10 ways to save money on your power bill

A new baby in the house means extra special attention to your heating. While that shouldn’t mean your power bills have to skyrocket, you should make sure you budget for an increase.

When we brought our first baby home we had a wood burner that heated the lounge and a small oil heater in her tiny room. When our second baby arrived, we’d moved to a house with no fireplace, and no heat pump, and oil heaters were in every room. Consequently our power bills leaped and our bank account dipped, until we invested in a heatpump.

Newborns can’t regulate their own body temperature as effectively as older children and adults, so you do need to keep the temperature of whatever room they’re in, fairly stable. The optimum temperature for the nursery is between 18-20C, and shouldn’t drop below 16C.

Here are some helpful tips for saving money on home heating.

• Pay your bills online and on time to avoid overdue fees, and consider having separate accounts for your different utilities. 
• Heat pumps deliver the cheapest heat to your home. Wood burners and natural gas-flued heaters are next best.
• Using a heater and a dehumidifier together will heat a cold and damp room more quickly and cheaply than a heater on its own. Remember to keep the door shut while they’re on and set a time so you don’t leave them both running.
• Thermostats help maintain an even temperature and save power. Set heater and other thermostats at the minimum temperature you find comfortable. The higher the thermostat is set, the higher the heating costs.
• Fans help a room warm up faster and distribute the air more evenly.
• Turn down your hot water cylinder to the safest minimum. This will save you around $25 per hot water cylinder a year.
• Close curtains and windows at sunset in winter. Heavy and closely-woven full-length curtains conserve more heat, as does having pelmets above the rails.
•  Shop around for the cheapest power company. You can easily compare plans and companies to find the cheapest deal in your area by visiting powerswitch.org.nz.