Published in the Oamaru Mail, 4 October 2024
A visit from an EnergyMate coach helped Oamaru single mother Christina Kyles save big on her electricity bills through an action plan that has made a ‘huge’ difference to the household budget.
EnergyMate is a free service for eligible households led by the Electricity Retailers’ Association and funded by electricity retailers, lines companies and the Government.
Christina was referred to the service by Family Start and received her EnergyMate coach visit (provided through Presbyterian Support Otago) in mid-July.
She lives with her five children (three of them under three) in a four-bedroom Kāinga Ora home. Three heat pumps keep the house warm and reasonably dry but operating this many in the house comes at a considerable cost.
“The coach arrived, and she was so cool,” Christina says.
“She held my baby while she explained exactly how an action plan could help reduce my power bill. I was just wowed that she had all this information that I didn't know.”
The coach checked Christina’s hot water temperature setting to make sure it was optimum. Then she checked her hot water cylinder and her water pipes to ensure they were covered with lagging.
“She offered me free door draft stoppers and some insulating window film (supplied by Waitaki District Council). Together we called my power company and worked out a discounted plan for the winter months. It was an amazing result!”
The coach made several suggestions including keeping showers to five minutes, cutting down on baths and switching appliances off at the wall. Another suggestion was that she only heat enough water in her kettle for her immediate needs, rather than boiling a completely full jug each time.
Christina’s next power bill was $150 lower than the previous month because of her winter discount and the electricity-saving action plan she developed with her EnergyMate coach.
Christina says this came as a real shock.
“It has made a huge difference because there’s now more food in the cupboard and I was able to take my kids on a wee trip away!”
But there were other benefits.
“Just a simple thing like the door draft stopper. When I’m playing on the ground with my children there’s no longer a cold breeze coming through from under the bathroom door. That’s another real positive!”
Christina says she had been nervous about calling her power company, but now knows it’s the best thing you can do if you’re struggling to pay your bill.
EnergyMate is currently available in West Auckland, South Auckland, Rotorua, Whakatāne, Taupō, Hastings/Napier, Christchurch, Timaru, Oamaru, and Dunedin.
Households at high risk of energy hardship can be referred into the programme by their power company, their local participating financial mentoring service, or participating healthy homes support services. So far it has helped more than 2,500 households nationwide, more than 100 of these in Oamaru.
For more information and great energy saving tips visit www.energymate.nz.