Comparing Electricity Prices

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CuriousCat

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#8340 22-Jun-2006 11:06

Hi there,
First time reader of GeekZone today, it's pretty cool, lots of interesting topics and advise so I thought I'd ask advise regarding Electricity Prices.

Wasn't sure if this was the right forum, but couldn't find any forums that compare electricity
prices besides from PowerSwitch, which is not a forum and doesn't really offer advise.
I was with Genesis "Pay go" which has recently changed to Genesis Energy incharge
(change in meter) I use to pay $20.00 for about 4-5 days of power which I know was really good,
however now it's pretty much more than doubled and i now don't use any electrical heating as I've
installed a wood burner. So I can't imagine how crazy my power bill would be if I was
still using my fan heater.
Really just want to know, where others are sitting and if I'm getting ripped off.
Any advise re: other electricity companies offering cheaper power or other forums or
threads or websites that have discussed this topic already would be much appreciated.

Mummy now and down to one income so have to save those pennies now.

Cheers CuriousCat

Jama

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#39283 22-Jun-2006 11:30

I too am with Genesis but on a Composite plan which is a mixture of Anytime and Controlled.

Controlled means that they can switch off my water heating during peak load, which they do... The Composite plan is slightly cheaper than being full on Anytime (no switching off my hot water) and slightly more expensive than Composite. Last month I received my biggest power bill ever which was $437.00. During that period we installed heat pumps and got rid of the crap night store heaters so I am expecting to have a lower power bill next time.

Hot water can contribute as much as 40% to your power bill. If your cylinder is warm to touch your are losing heat and wasting money. I recently spent $47 on an insulated cylinder wrap and I am hoping that this will make some sort of difference.

The problem with power is that you really have no idea on what you are consuming on an hourly basis so each month when the bill arrives it is a surprise.

freitasm

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#39287 22-Jun-2006 11:49

Hmmm. I pay a lot of money for power here. About $250/month (gas and eletricity, single bill). Granted, I have at least three computers always on 24/7 in the office room, and with the baby in the house we keep the gas fire going in the lounge the whole day, with a extractor that pushes the air to the bedrooms.

Also have those suckers that are always on, but sleeping, waiting for the remote control: stereo receiver, TV, cable TV, DVD player, VCR. But all lamps are those energy saver bulbs, which I think helps a bit.

Even so, it's less than in our previous house, with one less bedroom. I wonder if it's because we keep it always warm instead of turning the heater on/off as before.

One thing I don't like in this new house (and might change soon) is the electric stove top. Real cooking uses gas!

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Jama

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#39305 22-Jun-2006 13:29

The problem with gas is the $30 p/month 'line charge' which is a rip. I have gas cooking but got rid of the piped gas to the house and moved to a gas bottle instead. It now costs me about $16 every 3 months to fill the 9kg bottle. Rather than $30 p/month plus usage.

tonyhughes

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#39318 22-Jun-2006 14:07

We have electricity for lights/points/oven, 9kg gas for cooktop, tall bottled gas for Infinity Hot Water.
No gas line charge (we opted for bottles instead of the street gas connection.

Two adults plus kids part time, about $50 a month for gas, and we take LONGGGGGG hot showers now that we dont have to worry about running out. Best thing we ever bought!!

Power is about $130 a month I think. Computers always on, loads of AV gear always on.

Heating is 9kg gas and kent woodburner.

Because hot water and heating dont rely on power, our bill does not fluctuate much.

CuriousCat

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#39339 22-Jun-2006 15:18

Wow what an eye opener!

Thanks for your replies, Jama $437.00! OMG realising it may be less next month.
i'll look into buying a insultation cylinder wrap, also Jama I was talking to my cousin who has a gas fire place
and she was telling me she's thinking about changing to a wood burner due to that $30 a month + usage,
which she told me she still has to pay even during the summer when she doesn't it. Crazy!
I'll let her know what you've done and TonyHughes, will definately give her some options to look at.

Cheers for that, keep the info coming this is awesome stuff.

GJB21

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Master Geek

#39365 22-Jun-2006 19:24

I haven't used one (would be interested to hear from someone who has) but there's a device available at
http://www.centameter.co.nz/index.php
that apparently gives you "real-time" electricity usage and allows you to monitor your electricity bill (in $) as you use power.
Seems to have endorsements from at least some electricity retailers (including Genesis)

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freitasm

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#39370 22-Jun-2006 20:01

I've seen that in a friend's place. But really, if you have to use the power, what good is the information? I am not going around turning off my email server because of the numbers there...

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jpwise

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#39424 23-Jun-2006 10:41

I looked at the centametre unit and several other ones i found but they're all (in my opinion) way overpriced.

Have recently found this one though:
http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=MS6115

They're out of stock currently, but apparently should be getting more stock in August, so will be looking at picking one up then. It won't measure the entire house worth of usage like the centremeter, but because it just plugs into the line between the wall and the device you want to monitor you can measure usage relatively easily on a room by room or point by point basis.

More so to 'know' how much power something is drawing. ie: my room has waterbed, 4 computers, 2 UPS's, 19", 17", & 15" CRT's, gigabit switch, adsl modem, 8port KVM, and speakers+sub. There's also a few other things I haven't unpacked yet. So would be useful to know exactly how much power it's actually drawing.

Pretty much everything in that list except for the speakers+sub & the 15" CRT are running 24/7. Although thinking about it the other 2 CRT's do get turned off when I'm out aswell. The 15" is only turned on from time to time when I need to do something on a server directly.

Jp.

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