Here are some small changes you can make in your day-to-day life to cut the amount of power you use in your home. Plus, one change that almost every home in New Zealand could make to save them an estimated $372 million per year!
Keeping your power bill down during winter can be a challenge in New Zealand. In fact, depending on where you live and how you heat your home, some Kiwi homes will see their power use more than double.
Here are some small changes you can make in your day-to-day life to cut the amount of power you use in your home. Plus, one change that almost every home in New Zealand could make to save them an estimated $372 million per year, read on to find out what!
Make the change to a cold wash
Changing from a hot wash to a cold wash could save around $65 per year. Switching to a cold wash won’t just save you money, it can make your clothes last longer. Cold water can be good for certain clothes, the lower temperature can stop your clothes from fading and preserve the fit of clothes by preventing shrinkage.
Turn off the clothes dryer
Drying your clothes on a line instead of a dryer could save around $200 per year. As with switching to a cold wash, line-drying can also be gentler on your clothes and help them last longer. Of course, this one isn’t always practical on wet wintery days!
Turn Appliances off from standy
Unplug your electronic devices when not in use. Turning them off standy could save around $100 per year. This passive power use is also known as vampire power – for example phone chargers, TVs or microwaves that are constantly on slowly sucking up small amounts of power.
Be strategic when heating your home
The typical New Zealand home spends 14% of their power on heating. A key way to take control of your spending on power is to make a family plan, consider how you use each room, and compare the costs of different heaters to choose the most efficient type of heat.
Make sure you are on the right type of user plan
Low domestic user plans are for people who live in a home that uses less than 8000kwh of power per year. It is usually suitable for older couples, single parents or sol occupants. People on low user plans will go from paying a daily rate of around $2.00 - $2.50m per day down to around 33c per day. Saving around $200 per year. What type of user are you?
What is the key change every home could make to save an estimated $372 million per year? Compare the options and make an informed choice about power
According to the Electricity Authority Kiwi households could save an estimated $372 million a year if all households switched to the cheapest power deal available to them. So, take a moment to compare power plans to compare the options and make an informed choice about power in your home.
Visit Power Compare