Sunday, December 23, 2012

Red Energy increases prices January 2013

It is that time of the year again when the electricity industry hikes up their prices. Each time I update the Energy Cost Calculator. I noticed when I first wrote the calculator the default price I used was 17.4 cents per kilowatt hour. We're now up to 25.74 cents per kilowatt hour.

The other interesting observation is the charge to the property continues to go up as well. The latest price is 102.30 cents per day. We can't control the price to the property which is where the retailers get us. Eventually however the retailers and distributors will price themselves out of the market and like Telstra did. Raising the monthly price of service which is a cost you can't avoid means real alternatives may start becoming viable. At 102.30 cents per day that is $377.34 a year. Over ten years that's a staggering $3,773.40. It starts to make some form of capital device look attractive.

For the moment however all we can do is reduce our usage and look for ways to reduce costs. Look at and measure your energy usage for existing equipment you have around the home. A power meter as shown on the Energy Cost Calculator page can be purchased for under $30 and will pay for itself many times over. We use a small freezer to hold food for Christmas but once Christmas is over it is turned off. It costs around $95 a year to run. Alternately if you can freeze food and it saves money, then factor in the power usage into the costs.

The Energy Cost Calculator has been provided to help others to determine the cost of running their appliances, plus, it also provides the ability to determine the time a new appliance with a lower energy rating will pay for itself in terms of electricity usage alone. If someone said you could have a new TV for half price you'd probably jump at the opportunity. If you pick the right size low energy TV the purchase can save you money on your electricity bill. However choose a large screen TVto replace your ageing 26" TV and chances are you'll increase your electricity bill. Click here for the Energy Cost Calculator.

I've also noticed some low energy LEDs at last becoming cost effective. I hope to check those out early in the near year.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Regards,

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer advice and support.
Servicing Doncaster, Templestowe, Eltham and the surrounding area.

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