Reducing your Power Bill

It is always easy to talk about something that you are passionate about.  Well yesterday I discovered another passion of mine – helping people save money on their power bills.

I was approached by the Hastings District Libraries to arrange for someone to give a public talk on how people can save money on their power bills. At first I thought – who can I contact to give such a talk here in Hastings, and as I discussed it further with my colleagues it became apparent that I was best suited to the role.

So I shared my knowledge on the things that we do in our home to reduce our power bill and also printed off some brochures from the EECA energywise website to share with others at my talks.
The easiest thing to do is to start switching things off at the wall when they are not being used, e.g. TV, Stereo, Laptop and mobile phone chargers, microwave etc.

Did you know that almost 60% of your power bill goes on heating your home and hot water?

And then there are things that you can do with a little investment to stop heat escaping from your home; hang thermal backed curtains over windows (and close them at dusk), stop draughts from coming in under doors, put a cylinder wrap around your hot water cylinder & pipes and investigate getting your ceiling and floor insulated through the “Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart” grants.
For more information, check out the energywise website.