Cost of living crisis: Here’s how to shave $400 off your annual power bill in five minutes

The sun might still be shining in some parts of the country, but the chilly months are just around the corner. For some families, that means a struggle to cover the costs of heating the house.

With a few, practical, simple changes, however, we can all shave a significant amount off our bills during winter. For example, did you know you could save above $450 a year on your power bill just by cutting five minutes off your daily shower? That’s based on the average family of four.

“We know that most households can make really simple changes in their home to make better use of their energy,” says Bridget Abernathy, chief executive of ERANZ, which runs a free coaching service, Energy Mate, to help families struggling to cover their power bills.

The association has collated all their money-saving advice into one place: energymate.nz. “There are some quite helpful little tips and tricks people can use.”

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* Five ways to cut your power bill over winter – but don’t scrimp on the heating

The first tip is to turn off any appliance that you’re not using at the wall. That includes your washer and dryer, your kettle, even your TV.

“You can save up to $100 a year by just turning all those appliances off completely at the wall, when not in use,” says Energy Mate coach Katrina Kelly.

Although it’s often difficult at this time of year, drying your clothes outside as much as possible can make a huge difference to the cost of heating your house. For every load of washing that you dry inside, you could be putting four to five litres of moisture into your house.

“The heating has to dry those clothes first before it actually starts to heat up the room,” says Kelly.

“The moisture from the clothes has to go somewhere, so it ends up going into your curtains and your furniture, so even if you put the clotheshorse outside and then bring them in to finish off it will definitely help.”

Swapping out your ordinary light bulbs for LEDs as they wear out is also an unexpected money saver.

While LEDs cost about $18 per bulb, they have an expected lifespan of 15,000 hours, according to Consumer NZ. A 60 watt incandescent bulb may only cost a dollar or two, but they also last only up to 1000 hours – a false economy. Consumer NZ found that an incandescent bulb will use about $17 worth of electricity in a year, compared to $2.70 for a comparable LED, which means a saving of about $14.38 per bulb, per year. That all adds up.

“Coming into winter, there are deals that come up all the time at hardware stores with boxes of six LEDS for around the $20 mark. So it’s definitely better if you can change to the LED bulbs,” says Kelly. “It’s just little things.”

When it comes to your heat pump, the most efficient space heaters, you should set it to between 18 and 22 degrees, which is when it’s at its most efficient. You should also make sure the filters are cleaned regularly.

“You can be doing that yourself, just by making sure that every time you vacuum, you vacuum the filters.” She says making sure the part of the heat pump that’s outside is clean and clear of vegetation will also make the heat pump more efficient.

Only boiling what you need in the kettle can save you $25 a year, washing your clothes in cold water, rather than warm or hot, can save $80, making sure your chest freezer runs efficiently, making sure your curtains are lined, and that warm air can’t escape out the top of them – every little practical thing you can do will help.

Even thinking to close your curtains just before the sun goes down, and open them first thing in the morning makes the most of the most inexpensive source of energy and cheapest heater we have, Kelly says: the sun.

“If we can bring the costs down by just doing these little tips, that’s great. I’ve definitely got my electricity use down more – and of course we would rather be spending money on anything else. “

For more information check out the Energy Mate website.