can anyone vouch for these 3?

Pop! OS

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#2056357 15-Jul-2018 10:52

Also Flick Electric is top of the rated retailers - any thoughts there?

Pop! OS

vexxxboy

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#2056388 15-Jul-2018 11:52

i am amazed Mercury is number 3 , i switched from Mercury to Pulse and saved around $80 a month.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

kingjj

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#2056433 15-Jul-2018 12:48

I don't always like using sites where companies pay for inclusion but check out switchme.co.nz as well. I've seen some fantastic prices on there that are not available on other sites or through the provider. I've used it twice and got better deals than I could get elsewhere.

Can recommend EK if you are able to make use of your Hour of Power everyday. I can't say I like the way Energy Club price their offering with a membership fee but that may appeal to some.

vexxxboy

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#2056441 15-Jul-2018 13:34

i looked into Energy Club and the one thing that put me off is that they do direct debit on a weekly basis which makes it a nightmare if you are on a budget as you just dont know how much your power will be each week.

Common sense is not as common as you think.

timmmay

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#2056447 15-Jul-2018 13:49

I can vouch for Electric Kiwi, and I can also give you a link that will go you and me a $50 credit if you sign up. Use this link, though I think it can expire so if it doesn't work PM me your first and last name, street (don't need the number) and town, and I'll send it on to EK to you the sign up bonus. Service is pretty good, they have online chat. Their website is pretty good for basic analysis.

I make the most of the free hour, getting 15 to 25% of my power in that hour. The last week it's 17.3%. I have a timer on the hot water (cost $250 for electrician to supply and install) which I think helps quite a bit. 13A for an hour. That's probably half our water heating. We also have both heat pumps come on full at 5am to preheat the house before we get up, dishwasher runs, clothes drier runs, and a small fan heater runs in another part of the house if needed.

In summer we have the free hour in the evening so air conditioning can run before we go to bed. Timers and such change to match.

Hammerer

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#2056474 15-Jul-2018 14:44

I was with Mercury for a few years. The special prices I got were very good but I missed the detail about power usage that I had with PowerShop. If I only wanted a monthly bill then they were very good. But I've just moved to Flick and I will be paying less while getting much better data on my power usage.

HP

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DamageInc

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#2056531 15-Jul-2018 16:17

kingjj:
I don't always like using sites where companies pay for inclusion but check out switchme.co.nz as well. I've seen some fantastic prices on there that are not available on other sites or through the provider. I've used it twice and got better deals than I could get elsewhere.

Can recommend EK if you are able to make use of your Hour of Power everyday. I can't say I like the way Energy Club price their offering with a membership fee but that may appeal to some.

Thank you
Entered our details on switchme and the same 3 came out just in a different order:
Energy club
Mercury
Electric kiwi

Interesting
Personally I don’t like the idea of a club fee.
Seriously thinking electric kiwi though

Pop! OS

DamageInc

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#2056533 15-Jul-2018 16:19

timmmay:
I can vouch for Electric Kiwi, and I can also offer a link that will go you and me a $50 credit if you sign up. Service is pretty good, they have online chat. Their website is pretty good for basic analysis.

I make the most of the free hour, getting 15 to 25% of my power in that hour. The last week it's 17.3%. I have a timer on the hot water (cost $250 for electrician to supply and install) which I think helps quite a bit. 13A for an hour. That's probably half our water heating. We also have both heat pumps come on full at 5am to preheat the house before we get up, dishwasher runs, clothes drier runs, and a small fan heater runs in another part of the house if needed.

In summer we have the free hour in the evening so air conditioning can run before we go to bed. Timers and such change to match.

Cheers for that
And you obviously saved switching to EK?

Pop! OS

timmmay

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#2056537 15-Jul-2018 16:27

DamageInc:

Cheers for that
And you obviously saved switching to EK?

About $500 in the last year compared with a standard power company. Not sure compared with Flick who I was with before, but I found Flick far too much effort to monitor and get the best price.

DamageInc

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#2056538 15-Jul-2018 16:31

timmmay:
DamageInc:

Cheers for that
And you obviously saved switching to EK?

About $500 in the last year compared with a standard power company. Not sure compared with Flick who I was with before, but I found Flick far too much effort to monitor and get the best price.

Cool thank you

Pop! OS

Hammerer

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#2056754 16-Jul-2018 01:13

DamageInc:
timmmay:

DamageInc:

Cheers for that
And you obviously saved switching to EK?

About $500 in the last year compared with a standard power company. Not sure compared with Flick who I was with before, but I found Flick far too much effort to monitor and get the best price.

Cool thank you

I'm with Flick and saving over the what Electric Kiwi were offering earlier this year but I see they have a cheaper prepaid plan. Anyway, I don't have to do anything to save money with Flick and I don't have to bother trying to get the best price. Our only effort is to use the clothes drier overnight and we've always done that even on fixed rates. The same applied when we were with Powershop - you decide how much effort to make.

Don't assume that Powerswitch and other sites that estimate savings will have accurate estimates. They are never any good at estimating our actual costs and therefore their comparisons are only indications of good options. If you're usage profile doesn't match Powerswitch's default then you will end up with a different savings estimate when looking at plans where the rates are not fixed from month to month.

I'd recommend calculating the actual savings yourself so a) you can understand all the pricing details and b) you can confirm any promises made. This is useful when salespeople phone/visit, I can see what their last offer was and tell whether the current offer is any good for us.

Mighty Ape

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CutCutCut

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#2059094 19-Jul-2018 22:59

timmmay:

I can vouch for Electric Kiwi, and I can also offer a link that will go you and me a $50 credit if you sign up. Service is pretty good, they have online chat. Their website is pretty good for basic analysis.

I make the most of the free hour, getting 15 to 25% of my power in that hour. The last week it's 17.3%. I have a timer on the hot water (cost $250 for electrician to supply and install) which I think helps quite a bit. 13A for an hour. That's probably half our water heating. We also have both heat pumps come on full at 5am to preheat the house before we get up, dishwasher runs, clothes drier runs, and a small fan heater runs in another part of the house if needed.

In summer we have the free hour in the evening so air conditioning can run before we go to bed. Timers and such change to match.

Just signed up on your link

ac130

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#2059098 19-Jul-2018 23:10

Flick are upping their game with automation on pricing check out more on this topic

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=141&topicid=153480&page_no=112

timmmay

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#2059129 20-Jul-2018 07:43

Thanks @CutCutCut :) Hope you like EK, it's worked well for me.

DamageInc

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#2059173 20-Jul-2018 08:48

CutCutCut:

timmmay:

I can vouch for Electric Kiwi, and I can also offer a link that will go you and me a $50 credit if you sign up. Service is pretty good, they have online chat. Their website is pretty good for basic analysis.

I make the most of the free hour, getting 15 to 25% of my power in that hour. The last week it's 17.3%. I have a timer on the hot water (cost $250 for electrician to supply and install) which I think helps quite a bit. 13A for an hour. That's probably half our water heating. We also have both heat pumps come on full at 5am to preheat the house before we get up, dishwasher runs, clothes drier runs, and a small fan heater runs in another part of the house if needed.

In summer we have the free hour in the evening so air conditioning can run before we go to bed. Timers and such change to match.

Just signed up on your link

Same, just signed up the link also

thank you @timmmay

Pop! OS

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