Getting a better Energy deal - WHAT A JOKE!

[FenceFurniture]

A 30 minute average is fine by me because otherwise you'd spend your life looking at the bloody app, rather than using actual sparks!

After the horror summer of 2019-20 we put two split aircons in: one in the front room which became Lola's work and wardrobe room, and one in this room at the other end. The next three summers were back to usual and the aircons didn't get much use, but I think this summer they'll get a workout.

Another reason for killing the gas central heating is because of cats. They LOVE to lie on the vents which blows their fur up everywhere. The room heat sensor for the system is in the middle room, so if there is a cat on the vent in there the heating gets fooled into thinking it's still cool, and so keeps warming the cats guts! This will never do. Some years ago I implemented a somewhat agricultural but nonetheless effective solution to keep the vents clear.

You know what a Scarecrow is. :D This is my DiscomforterCat system:

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Nursie is a particularly stubborn cat. There's a vent like that near my desk and I have to put up with her rattling around trying her hardest to rearrange the can openers to a comfortable level. :~

[Beardy]

Sounds like our experience with Red Energy. If their business model consists of happily losing customers by refusing to match lower prices, having the customer switch to another provider, then running around making better offers to get the customer back.....I'd say they have a problem.:rolleyes:

Happy with OVO; it isn't even summer yet, and on sunny days we're already routinely making a couple of $ a day even allowing for supply charges, etc. I'm still getting used to the idea of my (prepaid) account balance going up instead of down, and they pay 3% interest on surplus finds in your account. I'm expecting at least two quarters to be in credit at this rate, and we only have a 5kW inverter on our solar.

Are you a high power user? I am with Origin Energy and with a 10kw system that has a capped feed in of 5 I am still getting whacked with a decent bill. Last month I fed 400Kwh into the grid and used 720kwh.
Ight need to shop around

[Bushmiller]

This was the situation a few minutes ago, and I think that confirms the 30 minute intervals they use.

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While I am sure the majority of consumers would be quite happy to pay only 4c per Kwhr, that is not the w/sale price. Have a look at this chart from AEMO for NSW:

AEMO | NEM data dashboard (https://www.aemo.com.au/Energy-systems/Electricity/National-Electricity-Market-NEM/Data-NEM/Data-Dashboard-NEM)

As you can see, the price has not been positive since around 0800 this morning and is still negative at the time of posting. 4c is not a bad price, but not w/sale!!

Regards
Paul

[FenceFurniture]

Might need to shop aroundEnergyMadeEasy.gov.au is the place to look. It's a bit more streamlined than it used to be.

[FenceFurniture]

This looks ok so far, given that daily usage is probably pretty much smack on the yearly average (no heating until 18:00 today):
I am flying fairly blind with electricity consumption, having deleted gas heating. I put 5000kWh per year peak use and 4300kWh per year for Controlled Load 1. That's an average of 25.5kWh per day, and my usage over the last three days is 76kWh, which indicates that, somehow, my forecasts were ridiculously accurate (for those three days anyway :D)

Its probably more like a split of 6800kWh + 3000kWh because my CL1 usage shouldn't actually change at all.

Based on that, my forecast usage cost for three days was $6.27 x 3 = $18.81, but the app says it was $13.73 (maybe not including GST)

[russ57]

I've been with amber for a while. Very happy. The price in the app includes network charges.
Yes, they go negative. Last Sunday..
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Works really well with batteries.
I dont think I've used more than a couple of kW in peak time (3-9pm) this year.

(according to my latest bill, I paid 4c kW average for the actual energy, swamped by network, environmental certificates, hedging and other sundries. Total around 15c kwh Co consumed.)

[FenceFurniture]

Not quite 4 weeks in, and things seem to be going really well with Amber. That's a small sample of course, but based upon usage charges only (no daily con fees) the bill for the last 24 days with Amber would be $86.31, as opposed to Origin's "Retention Rates" which would have made a bill of $137.02, and if I was stupid enough to accept their new rates without moaning (and y'all know how good I am at that :D) it would have been $167.95, so almost double Amber's rates. Daily supply charges can make a difference to that of course. Then add on the $19 monthly membership fee and the $86.31 becomes $105.31, still well under Origin's "We love you so much we'll run at a loss for you, yeah bollocks" rates. (they did actually try to tell me they were running at a loss for me).

The amount of data Amber provides is unreal – usage and costs per 15 minutes, live, and downloadable in CSV format.

[Bushmiller]

FF

When you first talked of Amber, I mentioned it to a colleague at work. He immediately looked up Amber and announced that it was not available in his area (suburb of Toowoomba). Is it only a Sydney/Blue Mountains thing?

Regards
Paul

[FenceFurniture]

Nah, just a Katoomba thing Paul. :D

AFAIK they are NSW & VIC, but not in all regions. Possibly the coastal fringe?

[FenceFurniture]

Actually in NSW, ACT, VIC, SA, and SEQ

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=where+is+amber+electricity+available

[FenceFurniture]

This graph shows what has been happening...rather graphically...

The blue lines are Amber rates that I have been charged (and russ57 indicated it actually does include the daily connection fee – we'll soon see), but does not account for the $19/month membership fee. Dark is Peak, light is Controlled load.
The two pink flatliners are Origin's "We love you too much" rates (dark pink is Peak, light is CL 1).
The two green flatliners are Origin's "We think you're an idiot" rates (dark green is Peak, light is CL 1).

What this shows is that Amber's Peak rate (dark blue) has always been 5-10 cents per kWh less than Origin's best rate (the dark pink line)
and Amber's Controlled Load rate (light blue) has always been 4-10 cents per kWh less than Origin's best rate (the light pink line). On one occasion Amber was 1c more than Origin (where the light blue crosses above the light pink).

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[FenceFurniture]

This shows the difference even more starkly. Total cost of the three plans: Amber in amber, Origin Mate's in green, Origin Idiot's in red.

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[FenceFurniture]

After the first month of Amber I am pretty satisfied with them. This updated chart has all the costs and rebates built in. Underneath the graph you can see the totals for each system. Even though Amber was about the same as Origin "Mates" on several occasions, the disparity the rest of the time makes Amber 18% cheaper for the month. As for the Origin's "We think your an Idiot" rates...you'd have to be an idiot to accept them.

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