$1,200 power bill?

[A.C. Slater]

We live in a little two-bedroom flat, and just got our first power bill. $1,200 for 12 August - 12 September.

I know they say the cost of living is high in NZ, but this is kind of a dealbreaker.

[IanW99]

You must be renting the same flat as another member was a few years ago where they had huge bills as well.

As a comparison for you our bill for the same period was $260.

Ian

[J32]

Wow that is a huge bill. But I have seen similar bills before from friends, that just arrived in NZ. My guess is in your flat, water is heated by power and you heat with a heater you bought at the warehouse that runs on power. These two things can drive up your power bill very fast. That is why I moved into the Volt Apartments, when I lived in Auckland City. Hot and cold water were included, because the water is central heated by gas in the building. The flats are generally quite warm even in winter and heating was almost never necessary.

[Mamee & Co]

Even using panel heaters etc. that does sound high. Ours average $250 in winter months though we gas heat water. Do you have a hot water tank...if so ensure it is lagged and on nights rates? Check how many heaters you have on and buy timer switches. Also contact the power company to get the meter checked. If they are remote meters they sometimes give dodgy readings. Read your meter each day until you work out what is taking the power..also make sure that your starting meter reading was correct.

[Fern49]

Check out the temperature of your hot water, it could be too high, that sends the cost up. The temperature should be 60°C at the cylinder (to prevent the growth of Legionella bacteria) and no more than 55°C at the tap

[kiwihusker]

Our highest bill has been $295 and we live in a 3 bedroom house here. But we bundle up big time during the winter. We always wear layers (2 kids and 2 adults). We only turn on the heat pump on rare occasions. I have been known to be all rugged up wearing my puffy vest inside the house. This way of living is not new to us, we did something similar when we lived in in San Francisco so this wasn't that unusual to do it here too. We had a very drafty cold 1925 old house that wasn't well insulated at all. I would suggest being a bit colder if you can, your body will adjust. Keep the temps lower than normal. Our heat pump has never been over 21 degrees and has never been on for more than 2 hours at a time. We all have ugg boots or slippers to wear and we put on an extra layer. And if it is really cold we have big blankets to wrap up in. I would also shorten up the shower time, and wash your clothes in cold water, which is better for the environment too. Good luck!

[Gran]

Our 3 bed house uses about 160-180 per month, we have electric cylinder and gas heating, when we used electric heating it was not too much more, are you paying for the whole block of flats could it be a dividable bill? maybe talk to your landlord.

[catt]

Move .......fast

[newarrival]

Our highest bill has been $295 and we live in a 3 bedroom house here. But we bundle up big time during the winter. We always wear layers (2 kids and 2 adults). We only turn on the heat pump on rare occasions. I have been known to be all rugged up wearing my puffy vest inside the house. This way of living is not new to us, we did something similar when we lived in in San Francisco so this wasn't that unusual to do it here too. We had a very drafty cold 1925 old house that wasn't well insulated at all. I would suggest being a bit colder if you can, your body will adjust. Keep the temps lower than normal. Our heat pump has never been over 21 degrees and has never been on for more than 2 hours at a time. We all have ugg boots or slippers to wear and we put on an extra layer. And if it is really cold we have big blankets to wrap up in. I would also shorten up the shower time, and wash your clothes in cold water, which is better for the environment too. Good luck!

Sorry, this is not really helpful for the original poster, but just wanted to ask how it would be better for the environment if you wash with cold water? Apart from saving power, maybe, you need to use a more aggressive washing powder to get the same result, if I am not completely wrong here? Really interested why you would say that.

[newarrival]

That amount of money would suggest to me that something is wrong with either the meter or the way the usage was submitted.
Even in our coldest winter(s) in Dunedin we didn't even come close to that sort of powerbill- a family of six, always had water heated electrically, we rented all sorts of houses from 5-years old to 100 years old, but even in the last one where we had a heatpump instead of a fire in the last year we were there -and believe me, we used it a lot more than 2 hours a day- as well as a dryer which I used regularly for towels and underwear at least, depending on the weather, our most expensive month would have been between $500 and $600.