POWER BILLS!
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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
Forum Description: For mums, dads, parents-to-be, grandparents, friends -- you name it! And you name the topic you want to chat about!
URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=16585
Printed Date: 07 April 2026 at 12:21pm
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Topic: POWER BILLS!
Posted By: Kelpa
Subject: POWER BILLS!
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 7:58am
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Crikey...not sure if Power has gone up or what but since we moved and I changed from Mercury back to Trustpower our bills have been huge despite all the discounts etc.
Just curious to see what other people pay a month? Our seem to be around $180 - 200......For 2 Adults 2 Kids.... Terrible  -------------  
 
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Replies:
Posted By: AliaDawn
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 8:15am
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we spend under $80 a month on power. Summer usually around $60, winter more up around the $80. We have a pre-pay metre that was already installed in this flat, and I think works out cheaper than usual though. We used to be paying around $100 a month before we moved here. That's for 2 adults 1 toddler. -------------  
 
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Posted By: MissAngel
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 8:15am
| Um.. my powerbill is $170 a month for me and matt. I thought it was really good. |
Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 8:16am
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Our reading last month was $165 (for a 24 day period)
This is for our 3 bedroom house (2 adults, one child) and the downstairs bedsit (1 adult). Including 2 water cylinders on the property. We pay 'smoothpay' so we pay a set amount every fortnight regardless of the season so in summer we pay more than required and in winter we pay less than required and it evens itself out. -------------  
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Posted By: MissAngel
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 8:19am
| Oh hey that sounds like an excellent way to do it! I know mines high cuz I wash my towels and undies in a hot wash, I love to be warm and I have a huge oven that I cook in all the time. (I'm not mentioning the 6 computers that are always on) :P Might have to look into this smoothpay thing. |
Posted By: NeoshasMummy
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 8:42am
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Im on smoothpay its pretty good, Our power bills range from $220 - $250 but we are on power and gas. Im figuring we will take a jump up on the power side of things now that there are more lights and two heaters going, two bathrooms Im hoping its not too much though. I have $55 come out via direct debit every week and then what ever is left I just pay at the end of the month. Works for us anyway ------------- https://secure.fertilityfriend.com/home/30c4ec/" rel="nofollow">  Mrs Te Kani ❤️ Neosha 26/5/2007 |
Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 8:49am
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Ours is around $100 a month for 2 adults and 2 kids. Will be less now that winter is here tho as we have a wetback fire so turn off the power to the hot water cylinder. We've just put in a heat transfer thing into Greers room so we dont have to use the oil heater so much (I didnt like the $150 power bill last month!). ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 9:32am
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Ours is around $200 a month. I just put the nightstore on so I am dreading how much that will add to it. I think $200/ month is HUGE!
Interesting comment aimee about the wetback. Our last house had one and our power bill didnt come down....but I didnt realise you had to turn something off. 
Unfortunately this house is very energy INEFFICIENT! There are so many lights and one switch turns on about half a dozen. 11 halogens in the kitchen!!!! 5 bulbs in half the loving area, 4 in the other. I am undecided whether to swtich to energy saving ones or just to take half the bulbs out. We dont know how long we are going to be here so its hard to know if the savings are worth the investment, |
Posted By: kasbee
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 9:46am
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Our power is never lower then $120 and can get as high as $180 even in summer, 2 adults and 3 children.
For some reason we have always had high power bills even before we had the kids, must have been the houses we have lived in, they have all been old and not very well insulated except the one we are in now. ------------- Kelly, mother to 4 wonderful children. http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 10:12am
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Ours is around $130-150 in summer and occasionally creeps up to $200 over winter, altho not often. That's for two adults and three kids. I use the dryer and the dishwasher every day year round, Maya and I shower and Willie and the gremlins bath (separately so 2 baths all up). In the winter we also run a small oil fin thermostat heater in each the girls rooms, and I have an electric blanket. I'm expecting it to jump up a bit when baby arrives as it will be winter and her room is on the chilly side.
I don't make an effort to keep my power bill down tho, selfish I know, but it's the only bill that Willie pays so I actually don't care how much it costs him considering I pay the phone, water, rent... -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 10:12am
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Ours is around $130-150 in summer and occasionally creeps up to $200 over winter, altho not often. That's for two adults and three kids. I use the dryer and the dishwasher every day year round, Maya and I shower and Willie and the gremlins bath (separately so 2 baths all up). In the winter we also run a small oil fin thermostat heater in each the girls rooms, and I have an electric blanket. I'm expecting it to jump up a bit when baby arrives as it will be winter and her room is on the chilly side.
I don't make an effort to keep my power bill down tho, selfish I know, but it's the only bill that Willie pays so I actually don't care how much it costs him considering I pay the phone, water, rent... ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: meow
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 10:18am
