Click the image below to receive $50 of free power when you sign up with Powershop, all I need is your name.
For those of you who didn’t see my ‘first impression’ post, here’s a link for you.
Well, as the text in the title implies, it’s just over a month since we joined Powershop and it’s time to write a follow up on how things are going.
Last time I complained about the start up costs (of going from paying in arrears to paying in advance) and this was aweful, with another ~$150 bill hitting us during this period on our credit card. However, in terms of Powershop (and this was the only power company we actually used this month) we managed to spend $200, a drop of about $30. This was more to do with power savings than cheaper power (more on that later) but was still good.
One of my goals is to drop our monthly power bill to $150 per month year round. I plan to do this by buying power in advance during summer and autumn so that we have a big balance to be used during the winter next year. From what I can see, I’m definitely going to be able to do this.
You may also be interested in ‘Final Powershop Review – 1 Year On‘
In terms of power saving, I realised pretty quickly that I needed to know what each of my devices was using. “Why isn’t there a device I can just plug everything into and it tells me on a screen how much power it’s using” I said to Megan. Literally hours later, while going into Countdown I spotted exactly that, a simple meter for $25.
I came home and proceeded to get completely neurotic about measuring power consumption of heaps of stuff. We got power savings from things which used unusually big amounts of power, but also things which we would expect to use quite a bit of power (e.g. our LCD tv) but never really thought enough about to turn off. This has changed.
The two most interesting things for me was the PC (which uses about as much power as our 40″ LCD tv even when sitting idle, we’re now using sleep mode in Win7) and our electric heater.
What was interesting about our heater wasn’t that it used a lot (that was pretty obvious) but the impact of using the different switches. There are two switches that can be used, so three combinations, left only, right only and both. Left turned out to use 822 watts (about 18 cents an hour) the right one used 1346 watts (about 29 cents an hour) and both used 2108 watts, a wapping 46 cents an hour. So I suggested that instead of waiting for it to get really cold inside and then using both switches, we should turn the heater on earlier and just use the left switch, it has made a big difference.
So, what’s my conclusion? Powershop turns out to do exactly what it says it’s going to do. It saves you money, it makes you more aware of how much power you’re consuming and when, and it gives you a desire to use less and less power.
Ari Sargent, head of Powershop made a post a while back to stick his foot into the ‘smart meter’ debate. He advocated power users as the ‘smart meters’ using a company like Powershop. I believe he is absoloutely right, as my experience has proven out. While smart meters still have a place (understanding power consumption on devices I couldn’t get access to and turning off devices according to timings or other patterns) they shouldn’t be seen as the first step to helping people reduce their usage.
It’s pretty scary to think how much less power the country would consume if they were all on Powershop. Pretty exciting actually.
It’s nearly impossible to find educated people
in this particular topic, however, you seem like you know
what you’re talking about! Thanks
Ahaa, its good dialogue concerning this article here at
this weblog, I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting here.
Greetings! Very useful advice within this article! It’s the little changes that
will make the greatest changes. Thanks for sharing!
Hi there to every body, it’s my first pay a visit of this web site; this weblog carries awesome and genuinely fine stuff
in favor of visitors.
It’s appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy.
I have read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some interesting things or tips.
Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article.
I desire to read even more things about it!
I absolutely love your blog.. Very nice colors & theme.
Did you develop this web site yourself? Please reply back as I’m
trying to create my own blog and would love to find out where you got this from or just
what the theme is named. Appreciate it!
I for all time emailed this web site post page to all my associates, for the
reason that if like to read it afterward my links will too.
Valuable information. Fortunate me I found your site unintentionally, and I am stunned
why this accident didn’t came about in advance! I bookmarked
it.
What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable know-how on the topic of unexpected feelings.
Hi, I do think this is a great site. I stumbledupon it
😉 I will revisit once again since I book-marked it. Money and freedom is the
greatest way to change, may you be rich and continue to guide other people.
Paragraph writing is also a excitement, if you be acquainted with then you can write if not it is complicated to write.
My spouse and I stumbled over here from a different
web address and thought I should check things out.
I like what I see so i am just following you.
Look forward to looking over your web page again.
Thanks for the marvelous posting! I genuinely enjoyed reading it, you can be a
great author. I will make certain to bookmark your blog and will
come back at some point. I want to encourage you continue
your great job, have a nice afternoon!
Hi there, this weekend is nice in favor of me, for the reason that
this time i am reading this impressive informative post here at my home.
I don’t even understand how I ended up right here, however I thought this put up used to be great.
