I've got the POWERReader submitted

So today’s little snippet is about my power bill.

I previously owned a very old cottage, with one double and two single rooms. With an ever-increasing power bill due to no insulation having ever been done, and a heater in every room, my power bill spiked to over three hundred dollars per month for an adult and two toddlers. So I endeavored to fix my little place, after I got over my mild heart attack!

The government released a ‘warmer homes’ package. Given that a high number of New Zealand homes are making their occupants sick with breathing problems from mould, and general illness due to cold. Clogging up the hospitals with ‘sick homes’ related illnesses. An average night at the hospital costing the tax-payer around a thousand dollars. So I had my house fully insulated in the roof and under floorings.

Another scheme replacing old open fires also included a subsidised heating appliance – freestanding fireplace or heat pump. I chose the biggest fireplace, worth around four thousand dollars, subsidised it would cost the homeowner about five hundred, fantastic!

The one I chose you could cook on the surface if you so wished, and to save even further it would have been wise to choose the ‘wet-back’ option - if my house hadn’t been so small (to have hot water for bathing.)

Yes, it made a difference to our family’s state of health. In the winter around three hundred dollars all up in firewood was our payment for heat.  Also the ‘feel good’ factor came into account having the centre of the home pumping and roaring away, warms one's heart as well. Not to mention the household pets that hog the space in front of it, with glowing contented fuzzy faces.

The clothes dryer, which seldom was used but spiked my power bill up to an extra eighty dollars each month from the moment it was plugged in, was sold. I swear I could hear it at night not even in use going ‘gobble, gobble.’ The fire now dried any damp washing in the winter.

The old radiant heaters in each room, which where given to me, but also kept spiking my power months after insulation, where hastily thrown in the dump.

And my power bill began to stabilize. Fantastic.

The power bill was still not at a place that I considered reasonable, this in part being from the linescCompany, whom charges more than the power company in the Waikato area. Many a disgruntled article has been written over them in the local rag, but that’s another issue.

So I was energy conscious, doing everything to lower every ounce of power used, lights off, wrapping the cylinder etc. Yet my power was still not coming down any further. I didn’t have any extra appliances, just the basics, and the house couldn’t sustain them, as it was old, it only had one power point in each room!  (No heated spa pool going day or night!)

Power-saving energy light bulbs bombarded the TV, which made me change my ordinary lights to eco-friendly, dim and pointless in an old house. However, with so much back whipping over this issue, this must be the problem, surely? No change, in fact my power went up slightly!

My power had hit equilibrium. It was at $140 each month. Now a lot of you out there will be thinking “Are you nuts?! That’s fine for a power bill! Come on!” However, I am a single parent, with, at the time two pre-school aged children. Any money I could put into my pocket and not the lines company's in particular, would go to the benefit of sustaining our meagre existence!

I racked my brain, and tackled the last thing on the list, a thing that is hidden away – the hot water cylinder. A hot water cylinder is like your jug. Though it has a thermostat and flicks itself on when the water starts to cool, it does this all day. And it does this all night. Thirstily gulping away on your power, like a hippie on a porch sucking repeatedly on his joint. It seems incredulous to keep an item on for 24 hours, that you only use around an hour each day! Really, who would keep their kitchen jug on all day and night, for the convenience of having a cup of tea handy when they felt like it?

So I began to test this area. I left it off for 48 hours, and then I turned it back on to see how long it would take to heat. Around an hour 20 minutes, I had hot water for my shower. I began to turn the cylinder on only once a day, for our daily requirements.

The next power bill I got, my jaw dropped. It had gone from $140-ish, wait for it… to my power dropping to $42 dollars. Yes, that’s right! Take a moment to think about that. (I thought, “Bug*ar these dim energy-saving light bulbs!”)

Now, because I was saving money, the powers that be couldn’t handle that. I told people who could do the same and put their own money back inside their own pockets. The resistance was:

“You shouldn’t do that, the cylinder can’t take it”

“Just turn the heat down on the thermostat, that should be enough.”

“The cylinder will break, if you do that!”

I asked: “Where does that come from? Who told you that?”

Their reply was: “From the power companies.”

This speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

I have been doing this for a few years, and had no problems. However, do bear in mind cylinders get old and need replacing every 10 years. In theory if you only use your cylinder two hours out of 24 each day, it should extend its life, shouldn’t it?

 

09/01/2013  7:50 am  by PenelopeM

Oh my god that's brilliant! You have inspired me to try this. I'm going to try switching it off before I leave for work in the mornings & only turn it back on as I go to bed. Come morning time, I'll have my shower and throw the dishwasher on. Sounds like it'll shave quite a few $$ off my power bill. Thanks!

 

19/02/2013  12:40 pm  by PenelopeM

Thanks again for this idea Cherry. I have not been fastidious about remembering to turn it off each morning; but I reckon I remembered about a third of the time last month, and my bill reduced from $100 to $70. Getting my reduced power bill has reminded me to make a greater effort at remembering to do this, as I reckon I can get it down quite a lot more yet.

 

27/03/2013  9:36 am  by PenelopeM

Just an update... turning my hot water cylinder off each morning & back on again each night is now a pretty solid habit and I'm easily saving $40-$50 a month on my power bill. I've also been telling everyone about it.

 

29/03/2013  10:51 am  by Cherry

Thanks PenelopeM, I'm happy it's working out for you! Just a thought - if you own your home I would pay an electrician to wire the hot water cylinder to a normal outlet switch, then just purchase a plug in automatic timer and set it to the hours you want. Set and forget! All the best.

 

26/05/2013  8:01 am  by Rick H

Hi Cherry, you are a 100% right in regulating power consumption vs hot water generation the process you have adopted is TES Thermal Energy Storage which can be applied in other areas of your home. Two cautionary notes 1) Hot water should be heated to 60 degrees C once a day to ensure you kill any potential nasty bugs 2) That the electrician installs a contactor with the time clock to ensure it is protected.

Finally, if you shift the time you consume this (and other power) to night or off peak you can convert your power plan to Variable Tariff and pay substantially less per kWh consumed and is better for NZ's economy.