High Power Bill
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Category: General Chat
Forum Name: General Chat
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URL: https://www.ohbaby.co.nz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=40961
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Topic: High Power Bill
Posted By: MamaT
Subject: High Power Bill
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 7:07pm
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Im wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me to look at what is causing this.
I opened our bill today and it was $550 for 29 days.  Our bills are usually about $120-160, and before moving to Nelson we were paying $80 a month max. Oh and that is for DH, I and DS.
We haven't changed anything regarding our power usage in the last month, no new appliances. We turn everything off at the wall when not in use, no heaters or air con, nothing. I just can't seem to figure it out and it has me really stressed. -------------  
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Replies:
Posted By: MrsEmma
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 7:14pm
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Could there be a hot water leak under the house? I've heard of people turning everything electrical off and going outside and standing by your meter to see if it's still ticking over.
Jeepers that's a big bill, I hope you get it sorted ASAP, definitely not something you need to be stressed about at the moment  ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 7:32pm
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Wow, that is a lot.
What heating (if any now) do you use? Do you run a lot of baths? Do you do a lot of baking or long cook meals in the oven? Those are the only things I can think of that genuinely use a lot of power. Otherwise I'd have to think there is a problem somewhere. Oh, your last bill wasn't a really low estimate reading was it? ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: kebakat
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 7:41pm
| I'd get the hot water cylinder checked |
Posted By: EmDee
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 7:45pm
And has your meter been getting physically read regularly? If it's been estimated too low a few times in a row it can make an actual reading seem really high. Can you check the readings on your meter? Meter readers are human and can someimes make mistakes too. What MrsEmma suggested is a good idea too. Sometimes there can be something drawing power that you don't realise. Also talk to your power retailer about it, a good CSR can talk you through things to look at and they should let you pay it off if it is too much to pay at once. ------------- DS 8 DD 6 DS 4 DD 2 |
clover wrote:Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 8:09pm
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The bill prior was an estimate, it was underestimated, but not by much, about $30 worth.
We have a heat pump, but haven't used that for ages now, it's been pretty warm down here. We have two meter thingys, one I think is for the hot water and one for power, does that make sense? If it is the hot water cylinder would that mean the hot water meter should be really high? Or would they both be? Or just the electricity? Our hot water is 238 units for the month, but the electricity is 1700 units. I do bake, but usually one one or two things once a week, for instance I'll do muffins and cookies, but one after the other, so I'm not heating the oven twice. We're with Genesis and TBH the girls I've spoken to there are useless with suggestions, just telling me to turn things off when we're not using them and to limit hot water and heating. Not very helpful at all. -------------
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Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 8:09pm
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Oh, and our meter gets read alternate months.
And they are digital meters, so I can't just tell if it's still ticking over, like at our old place. -------------
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Posted By: AbzandH
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 8:21pm
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Hi MamaT, get a plumber around to check all the plumbing, we bought our house back in March, ended up with a leak through the ceiling from the hot water overflow tank. When the plumber came around, he discovered that the last owners had plumbed everything themselves, illegally and on top of that had hooked it up so that everytime the cold water was turned on, it automatically switched the hot water cylinder on to reheat.... How does that even work??? PLUS no insulation around what was supposed to be copper pipes. Our bills have dropped by at least a third.
Hope this makes sense and good luck, nothing like a good power bill before xmas to make you want to cry! x |
Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 8:37pm
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My Dad is a plumber so I might ring him tomorrow and see if he can talk me through looking at certain things. But, if we had only just moved here I could understand that something weird was wrong, we've been here 6 months though, so anything like that should have been picked up a while ago shouldn't it?
I wonder if it is worth getting an electrician to take a look at all?? Or is that likely to cost a huge amount in itself? Can't hurt to ring someone though I guess -------------
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Posted By: EmDee
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 8:46pm
 I work for Genesis - though I haven't worked in the call centre for about 7 years. Sorry for the not very helpful people you've got so far 
238 units doesn't seem too bad for your hot water (controlled meter), but 1700 units seems huge for your other (anytime meter) for that period of time. Can you look back at previous bills to get a feel for what your consumption has been like in the past? Can you check your meter and what the reading currently is? It should be a little bit higher now than what is on the bill (just in case it is an error in the reading). The only real way to find out where power is being used is to get an audit done by an electrician. Though definitely talk to your Dad first, he'll probably have some ideas. And yeah I would assume that if your meters have been read regularly and relatively stable (given normal flucuations for weather etc) it does seem unusual. ------------- DS 8 DD 6 DS 4 DD 2 |
Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 10 November 2011 at 8:59pm
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Our anytime meter is generally around 200-400units/month.
First thing I did when I got the bill was to check it against the meter board and yep, it is now slightly higher, so no human error (damn it all). Will ring around some electricians in the morning then I think. Mummydee - there is probably only so much the call centre people can do to help though really I guess. Not their fault. We are pretty energy conscious, as in turn the jug and toaster, oven etc etc off at the wall when not in use, so really there probably isn't a lot they can suggest that we don't already do and have done for years. Thanks for the advice and tips ladies. -------------
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Posted By: Flossie
Date Posted: 11 November 2011 at 3:22pm
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That is incredibly high especially as we are going in to summer!!! I would definantly get an electrician in to have a look - good luck! We had a similar experience when renting but with water and it turns out we had a leak under the house - but a very nasty surprise when you get the bill!
------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
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Posted By: fattykat
Date Posted: 11 November 2011 at 3:55pm
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Wow, that is high.
