On average our customers save a further 9.5% on their bills with the free hour, with some extra dedicated people saving more than 30%.

So how do you become a master of the hour you ask? Here are our top tips to reach guru status

Level 1: Do stuff in the hour

Sounds basic, but the more you do in the hour, the more you will save. Dishes, washing, vacuuming during that time. Do things in the hour and you will do well.

Level 2: Use the app

The app shows you insight into your highest off peak hour by day, week or month. Know your stats and you will improve. You can also change the hour in the app. Remember that any change will apply to the day the change is made.

Level 3: Shower before the hour

Hot water uses heaps of energy. If you shower prior to the hour, then the hot water heats up during the hour!

Level 4 – GURU: All the above plus timers

Did you know that most washing machines, dish washers and dryers will allow you to set them to start on a delay or at a specific time? Plug-in timers start from under $5 for a simple one, but for a little more you can find timers you can set through your Wi-Fi using an app on your phone. If you establish a pattern using timers, where these devices always run in the hour, you will reach level four!

Hour of Power Basics

The off peak time slots you can choose your free hour are between 9am-5pm and 9pm-7am. There’s no limit on how many times you can change it, so feel free to adjust your free hour each day to suit your power needs.

You’ll be able to update your time on either your online account with us, or using our pretty awesome (if we do say ourselves!) app. This also helps you track both how much you’re saving, and what time of day you are using the most electricity.

The time where you have your free hour can be updated as often as you like, but one thing to keep in mind is any change you make before midnight is applied for that day. So even if you have forgotten to change your hour for your usage in the morning and you’ve already squeezed a bunch of usage in during that time, you still have the end of the day to update it.

Basically, whatever time you have selected when the clock turns midnight will be the hour you’ll receive free for the day just passed.

Sounds pretty straightforward, so there must be a catch right?

No catch, small print or anything like that!

By using more power in off peak times where it’s cheaper to purchase – it allows us to offer our customers the free hour each day.

It’s great for the country as well, as the less power used during those peak times, the less demand on the national electricity infrastructure. This means less chance of having to start back-up (often non-renewable) power plants to cope with this usage, and more chance of using renewable sources, such as hydro, geothermal and wind.

The post Master the Hour of Power appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

This information can help you make smart choices when selecting energy efficient appliances and is a good place to start if you want to reduce your energy consumption (and save money!) during your free off-peak Hour of Power, or when shifting power use off-peak on the MoveMaster plan.

Clothes dryer

1.8 kWh
per load

Dishwasher

2 kWh
per cycle

Electric oven

1.9 kWh
per hour

Heaters

1-2.4 kWh
per hour

Pool pump

1.1 kWh
per hour

Washing machine

0.9 kWh
per cycle

Air conditioner

3.5 kWh
per hour (large wall unit)

6 kWh
per hour (ducted)

Hairdryer

1.6 kWh
per hour

Iron

1.75-2.4 kWh
per hour

Electric kettle

1.8-2.4 kWh
for 10 minutes

TV

0.13 kWh
per hour

Vacuum cleaner

1.1 kWh
per hour

Lights

0.06 kWh
per hour (halogen bulb)

Microwave

0.05 kWh
per plate

Toaster

0.05-0.085 kWh
per 2 slices

Refrigerator

4.6 kWh
per day

The post Appliance Usage guide appeared first on Kiwiland Times.

By moving more power off-peak, you’re not only reducing load on New Zealand’s national power grid and infrastructure, but you’re also more likely to be using electricity from cleaner generation sources as there tends to be less fossil fuel generated electricity in the system over night.

And on the MoveMaster plan, you can save money too, with better rates off-peak and half price at night (11pm-7am). It’s a win-win for the environment AND your hip pocket! That’s why we’re super proud of this plan.

It starts by moving anything that does not need to be done during peak hours. This includes using any large appliance like your washing machine or dishwasher. And anything that involves heating or cooling uses heaps of power. But the biggest win can come from shifting your swimming pool pump or spa pump energy usage to off-peak.

Here’s our tips on how to get the most out of your MoveMaster plan.

The easy steps!

Tip 1: Put your washing machine on before you go to bed. Many washing machines have an in-built delay system, so get the washing done in the small hours and unload in the morning.

Tip 2: Same goes for the dryer – if it’s too cold outside to dry your clothes properly, keep it use to late at night or very early morning if you can.

Tip 3: And the dishwasher – don’t put it on straight after dinner during the peak period when you’re not going to empty it until the next morning anyway. Delay that baby and it’ll cost you less.

If you do these three, you’re well on your way. For top savings, you could pop your Hour of Power on for 11pm as well – and that way the first hour of your washing/drying/dishwashing extravaganza will be 100% free!

For the big win – pool pumps

Tip 4: Nothing encapsulates the benefits of our MoveMaster plan like the easy win of ensuring your swimming pool or spa pump is used off-peak. Changing some energy usage habits isn’t that easy but running your pool pump overnight at half price is just a no-brainer! As well as a clean pool, you’ll get a clean conscience from knowing this energy usage is more likely to come from renewable sources.

Another huge contributor to your power bill is hot water

Tip 5: Try to shower at night, or early in the morning if you can (before 7am) and you will drastically reduce your hot water costs. Just remember, the hot water heats up after your shower.

Heating and cooling. This one is big too.

Tip 6: Heat your house before the peak hours in the morning. This will mean that you wake up to a warm house, and all that luxurious warmth would have been half price! Many heaters have timers built in, if not you can buy these – see the gizmos section below.

Cooling might be a bit more of a challenge given it’s usually hottest during peak times, but if you need to cool down, use your air con off-peak whenever possible – it all counts.

Tip 7: Make sure that you use a thermostat. Many people heat their houses too much – a cosy, but expensive, habit!

Charge, charge, charge!

Tip 8: Charge stuff at night. If you have an electric vehicle (EV) then this will make a huge difference, but even laptops and phones can be charged at night and be ready for you each morning, at half price! Remember, the more items you charge during the night (11pm-7am), the more you’ll save. Devices tend not to use much power in isolation, but this is a great example of a habit change that will save you lots of time.

Helpful Gizmos

Gizmo 1: Use the timers built-in to your devices to delay things at night, and to schedule things in off-peak hours.

Gizmo 2: If your devices don’t have timers, you can buy these. One option is smart plugs (such as Kasa). These are cheap and effective and allow you to control and schedule your devices from an app. This is perfect for a heater that has a thermostat in it but no timer, or if you just like apps.

Gizmo 3: If your heater has no thermostat, consider a Heater mate. These have timers and an accurate thermostat built in for any heater type and can turn themselves off on a timer or by an ideal temperature you set.

If you do all of this stuff, you can soon be saving a bundle on the MoveMaster plan. And by reducing load in the peak hours, you could not only be saving yourself money, but you could also be reducing your impact on the environment. Go you!

MoveMaster

Cheaper off-peak power and half price overnight (11pm-7am). Plus an epic solar buyback.

Moving power off-peak can reduce your impact on the environment, so it helps your wallet and the planet.

Join Learn more

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