Ways to lower your energy bill

Save money on power bills by following these simple tips. Keep your home warm and healthy and save money.

How to keep my house warm?

It’s expensive to heat a home, but you can save money if you keep the warm air in and the cold one out rather than heating non stop.

Doors and windows heat saving tips:

Try to draw curtains during the evening/night time - this will help you to keep the heat generated during the daytime.
Think of insulating your windows - there are DIY kits that can cut the window heat loss.
Prevent draughts - door and windows must fit the frames. There’s a tape you can apply around your doors and windows, which will help stop draught, or door snakes you can apply at the bottom of your doors.

Home Heating tips:

Try not to use heaters when you don’t need them - more often than not, people leave them on even when they leave a room for awhile. Same applies for the heat pump.
Check your heater thermostat temperature - ideally around 18 to 20 degrees.
Usually heaters can only warm up one room at a time - keep your doors closed and pull curtains at dusk.

Securing your doors and windows, as well as wisely heating your house can prevent massive heat losses, keep your house warm, and significantly reduce your power bill.

How to keep my house dry? Reduce moisture in home

First of all, fight dampness and moisture in your house, particularly while washing and cooking.

Outside moisture reduction tips

Maintain old pipes and gutters - watch out for broken or leaky pipes, as well as clogged gutters. They are usually the reason for dampness, which mainly leads to mould.
Set up a ground vapour barrier - it keeps the dampness in the ground.
Keep your vents clear - it moves damp air out.

Inside moisture reduction tips

Cooking, showering and washing up are the main sources of moisture. Try to open windows while or after cooking, showering and washing the dishes.
Move clothes to dry outside - try to prevent drying your wet clothes indoors. The moisture your clothes evaporates will end up in your house.
Ventilate your house - try to open windows and doors occasionally to air and get rid of moisture, regardless of the season. Open your wardrobe and cupboards as well.
Air your bedroom - consider keeping your bedroom window slightly open over the night to keep the moisture out.
As well as your bedding - heavy bedding can absorb lots of moisture with the tick of time. You can air blankets, duvets, pillows, etc. outside on sunny days.
Keep clear from unflued gas heaters - they produce toxic fumes and cause dampness in your house. Cheap heaters, which are portable cost less and are generally safer to use.

Save money on lighting

You can reduce cost of your electricity bill easily by following these simple tips:

Turn out the lights when you don’t need them.
Switch to energy efficient LEDs - which can help you save money on power bills by $100 or more per year - compare lightbulbs here

Save money on hot water

It’s expensive to heat water. As a consequence, using less hot water can help you save a lot on energy bills.

Check if your showerhead is efficient - try to keep the water flow at 9 litres per minute or less.
Shower faster - you can save approximately $900 a year (for a family of 4), if you reduce the amount of time you spend showering from 15 to 5 minutes.
Use cold water when you can - washing dishes with hot water regularly can make your power bill a lot more expensive. Switch to cold water unless your dishes are particularly dirty.

Save money on running home appliances

Standby power - Leaving your TVs, stereos, computers, monitors, etc. on standby can end up costing you more than $100 per year. Alternatively, you can use multi-plug boards, and control when you want to switch them off completely all in one place. Try to keep your appliances turned off as opposed to standby to reduce cost of electricity bill.
Heated rails for towels - Save up to $170 a year by using them only when needed, or setting up socket timers. Running them 24/7 might result in significant price increase for your bills.
Fridge - That old, second fridge can cost you up to $200 more annually. They are usually inefficient, and loose door seals may result in fridge using more energy than it has to. Consider turning it off when not needed, or getting rid of it altogether.

We hope that you found these power saving tips useful. You can save money by getting a cheaper power bill when you reduce your energy consumption. These were some tips to help you reduce cost and save money on your power bills but one of the biggest savings can come from switching energy provider.

Compare NZ power providers quickly and easily on our homepage. Find the best power deals and start saving money with Power Compare.