Seven sneaky ways to save power
An energy efficiency expert reveals seven sneaky ways to save power, and just how much you could save by doing them.
Photo:
RNZ
If you popped the heater on before you got out of bed this morning, you might have pondered what your next power bill will look like.
The middle months of the year are
often the most expensive for household electricity
.
But the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority says there are some energy-saving things that you can do that could
help cut your bills
, without denting your lifestyle too much.
"We've really tried to focus on things which are either no cost or at least very low cost and try to quantify the benefits of each measure," said Gareth Gretton, EECA's lead adviser on energy efficient appliances. "People can think about what exactly works for them and their household and make trade-offs for themselves."
These are the seven things EECA recommends doing - and how much you could save by doing them.
Only heat the rooms you're using:
EECA said that households using electric heating could save about $300 a year if they switched to only heating the rooms they were using. This would reduce electricity demand by about 10 or 15 percent.
Keeping your house heated to 21°C rather than 23°C could also save 2 percent of your power, or about $40 a year.
"There's always this tradeoff with you know 'how warm do I want my room to be' and you know 'am I kind of on the edge of my comfort level or I'm actually feeling cosy'," Gretton said. "Maybe think about just trying to heat the rooms you're actually using at a given time rather than trying to heat the whole house and not necessarily being comfortable in any one room … it's not about being uncomfortable, it's about trying to use energy wisely."
He said draught stopping was also important. "This is very dependent on the house you're in but there's obviously still lots of people living in draughty houses. It's a perfect time to look at that - this is very much house by house but you could be looking at up to $100 from that one in the winter."
Switching to cold water in your washing machine:
Washing your clothes in cold water rather than warm will reduce consumption by 1 percent, EECA said. Gretton said based on one wash a day, a household that moved five out of seven washes to cold water would save about $50 a year. "We're sort of so used to machines defaulting to warm and just pressing the start button but all it takes is a click of the button to move down to cold," Gretton said. "If all you're doing is kind of freshening up some clothes and they don't have any really hard-to-shift stains in them, then they're going to come out clean and you're going to save yourselves [money]."
Turning off appliances that you aren't using:
If you can turn off things like your heated towel rail, TV or second fridge you could reduce your electricity demand by about 8 percent, or a saving of $200 a year. "I think some households do have a second fridge maybe running in the garage or something like that," Gretton said.
"It's probably the number one energy vampire that's in your household because you might have chucked it in your garage and thought 'oh that'll be useful at Christmas'. Then it'll end up running all year because you forget about it. Empty it out and turn it off, then turn it back on again when you need it."
Close the curtains at sunset:
Closing the curtains at sunset could save you 3 percent of your power, or $80 a year, EECA says. Gretton said it was mostly "common sense" but sometimes a "little nudge" would remind people of the small changes they could be making.
Reducing your hot water temperature:
Limiting your hot water to 60°C could save 3 percent in power.
Vacuuming your heat pump filter:
Remembering to vacuum your filter could reduce your power use by 2 percent or about $50.
Time your power use:
If you're on a plan that gives you cheaper power off-peak, make use of it. Gretton said a number of households were on time-of-use plans, where power is cheaper at certain times of day, but were not using them to the best advantage. Shifting appliances to off-peak times, particualrly things like clothes dryers, could help save money. "Dishwashers are kind of an easy one in some ways because they often have a 'delay start' function. The saving we're modelling for that one is around $150."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
41 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Live: Strong winds send Wellington roof flying over suburb to another street
A low pressure system sweeping across Aotearoa has triggered MetService to issue a slew of rain and wind warnings right across the country as winter arrives. MetService said downpours and thunderstorms across the North Island and parts of the South Island would gave way to snowfall on Wednesday night. On Wednesday morning rain, wind and snow warnings were in place across New Zealand, as a low over the Tasman Sea began to cross the country. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Live: Heavy rain, strong winds and thunderstorms as winter blast arrives
A low pressure system sweeping across Aotearoa has triggered MetService to issue a slew of rain and wind warnings right across the country as winter arrives. MetService said downpours and thunderstorms across the North Island and parts of the South Island would gave way to snowfall on Wednesday night. On Wednesday morning rain, wind and snow warnings were in place across New Zealand, as a low over the Tasman Sea began to cross the country. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
Dogs attacks could lead to lack of guide dogs in South Auckland.
Blind Low Vision New Zealand is now reluctant to place guide dogs in South Auckland due to roaming dog attacks. File photo. Photo: 123RF Sight-impaired people living in the Southern Auckland could miss out on a guide dog after a savage attack on a handler and his guide dog. Blind Low Vision New Zealand said there had been several incidents, including a roaming dog attack last year that saw one of its clients taken to hospital and the guide dog relocated out of Auckland. It is now reluctant to place guide dogs in South Auckland. Blind Low Vision head of guide dogs Pete Hoskin told Checkpoint it was having a significant impact on the independence of their clients. "This has been an increasing problem over the last two years with no real trigger that we're able to put it down to, but what we're experiencing on a daily and weekly basis is a number of events that are causing us to redeploy our resources across different parts of Tamaki Makaurau." A handler and dog were attacked last year, he said. "He subsequently ended up being in hospital and as a result of the treatment had an allergic reaction to the medication. That was a result of the infection from the dog bite and subsequently spent eight weeks in the hospital requiring a couple of blood transfusions. "The dog still is working and is working very well, but that's not to say that if it was ever put in a situation where it was sprung by another dog, that it would be able to work effectively after that." He said the situation was made worse for clients, as they could not necessarily see or identify the risk before it was right before them. "The incidents that are occurring to able bodied people within Tamaki-Makaurau, one yesterday in the botanical gardens, a four-year-old killed a couple of months ago, they've got the benefit of being able to see and hear. "The vision impaired community don't have that benefit so they're not able to mitigate or minimise that risk." Clients who were deaf and blind were also vulnerable, he said. "[It] just exponentially creates that problem even further for them in the sense that they can't hear any dog approaching them." He said with trainers, there had been seven incidents related to roaming dogs. "Recently, we had one trainer [who] had two incidences in one week where other dogs have physically jumped out of moving vehicles down the main street and then chased them along the street where they've had to then jump into a shop." Blind Low Vision were now reluctant to place dogs in South Auckland, he said. "We do unfortunately have a client in South Auckland that we have said no to placing a dog to due to the severe risk of the environment that the community that the client is in." He said the person had already been attacked twice in the area, while walking with a guide dog. "With no reduction in the amount of dogs in that area and the increase in attacks in that area, that risk is too severe to place a dog." They were investigating potential solutions with AI, although it was in its infancy, he said. "I think there's a couple of things before technology. [We] fully support the release with the SPCA and the council around desexing. "We [also] strongly advocate for some personal accountability. As owners of these dogs, ensuring that their dogs are secure at all times, whether that's in a vehicle or in their home environment, to prevent them from getting out into the community and causing this chaos." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
