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.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful
& it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.
I was recommended this website by my cousin. I am not positive whether or not this post is written by him as no one else know such specified about my difficulty.
You are incredible! Thanks!
If some one needs to be updated with most
up-to-date technologies after that he must be pay a quick visit this site and be up to date every day.
???????????????? ????????? ????? ?? ??????? ??????? ?????? ? ??????.
?? ??????????: ?????? ??????? ?????? ??????????? ? ??????
???? ??????? ?????????? ???????? ????????????? ?????? ?????????? ? ??????? ??? ? ??????? ?? ???!
Wonderful blog! I found it while surfing around on Yahoo News.
Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News?
I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem
to get there! Thank you
Hey this is kinda of off topic but I was wanting to
know if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually
code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have
no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience.
Any help would be enormously appreciated!
Hi there! I know this is kinda off topic nevertheless I’d figured I’d
ask. Would you be interested in trading links or maybe guest authoring a blog post or vice-versa?
My blog goes over a lot of the same topics as yours and I feel we could greatly benefit from each other.
If you are interested feel free to shoot me an email.
I look forward to hearing from you! Superb blog by the way!
Ahaa, its pleasant conversation concerning this paragraph here at this webpage, I have read all that, so now me also commenting here.
If you are going for best contents like I do, simply pay a quick
visit this web site daily because it presents feature contents, thanks
Aw, this was an incredibly nice post. Finding the time and actual
effort to generate a superb article… but what can I say… I hesitate
a whole lot and never manage to get anything done.
An outstanding share! I’ve just forwarded this onto a
coworker who had been conducting a little research on this.
And he actually bought me dinner due to the fact that I
stumbled upon it for him… lol. So allow me to
reword this…. Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending time to discuss this
matter here on your web page.
Hello, i believe that i noticed you visited my web site thus i got here to return the want?.I am
trying to find things to improve my website!I assume its adequate to
make use of some of your concepts!!
Greate post. Keep writing such kind of info on your site.
Im really impressed by it.
Hey there, You have performed an incredible job.
I’ll certainly digg it and in my view suggest to my friends.
I am confident they’ll be benefited from this site.
These are truly impressive ideas in about blogging. You have touched some
good things here. Any way keep up wrinting.
Hey! I’m at work browsing your blog from my new iphone! Just wanted to say
I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Carry on the outstanding work!
I am actually thankful to the owner of this web site who has shared this fantastic piece of writing at at this place.
Hello, I desire to subscribe for this website to get latest updates, therefore
where can i do it please help out.
Thanks for your marvelous posting! I actually enjoyed reading it,
you could be a great author. I will make sure to
bookmark your blog and will come back someday.
I want to encourage yourself to continue your great work,
have a nice day!
I’m really impressed with your writing abilities and also
with the layout for your blog. Is this a paid subject or did you modify it yourself?
Either way stay up the excellent high quality writing, it is uncommon to see a nice blog
like this one nowadays..
Thanks for the good writeup. It if truth be told used to be a leisure
account it. Glance complex to more delivered agreeable from you!
By the way, how can we be in contact?
I always used to read piece of writing in news papers but now as I
am a user of net so from now I am using net for content, thanks to web.
Have you ever thought about publishing an ebook or guest
authoring on other websites? I have a blog centered on the same information you discuss
and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my
subscribers would appreciate your work. If you are even remotely interested, feel
free to shoot me an e-mail.
Good post. I certainly appreciate this website. Continue the good work!
Hi there would you mind stating which blog platform you’re working with?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m having a difficult time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your design seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique.
P.S My apologies for getting off-topic but I had to ask!
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve been to this blog before but after
going through many of the articles I realized it’s new to
me. Anyhow, I’m definitely happy I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!
My partner and I stumbled over here coming from a different web page and thought I might
as well check things out. I like what I see so now i
am following you. Look forward to looking over your web page for a second time.
When someone writes an post he/she keeps
the idea of a user in his/her mind that how a user can know it.
Thus that’s why this paragraph is great. Thanks!
??????????? – ???????? ?? ??????? ?????
Hello, this weekend is pleasant in favor of me,
because this time i am reading this wonderful educational post
here at my residence.
For the reason that the admin of this site is working, no question very rapidly it will be
renowned, due to its feature contents.
Admiring the time and effort you put into your blog and detailed information you provide.
It’s awesome to come across a blog every once in a while that
isn’t the same unwanted rehashed material. Fantastic read!
I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.
If some one desires to be updated with most recent technologies afterward he must be pay a visit this website and be
up to date everyday.
Now I am going to do my breakfast, later than having my breakfast coming
again to read additional news.
Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger,
and I was curious about your situation; we have created some nice practices and we
are looking to exchange methods with other folks, be sure to shoot me
an email if interested.
I have read so many articles or reviews about the blogger lovers but this article
is actually a good paragraph, keep it up.
Have you ever thought about including a little bit more than just your articles?
I mean, what you say is important and everything. However think
of if you added some great images or videos to give your posts more, “pop”!
Your content is excellent but with images and video clips,
this site could definitely be one of the greatest in its niche.
Very good blog!
With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any problems of plagorism or copyright
infringement? My website has a lot of unique content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it seems a
lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you
know any ways to help stop content from being ripped off?
I’d really appreciate it.
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not
seeing very good gains. If you know of any please share. Thanks!
Fascinating blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it
from somewhere? A design like yours with a few
simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out.
Please let me know where you got your design. With thanks
Having read this I thought it was very enlightening.
I appreciate you spending some time and effort to put this short
article together. I once again find myself spending a significant amount of
time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still
worthwhile!
Hi! I just want to give you a huge thumbs
up for the great information you have right here on this post.
I am returning to your site for more soon.
I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good.
I do not know who you are but definitely you are going to
a famous blogger if you are not already 😉 Cheers!
Wow that was odd. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my
comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to
say great blog!
Great article. I am going through some of these issues as
well..
There is definately a great deal to find out about this subject.
I really like all the points you have made.
???????? ?????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ????? ? ?????????? ????????? ??????? – ???????? ??????
Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I
was wondering your situation; many of us have
created some nice methods and we are looking to swap strategies with others, be
sure to shoot me an e-mail if interested.
Howdy! I could have sworn I’ve visited this web site before but after going through a few of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
Nonetheless, I’m definitely happy I stumbled upon it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back often!
I would like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing
this blog. I really hope to check out the same high-grade blog posts by you in the future as well.
In truth, your creative writing abilities has encouraged
me to get my own, personal site now 😉
Tremendous things here. I am very satisfied to see your article.
Thanks so much and I’m taking a look forward to contact you.
Will you please drop me a mail?