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Our recent power bill was $118. I thought that was really good, it can get to be over 200 in winter. We have the heatpump this year so I wonder if that will make a difference. Haven't started turning the oil fin heaters on in the bedrooms though, at night (heatpump won't heat the whole house) so once I do that I know it will go up! ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: peanut butter
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 10:20am
| Wow Maya, we wouldnt use anywhere near that amount of dryer and yet our power bill didnt drop belwo $180 over summer (and summer was HOT.....and no we have no aircon). |
Posted By: Kelpa
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 11:03am
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Hmmmm I hate to think what mine would be if did use the dryer!!!!
Power is to expensive....Well so is food and petrol! Think I need to do some cost savings measures somehow.... -------------
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Posted By: aimeejoy
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 11:07am
LOL Nikki! yeah there is a power switch in the hot water cupboard that you turn off when the fire is going so there is no electricity being used to heat it.  ------------- Aimee Hannah 22/10/05 Greer 11/02/08 |
Posted By: Kelpa
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 11:09am
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Just looking at my bill....how come there are three charges???
Fixed...24hourly and Daily? Whats that all about..maybe one of you will know as cant be bothered ringing up and waiting on hold forever.... -------------
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Posted By: Kelpa
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 11:10am
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What companies are you guys with???? -------------
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Posted By: AliaDawn
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 11:55am
We're with genesis - WOW at those powerbills... but then we only have a 2bedroom flat here, energy saver bulbs, and Mike hates water, so he's not huge on bathing (it's just a good thing he's not one of those hairy sweaty guys) So he might have a bath every 3 days. Seb about the same, but his are usually only a few inches of water in the bottom. we just clean his face and bum daily  I might have a bath every 2 days, our shower head is useless. ummmm only have fridge/freezer, stove, rarely use microwave... use the washing machine a fair bit, 1-2 loads a day. And ummmm... 2 computers running all day pretty much  so how is ours so low in comparison???-------------
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Posted By: MrsMojo
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 12:14pm
Hmmm, I think I know why Seb doesn't like swimming - like father like son. Back to the topic.... We're with Contact. If you go to www.consumer.org.nz you can do a quiz to identify which company would charge you less for your power usage and also which power plan you should be on. -------------
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AliaDawn wrote:Posted By: ginger
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 12:20pm
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Ours sits around the $150 mark year round pretty much, creeping a bit higher in winter (sometimes up to about $180.00, but not often). Thats for 2 adults and a 4brm house. We have a spa pool and turn that off over winter, so that balances out the drier and dehumidifer. ------------- Cuinn Lachlan 23.1.09 - 22:00 Antonia Helene 4.8.11 - 09:41 |
Posted By: NeoshasMummy
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 1:32pm
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We are with Contact energy.
Both myself and Bruce have a shower morning and night and Neosha has a bath at night and a shower in the moring and I bath my dog every other day... maybe our expense is coming from hot water? I also was all my towels and tea towels in hot water. I think for the size of our house power isnt too bad, when we first had Neosha it was winter so we were always running a heater the power got up to $300! Bruce doesnt really care about how much it costs so oh well but i did recently recieve a notice in the mail to say that power had gone up. ------------- https://secure.fertilityfriend.com/home/30c4ec/" rel="nofollow"> Mrs Te Kani ❤️ Neosha 26/5/2007 |
Posted By: nikkitheknitter
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 2:43pm
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We were with Genesis but I switched for environmental reasons (though not to the greenest company!) - but I think our bill sits at about $150 for 4 adults and a kid.
I think in Winter it gets up to about $220 - not sure what it'll be this year. |
Posted By: SMoody
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 5:35pm
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And here I paid my highest bill and thought that was high. $120. In summer it ranges from about 60 to 80 and winter it goes up to about 110.
We dont use the tumble dryer in summer. When I use the oven I bake at the same time. Stews and stuff I just make more and freeze as it generally takes a few hours or so. We dont have a dishwasher or heated towel rails. I found when we have visitors that they just dont have common sense when it comes to power and then it goes up. Prime example my MIL has made soup today on the stove and not in the slowcooker and now have it on low heat to keep warm for 2 hours until Grant comes. Now I would have made the soup and then switched the stove off and then just heat it up in the microwave. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: Bobbie
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 5:42pm
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Our highest used to be $120 in Winter but now thanks to lots of loads of washing, baths for Rowan, being home during the day and those frequent price hikes we are at $118 already!
I suspect by the heart of winter we'll be on $160. -------------  
 
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Posted By: kiwigal
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 5:52pm
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We are with Contact Energy Ours vary from month to month but it usually around $190 on a good month and $320 on a bad month this is for 2 adults and 1 child. |
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 23 April 2008 at 6:55pm
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Ooh yeah Ginger, I forgot about the dehumidifiers, those things are expensive to run!
We're with Mercury. Had a very, very bad experience with Empower (as in no bill for months then a $2k bill  ) so stick with Mercury, they're not the cheapest but they are reliable.------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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