I would get a Electrician round to have a look as it is a huge jump in one month. Here is link to approximate running costs of household items but it sounds like your not doing anything different so I imagine its not going to be much help http://northpower.com/network/help/knowledge_base/entry/household_running_costs/ - Linky Link |
Posted By: chickadeedoo
Date Posted: 11 November 2011 at 7:11pm
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our power bill was huge big month at $350..and we are with Meridian on a 2 yr fixed contract.. maybe look at consumer page and see if they say you are on with a high $$ company for power. ------------- 
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Posted By: snugglebug
Date Posted: 11 November 2011 at 10:42pm
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We had a lot of trouble with this same problem this winter.
It seems that power has just gone up so that accounts for some of it, but not all of it for sure. We were advised to first turn all appliances off overnight, do a meter reading when we went to bed then read again when we got up. If a lot of units had been used in that time, that meant it was the hot water cylinder. We also were advised to put timers on our oil heaters, which did make a huge difference. It seems for us, that it must have been using the dryer and oil heater, as by process of elimination and cutting things down I have come to that conclusion. We were with mercury and our highest bill was $420 this winter which was an absolute shock, as our highest bill ever before that was only $180. This is our first year with a baby though and so heating and dryer use did go up as well as hot water use, but it was a shock that it was supposedly that much. My advice: ask to pay off that big bill. I made an arrangement with the power company when we got the $420 one as we just couldn't afford it. We switched to Contact after checking the consumer site, and although it's not that much cheaper really they have this thing called smoothpay which allows you to pay an agreed amount per week, then it is reviewed every 4 months, idea being the highs and lows will even out with the cost you pay each week. This has helped us to afford our power bills massively. I too was convinced that something had to be wrong, but our use did steadily drop once I made some changes. You can also buy devices from the warehouse which test how much power each appliance uses, its possible its something within your house. If worried definitely get an electrician to come. I know how stressful this is! Sorry its happened to you ETA I was told by Mercury that hot water accounts for a massive part of your power bill so maybe you could look at what's going on there, more washing? Appliances that use water maybe there's a leak or problem? ------------- Me 28, DH 29 DS born 20 Nov 2010 (4 years old) #2 due October 7 http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: MamaT
Date Posted: 11 November 2011 at 11:36pm
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I rang Genesis again today and got a really helpful lady. Turns out they had made an error on the last read statement and therefore the next estimate was also out, so it all got accumulated into this bill, if that makes sense.
They are setting up an easy pay system where I pay $55 a week to cover that bill and our regular power, so that is awesome. I was really impressed with the customer service I got today actually. It definately isn't the hot water, I double checked with my dad and the Genesis woman, it was the power that was high, not the hot water portion. Also, DH noticed the seal on the freezer door is looking pretty bad, so we probably need to get that sorted too. We dont have Oil heaters or a clothes dryer. I never use hot water in the washing. We are pretty energy conscious. -------------
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Posted By: EmDee
Date Posted: 12 November 2011 at 6:48am
 I'm glad you got it figured out and that you got someone who could help!------------- DS 8 DD 6 DS 4 DD 2 |
Posted By: jazzy
Date Posted: 12 November 2011 at 8:18am
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MamaT glad you got it sorted.
wiggly_jiggly we were with mercury & switched to contact, we might not save that much more but get flybuys & 22% discount off for prompt payment. I budget $100 a fortnight for power & when the bill comes in with the discount it is under $200. |
Posted By: clover
Date Posted: 12 November 2011 at 9:57am
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Glad you got it figured out! ------------- http://lilypie.com">
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Posted By: Hopes
Date Posted: 12 November 2011 at 2:04pm
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Glad you got it sorted. We had something similar happen last year - I got a bill for about $450 one month - then the next, the bill was about $50, so I never did anything further, I figured they'd sorted it out. -------------   
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Posted By: MissAngel
Date Posted: 13 November 2011 at 10:25pm
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Gosh! Before last xmas we got a $1500 power bill. I literally fell over when I opened it. Turned out that the meter reader hadnt been for months and they'd done super low estimates. We got off it however because they had a problem with that particular reader. Now Matt calls in the reading once a month. Our meters are inside. ------------- Alex, Thomas and Lily http://lilypie.com" rel="nofollow"> 
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Posted By: Guest_65111
Date Posted: 14 November 2011 at 4:10pm
| Well, that really is a lot considering that your average is just about 20% of your bill this month. You might want to check with the electric company should they commit an error with the reading. If not, you might want to have your appliances checked to determine the real cause. I think this probably would be caused by a heating appliance because they can really cost a lot. |
Posted By: Kazper
Date Posted: 16 November 2011 at 10:57pm
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So glad you had that sorted. Was wondering how that turned out.
Oil heaters are shockers to huh! We learned that the hard way a long time back and managed to invest in a small heat pump which only costs us 40 extra dollars a month on a normal power bill and keeps the place so much warmer. ------------- http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/545141" rel="nofollow">  |
Posted By: lisame
Date Posted: 17 November 2011 at 10:36am
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That still seems really high, MamaT. Especially considering your bills used to be so low. Maybe something got damaged in the move?
Have you tried phoning the Nelson Environment Centre? They used to offer free energy efficiency advice, and I'm pretty sure they also loan out energy monitors, so you can plug your various appliances through it and see if you can work out which one's sucking up the power. nec.org.nz, phone 5459176 |
Posted By: T_Rex
Date Posted: 17 November 2011 at 1:15pm
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perhaps have a look at your meter now and see if its looking like its gone back to normal or if its still high - you can see how much you've used since it was last read. that way you dont have to wait a whole month to see if it was just a random one off thing. ------------- http://lilypie.com">  http://lilypie.com">
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