Powershop: Anyone with them?

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StarBlazer

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#327015 5-May-2010 18:12

chiefie: You don't have to micro manage it at all if you don't want to, you'd still be saving a fair little bit. It will be like direct debit at the end of the month.

Good point and correct for a lot of people - if I did nothing I would be charged 23c/unit with powershop (standard power 22.91c/unit) - with Genesis I was paying around 22c/unit on average (22.26c/unit) - which included line charge and prompt payment discounts on their household plan.

For me the only way to keep in front is to plan ahead which at the moment means logging on weekly to check the packages and buying a weeks worth of the cheapest power (Standard Power).

Still I'm going to keep going for a year to 18 months to see what happens.

Procrastination eventually pays off.

chiefie

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#327017 5-May-2010 18:17

StarBlazer:
chiefie: You don't have to micro manage it at all if you don't want to, you'd still be saving a fair little bit. It will be like direct debit at the end of the month.

Good point and correct for a lot of people - if I did nothing I would be charged 23c/unit with powershop (standard power 22.91c/unit) - with Genesis I was paying around 22c/unit on average (22.26c/unit) - which included line charge and prompt payment discounts on their household plan.

For me the only way to keep in front is to plan ahead which at the moment means logging on weekly to check the packages and buying a weeks worth of the cheapest power (Standard Power).

Still I'm going to keep going for a year to 18 months to see what happens.

You know you can pick the default price rate though? Just set to the lowest and it will use that for post-paid direct debit method.

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StarBlazer

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#327066 5-May-2010 19:46

chiefie: You know you can pick the default price rate though? Just set to the lowest and it will use that for post-paid direct debit method.

Yes I have that set already - does it work? I suppose being a noob I don't trust the auto settings!

Procrastination eventually pays off.

nate

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#327160 5-May-2010 22:42

James Bond: Well, I'm currently with Meridian. I'm pretty happy with them but I've heard great things about Powershop and I've been thinking about switching.

Just in case you think you're getting away from Meridian, from their FAQs:

DrCheese

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#327182 5-May-2010 23:40

I switched from Meridian to Powershop exactly one year ago tomorrow. Although Powershop is owned by Meridian, their prices are lower, at least here in Dunedin. My power bill last year was $709 less than if I'd been with Meridian the last 12 months. This was a savings for me of around 20%.

Prices differ around the country so check carefully. Dunedin is known to have one of the lowest prices, if not the lowest. Average Powershop price per kWh last year was about 16 cents here.

If you don't like to micromanage your account you can just opt for auto payments after each power reading. But you will have to hand in your Geek membership card if you do this.

David.

bazzer

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#327337 6-May-2010 12:16

They look quite good, but Im swapping to natural gas at the moment. My usual usage is right around 8000kWh. I have no idea how this is likely to change after getting gas (for continuous hot water, hobs and bbq). Anyone done the same thing and have an idea how the usage chnged?

Assuming my power usage drops to, say, 5000kWh (is this feasible? how much power is used for hot water/cooking?). The HWC element is 3kW I think and each element in the hobs is, I don't know, 1.5kW? So HWC heating for 2.5 hours per day and the equivalent of a single element for 0.5 hour per day is about 3000kWh. Don't know if that seems reasonable or not?

Anyway, the main point is how would that affect powershop? If I only use 5000kWh (it would be Anytime power I guess with no HWC) their website indicates I might save a whopping $80 per year on their standard pricing.

Would being on a lower usage affect my ability to take advantage of the specials? ie are the bundles too big for me to use before they expire? I'm sure they used to have a demo of the store before but I can't see it there now, so not sure. Anyone?

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#327353 6-May-2010 12:51

Thanks for the replies all. Much appreciated.

I think I will give Powershop a go.

StarBlazer

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#327354 6-May-2010 12:52

bazzer: Would being on a lower usage affect my ability to take advantage of the specials? ie are the bundles too big for me to use before they expire? I'm sure they used to have a demo of the store before but I can't see it there now, so not sure. Anyone?

One of the main influences of a utility bill is the standing charge - For electricity on Genesis that's about $1 per day - Gas is $1.32 although they are giving you back about 54c at the moment.

Take electricity standing charge at $370 a year - if you use 8000kWh that works out at 4.6c/kWh (370/8000) - if you only use 5000kWh that works out at 7.4c/kWh. Now add that to the cost per kWh which for Genesis anytime is 18.6c/kWh gives you 23.2c compared to 26c.

The advantage of Powershop is that there is no standing charge - you pay for what you use so when it says 22c/kWh that's exactly what you pay.

I have mains gas and a large part of my gas bill is the standing charge - considering disconnecting and moving to bottled gas but need to a lot of homework.

In answer to the specials - they are usually small enough packages for most budgets - when allowed, you buy as many as you think you need for that period. Don't over buy or you could end up losing units you have not used!

