Energy Efficiency
When it comes to energy efficiency, there are many ways to save money and stay warm. Here are some suggestions.
Making your home warmer
Making your home more energy efficient may sound expensive, but it will save you money in the long run. It reduces emissions and plays a vital role in ensuring whānau can enjoy warm, dry and healthy homes – without increased energy costs.
For more information on making your home more energy efficient view our Smart Home website here.
Warmth on a budget
With energy costs on the rise it makes sense to try and reduce whenever and wherever you can. Some ways that you can save power are:
- Close the curtains at night to prevent heat loss through windows.
- Only heat the rooms you are using.
- Use the right sized heater for your room.
- Turn off lights when you leave a room.
- Make sure your clothes dryer has adequate ventilation.
- Make use of natural light where possible.
- Use a dehumidifier to remove cold, damp air.
- Consider installing a heat pump which is significantly more efficient than traditional electric heaters.
How much does it cost to run my appliances?
- Knowing how much your heating, kitchen, lighting and general household appliances cost to run can help you make the most effective savings in your home.
- For up-to-date information on electrical appliances and how much they cost to run them, visit the EECA Energywise website.
Energy efficiency around your home
Beat those autumn blues
As the nights cool down, it’s time to think about heating your home. No matter what room in the house, there’s an efficient way to heat it with electricity.
Fan heaters are a cost-effective way of heating rooms quickly and efficiently. They are compact and portable and can be built into walls, floors, or fireplaces. Special models are also available for wet areas like bathrooms.
Storage heaters store energy overnight and release a constant background heat during the day. They are great if you are home during the day. Also, because they use off-peak rates during the night, they are very economical.
Possibly the best form of heating and a great investment is heat pumps. Read below to find out more!
What’s hot, heat pumps!
Heat pumps are the most efficient way to heat your home or business. They can provide efficiency gains of three or more, which means for every kilowatt of energy supplied to the heat pump, it will provide three kilowatts or more of heat.
Heat pumps can be installed in individual rooms or ducted to several rooms, depending on their size and your needs. If you’re thinking of building or installing a new heating system in your home or office, investigate an air conditioner or heat pump. They may not be as expensive as you think and are certainly the most economical to run.
Don’t overheat your power bill!
Heating hot water accounts for about 40% of the average domestic customer’s electricity usage. Your choice of electricity tariff can have a major influence on how much you pay for your hot water.
Most of our residential customers have only one electricity meter, so they pay the same rate per unit for all the electricity they use. To decrease your bill, you can switch to a different pricing plan that meters and charges your hot water separately. For most customers, this will not affect their level of service as Waipā Networks remotely controls most electric hot water to keep costs down.
The Consumer Powerswitch website will help you determine which pricing plan is best for you and will let you compare the different charges between electricity retailers. If you would like to change your pricing plan, please call your electricity retailer.
Waipā Networks water relays – hooked water control
A relay is a device on the meter board for properties with an electric hot water cylinder. It allows Waipā Networks to turn the hot water on and off as needed.
Why should I have a relay?
The short answer is, YOU’LL SAVE MONEY.
One of our relays controlling your hot water will reduce your power bill. Customers with a relay will either have an all-inclusive/combined charge (if they have one meter) or a controlled charge (if they have more than one meter). Both of these plans are cheaper than the uncontrolled/anytime rate.
You can get in touch with your electricity retailer to discuss the difference in charges or feel free to call us with any questions about hot water control.