Changing electricity suppliers

[Indiana_Jones]

to save bills on heating, use a jumper

-Indy

[k14]

Go for which ever one has the smallest board of directors - cos thats where your money is going most of the time

Thats a bit of a strange thing to say. Seeing as about 70% of NZ's electricity is generated by SOE's, all the profits from those companies go into Helen's back pocket. Out of the other 30%, half of that goes overseas and the rest to the minority shareholders, of which a high percentage are kiwis.

[merv]

Geez Beemer with your approach were you born in the South Island?

The kids one helps you I'm sure, I've still got one never left home and the other is home from Uni at the moment and they live in a different time zone, lights on all night, computers, TVs, DVDs running plus all the phone charging and other toys plugged in.

[Flyingpony]

Our bills are usually only about $60-$80

Hmm, excuse me Beemer, but have you been reading my power bill?
My Summer bills are $55-70 and winter $70-110 for a 100% electric powered house without flashy heat pumps etc.
In the winter I do have a 500watt heater heating the bed room side of the house during most nights.

How on earth do you live so cheaply? - my power/gas bill per month is normally over $200 and that's with compact fluoros having replaced all the upstairs downlights.

Piece of cake. Put on an extra layer of clothes, a woollen hat, and an extra blanket on the bed. There's no secret method, I've just followed all the common stuff (switch off at the wall, etc) in the media which cost next to nothing to implement. This also means if I move, I can take them with me i.e. compact energy saving light bulbs because the original 100watt bulbs are in a box.

Geez Beemer with your approach were you born in the South Island?

I also never used heaters while living in Auckland during 1999 and 2000.

[merv]

How could you live in Auckland if you aren't capitalist resource wasters - Finn wouldn't give you an entry visa would he?

[Beemer]

Hmm, excuse me Beemer, but have you been reading my power bill?
My Summer bills are $55-70 and winter $70-110 for a 100% electric powered house without flashy heat pumps etc.

Ours are dearer in the summer than winter - in winter the wetback heats the hot water so the bills range between $45 and $60. Our latest bill is the highest we've ever had - $83 - and the estimate is actually a bit low so it should actually be $110. That's what got me hunting for cheaper options!

It's probably because although it hasn't exactly been summery weather, we haven't had the fire going and we've had a few extra people staying over the past month so the hot water has solely been heated by electricity. I've also done a few hot washes (the ham bags over Christmas) which I don't normally do.

We don't have any heat pumps or anything either, and as I work from home I can air the house most days so condensation isn't much of a problem. If I'm cold I tend to put on socks, long trousers and a sweatshirt rather than turn the heater on. Being part Scottish and part Jewish helps too!

[Flyingpony]

How could you live in Auckland if you aren't capitalist resource wasters - Finn wouldn't give you an entry visa would he?

Easy: Full Time Student, entry permit given by Massey University - Albany Campus.

[phantom]

This week I am doing IT support for the Contact call centre in Levin and am gobsmacked at how patient the operators have to be with some of the people who ring in. Looking at changing jobs at the moment but work in a call centre - no fucking way

[Beemer]

This week I am doing IT support for the Contact call centre in Levin and am gobsmacked at how patient the operators have to be with some of the people who ring in. Looking at changing jobs at the moment but work in a call centre - no fucking way

I worked there for a while years ago and funnily enough, the worst people to deal with are the very rich! I had people on the bones of their bum ringing in and asking for advice on how to lower their bills and they were almost ALWAYS polite. I got a rich cow from somewhere in Auckland ring up once as her power had been cut off. She'd been on holiday in Fiji for a fortnight and was NOT impressed. I explained that her bill had been due on a certain date, which was usually two weeks after receipt, she would have got a reminder a fortnight later, then a letter saying her power would be disconnected on a certain date if it was not paid - a total of about eight weeks, plus the fact that she'd already used the power when she was billed for it, so we really had given her every opportunity to pay and the bill was overdue long before she went on holiday. She called me every bitch under the sun and swore black and blue she'd make me suffer for cutting her power off! Sorry, but unless you pay ALL you owe, plus the disconnection and reconnection fees, you will not be having power restored! I once had a 74 minute call, but I did resolve a problem that had been going on for about seven years. It was confusing, and the person being billed was foreign so we ended up talking to a friend who spoke English, but I felt sorry that others had given up because it was too hard. We ended up owing the guy thousands and it had all been our fault.

Next time you ring a call centre, please remember that they are - on the whole - NOT idiots. Some need the money, some have university degrees, but all have been trained. Some may be rude and obnoxious, but when you consider what they have to deal with on a daily basis, at least try and be civil. Yelling at them does NOT make things happen faster - quite the opposite in fact!

[GR81]

wicked, musta been with Genesis for a year now. got the $150 bond tacked back onto the account... so no more paying power for 2.5 months! haha

[Beemer]

Just got an email from Genesis to say that as a home owner, there would be no bond required, so I'm about to switch power companies now. As mentioned, our estimate is a bit low this month, but I'm not going to worry about it as the underestimate will be charged by Genesis when we get our first account, so it will be at the cheaper rate anyway!

[Finn]

How could you live in Auckland if you aren't capitalist resource wasters - Finn wouldn't give you an entry visa would he?

On the contrary, the more the merrier I say. The bigger the population, the bigger the market. That's a capitalist. Of course only if they have money though. No unemployed or refugees.

[merv]

On the contrary, the more the merrier I say. The bigger the population, the bigger the market. That's a capitalist. Of course only if they have money though. No unemployed or refugees.

That's what I was thinking, you don't want those that spend nothing.

[Flyingpony]

Both Genesis and Meridian offer some sort of prompt payment discount or cash back. How do both companies compare when those are taken into account?

[Beemer]

Both Genesis and Meridian offer some sort of prompt payment discount or cash back. How do both companies compare when those are taken into account?

If our latest account with Meridian had been accurate (the estimate is very low this time, and we've had people staying plus the second fridge was going while we had the ham in it), it would be $110.95 before the 10% discount. With Genesis, the same account would be $98.39. I compared the current month's account using Consumer's powersave calculator and it showed we would save $140 a year with Genesis. I then found last month's account (which was quite a bit lower, but an actual read - $63.14 with Meridian, which would have been $56.10 with Genesis) and did the calculations over the two-month period and it showed savings of $126. Even at the lower end, it's still more than $10 a month savings, which makes switching well worth it.