I do not understand who you are but definitely you’re going to a famous blogger when you are not already.
Cheers!
Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point.
You definitely know what youre talking about,
why waste your intelligence on just posting videos
to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?
Hi I am so excited I found your webpage, I really found you
by error, while I was looking on Yahoo for something else, Nonetheless I
am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a marvelous post and
a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have
time to read through it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added in your RSS feeds,
so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do
keep up the great work.
Hello there! I just want to give you a huge thumbs up for
your great info you have got right here on this post.
I’ll be coming back to your web site for more soon.
This paragraph will help the internet viewers for setting up new blog or even a blog from start to end.
Very energetic post, I loved that a lot. Will there be a part 2?
Post writing is also a fun, if you know then you can write
otherwise it is difficult to write.
Thanks for the auspicious writeup. It actually
used to be a enjoyment account it. Look complex to far introduced agreeable from you!
By the way, how could we communicate?
I was recommended this web site by my cousin. I
am not sure whether this post is written by him as nobody else know such detailed
about my difficulty. You’re wonderful! Thanks!
Hi there! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new apple iphone!
Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog
and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the
outstanding work!
Today, I went to the beachfront with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said
“You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her
ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear.
She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!
Hey there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering
if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with
HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding experience so I wanted to get
advice from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
My spouse and I absolutely love your blog and find nearly all
of your post’s to be exactly what I’m looking for. can you offer guest writers to write content
available for you? I wouldn’t mind publishing a post or elaborating on a number of the subjects you write related to
here. Again, awesome web log!
If you are going for most excellent contents like me, just visit this
website every day for the reason that it provides feature contents, thanks
Does your blog have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to send you an email.
I’ve got some recommendations for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it expand over time.
Hi all, here every person is sharing such knowledge, therefore it’s nice to read this web
site, and I used to visit this webpage daily.
Hi there! I simply wish to give you a huge thumbs up for the great info you’ve got here on this post.
I am coming back to your website for more soon.
Ahaa, its nice discussion about this paragraph here at this
website, I have read all that, so at this time
me also commenting at this place.
Thanks very interesting blog!
Hi to every one, it’s in fact a fastidious for me to visit this web page, it consists
of important Information.
Definitely believe that which you said. Your favorite justification seemed to be
on the internet the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while
people consider worries that they plainly do not know about.
You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the
whole thing without having side effect , people could take a signal.
Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular article!
It’s the little changes which will make the largest
changes. Thanks for sharing!
Hi, I want to subscribe for this webpage to get newest updates, thus where can i do
it please help out.
When some one searches for his necessary thing, thus
he/she desires to be available that in detail,
thus that thing is maintained over here.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a
comment is added I get three emails with the same
comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that
service? Bless you!
Hello, i think that i saw you visited my web site so i came to “return the favor”.I’m attempting to find things to improve my website!I suppose its ok to use
a few of your ideas!!
Hi there! I could have sworn I’ve visited this site before but after browsing through a few of the articles I realized it’s new to me.
Anyways, I’m certainly pleased I stumbled upon it and I’ll
be bookmarking it and checking back often!
Hi there fantastic website! Does running a blog similar to this take a
large amount of work? I have virtually no expertise in coding
however I was hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
Anyways, should you have any recommendations or tips for
new blog owners please share. I understand this is off subject however I simply wanted to
ask. Thanks!
Hi, I think your blog might be having browser compatibility issues.
When I look at your blog in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads up!
Other then that, amazing blog!
Hello! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems
with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended
up losing many months of hard work due to
no data backup. Do you have any solutions to stop hackers?
Good blog post. I definitely appreciate this site.
Keep writing!
Hello There. I discovered your weblog using msn. That is an extremely neatly
written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to read
extra of your helpful information. Thanks
for the post. I will certainly return.
You made some really good points there. I checked on the internet to find out more about the issue and found most individuals will go along with your views on this web site.
Howdy fantastic blog! Does running a blog such as this take a lot of work?
I’ve no expertise in coding but I was hoping to start my own blog soon. Anyways, if you have any ideas or tips for new blog owners please share.
I know this is off topic nevertheless I simply had to ask.
Kudos!
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to this site before but after reading through some of the post I realized it’s new to me.
Nonetheless, I’m definitely glad I found it
and I’ll be book-marking and checking back frequently!
Everyone loves what you guys tend to be up too. This type of clever
work and coverage! Keep up the fantastic works guys I’ve added
you guys to my own blogroll.