We reduced our power bill by $635 a year. Here’s how!

The power bill never fails to be a shock, even when the summer months are upon us. We go from overused heatersand long, hot showers in winter, to heating the swimming pool, sweaty kids taking endless showers and, of course, the ongoing washing, washing, washing!

WANT TO SPEND LESS MONEY ON POWER? TRY THESE 4 SIMPLE HACKS!

1. Use the express cycle

I’ve recently discovered that instead of washing my towels on Cottons for an hour and a half, I can run the Express cycle which takes 20 minutes. That’s over an hour’s worth of electricity saved right there, every week. I’ve now started doing the same with bed linen.

2. Standby adds up!

If you’re not using it, unplug it! Your TV and computers on standby may not use much electricity per hour, but 20 hours on standby every day for a year will add up.

3. BBQ rules, or roast it all!

Now that the weather is getting warmer, take all of the cooking outside. Apart from making a lot less dishes (bonus!), a total BBQ meal is delicious.  Try out corn on the cob, Italian inspired courgettes, eggplant, peppers and vegetable kebabs with your fave meat. Delish! Also, when making a summer roast chicken, plan your meal to minimise the heat waste: Bake the potatoes and vegetables rather than boil them, and warm up the bread rolls in the latent heat when the oven is already switched off.

4. Family Friday

What does your typical Friday night look like? Ours means four screens in four rooms, but here’s a very cool idea: Once a week, switch off the devices and gather around to talk, read aloud, play board games, or tell scary stories. Not only does it save electricity, it also reconnects you as a family, and you’ll be surprised how well the kids take to this new family tradition because it involves a lot of fun with Mum and Dad.

ONE TRICK THAT REDUCED OUR POWER BILL BY $635 A YEAR

You’re kidding me? Just one trick? Yup: We went with Powershop in January, and by November we had saved $635 on our electricity bills. Every family is different of course, but our crew of four was able to use all of the ideas available and found them to be incredibly relevant for family life.

HANDS UP! WHO WANTS $150 OF FREE POWER?

If you’re not a Powershop customer yet, join New Zealand’s favourite power company and you’ll get $150 worth of free electricity. You really can’t lose when you sign up, because you can set up a savings guarantee to save against your previous provider (terms and conditions apply).

Imagine no surprises in your electricity bill – ever!

We all love surprises. Unless, of course, the surprise is five unexpected guests arriving for dinner when your fridge is empty… Or when it’s a high power bill.

Although Powershop’s prices do rise slightly through the colder season, they ease right back down during spring and summer. This is a set pattern determined by the seasons, something you can look up on the website and build into your budget. Best of all, they provide a variety of online tools that let you  monitor just how much power you’re using as you go, so you’ll never get bill shock.

OUR KIDS SHOWERED AND PHONE-CHARGED $1,000 WORTH OF POWER! HERE’S HOW WE STOPPED IT

Some kids think money grows on trees or, at the very least, in Mum and Dad’s bank account. They take long, long, looong showers “to rinse out the conditioner”. They leave their computers on and their phones plugged into chargers all night, because – why not? With Powershop, you can show your kids exactly how much electricity your household uses every half-hour. Keep a record of when you switched on the computer, when the dishwasher stopped, when the lights went on. See how much you can save by running your appliances less often. As an incentive, you might offer the kids 10c for every dollar your family saves on electricity… Unless you don’t want them to nag you about how long you spend watching TV.

BUY NOW, PAY LATER

Sometimes the special discounts, those Simple Savers and Future Packs, come at a time when other expenses take priority. But guess what? If you see a Poweshop special you want but can’t afford right now, you can choose the “Online Banking” option when you buy. This way you’ll get the special price right now, and pay when it suits you.

POWERSHOP REWARDS LOYAL CUSTOMERS

You know how sometimes you see a special price advertised by your current provider (be it electricity or the internet), only to hear that it’s only available to new customers? With Powershop, you get discounts for being a long-term customer, which is only fair. They even call it “doing the right thing”! A company with values? Wow!

If you’re keen to make the switch and gain all of the benefits you get from signing up with Powershop, check it out here. Plus you’ll get $150 free power over your first year!

Scroll to Top