I believe there is a recommend a friend where we both get a credit to our accounts - PM me if you want to take that up. I got a $50 credit for joining - my friend got $25. It all helps!

Procrastination eventually pays off.

bazzer

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#327378 6-May-2010 13:55

StarBlazer: I have mains gas and a large part of my gas bill is the standing charge - considering disconnecting and moving to bottled gas but need to a lot of homework.

Just FYI, I looked into bottled gas but for average use I don't thnk its cheaper as there's an annual rental (suppose you coudl buy them?) and the gas is more expensive.

P.S. Also wondering what your electricity usage was like before gas compared to now, or have you always been on gas?

itxtme

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#327414 6-May-2010 15:35

bazzer:
StarBlazer: I have mains gas and a large part of my gas bill is the standing charge - considering disconnecting and moving to bottled gas but need to a lot of homework.

Just FYI, I looked into bottled gas but for average use I don't thnk its cheaper as there's an annual rental (suppose you coudl buy them?) and the gas is more expensive.

P.S. Also wondering what your electricity usage was like before gas compared to now, or have you always been on gas?

It depends on what you are intending to use the gas for. The less you use gas the more cost effective the bottles are. So if you use it for heating, hot water and cooking - it is going to be more expensive than line rental. Also be aware that NG is different to bottled LPG and as such there are difference in the hardware that uses them. So you would probably have to change the items you use it on.

StarBlazer

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#327422 6-May-2010 15:57

itxtme:
bazzer:
StarBlazer: I have mains gas and a large part of my gas bill is the standing charge - considering disconnecting and moving to bottled gas but need to a lot of homework.

Just FYI, I looked into bottled gas but for average use I don't thnk its cheaper as there's an annual rental (suppose you coudl buy them?) and the gas is more expensive.

P.S. Also wondering what your electricity usage was like before gas compared to now, or have you always been on gas?

It depends on what you are intending to use the gas for. The less you use gas the more cost effective the bottles are. So if you use it for heating, hot water and cooking - it is going to be more expensive than line rental. Also be aware that NG is different to bottled LPG and as such there are difference in the hardware that uses them. So you would probably have to change the items you use it on.

Exactly the reason I would need to do my homework - We used to have a gas heated hot water cylinder (very old) and switched it for a Rinnai Infinity (these are the dogs danglies in my book) - gas consumption has gone down as you only heat the water you need at the temperature you need it at as it uses digital temperature controllers. Other than that we have a gas hob for cooking.

My last gas bill was about $56 - $20+GST gas and $26+GST fixed line charge which is after the rebate that Genesis are giving at the moment. Without the rebate that would be $40 + GST.

We used to have a "gas furnace" in the living room and a gas fire in the family room which we replaced for heat pumps (don't get me started on central heating and insulation - completely off topic). My gas consuption is stable at around 10kWh per day (slightly more in the winter due to colder water).

Hope this helps

Procrastination eventually pays off.

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bazzer

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#327423 6-May-2010 15:57

itxtme: It depends on what you are intending to use the gas for. The less you use gas the more cost effective the bottles are. So if you use it for heating, hot water and cooking - it is going to be more expensive than line rental. Also be aware that NG is different to bottled LPG and as such there are difference in the hardware that uses them. So you would probably have to change the items you use it on.

And the less one uses gas for the less point in having gas there is at all. If one didn't have gas hot water, then a 9kg bottle of LPG would do the job I'd think. I certainly wouldn't bother getting mains gas just for cooking.

graemeh

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#327457 6-May-2010 17:20

bazzer:
itxtme: It depends on what you are intending to use the gas for. The less you use gas the more cost effective the bottles are. So if you use it for heating, hot water and cooking - it is going to be more expensive than line rental. Also be aware that NG is different to bottled LPG and as such there are difference in the hardware that uses them. So you would probably have to change the items you use it on.

And the less one uses gas for the less point in having gas there is at all. If one didn't have gas hot water, then a 9kg bottle of LPG would do the job I'd think. I certainly wouldn't bother getting mains gas just for cooking.

My parents had this exact setup in Levin. A 9kg gas bottle under the house connected to the gas hob.

If you didn't want to fill it so often you could get a bigger bottle but it's probably more convenient to get two smaller bottles and always keep one as a spare.

richms

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#328055 8-May-2010 21:38

I asked about bigger bottles and apparantly the larger ones are not legal for household use, and there are insurance issues with more than 2 9kg bottles being stored. The large 45kg ones dont count in that manner since they are outside the house.

If I was to move to powershop I would have to mess around with the deals to save, leaving it on autopilot wouldnt really save anything. I prefer a higher line charge and lower unit cost since apparantly I use a crapload of power here.

Most on water heating, but the seperate meter deal isnt available on the old waitamata network, so its all paid for at one rate.

Richard rich.ms

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