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How to Save Money on Electricity as a Renter
Even in a rental, two parts of the bill are yours to change: how much power you use and the plan you pay for it on. Your last bill already has the numbers to start with.
By MarnixPublished Sources
You can't put solar panels on a rental or swap the tired air conditioner, so the power bill can feel like something that just happens to you. Summer makes it sharper: a run of hot nights with the air conditioning on, and the next bill lands bigger than the last. If you've recently moved out of home, it may also be the first bill with only your name on it.
We'll follow one made-up renter, Leo, who lives alone in a one-bedroom flat and gets a power bill every month.
Check what the bill actually measured
A bigger bill doesn't always mean you used more. Start with the billing period, because a bill covering 37 days will be larger than one covering 30 even if nothing changed. Divide the usage, shown in kilowatt-hours (kWh), by the number of days and you get the figure worth comparing. Leo's last bill was 180 kWh over 30 days, or 6 kWh a day.
Then look at whether the meter reading was actual or estimated. When a meter can't be read, the retailer can estimate it, and the bill has to say so. An estimate isn't a measure of what you used, so a jump on an estimated bill may not be real. You can ask your retailer whether it accepts a reading you take yourself, as long as the meter is safe to get to.
It's also fairer to compare a summer bill with last summer's than with spring's. Clova, our budgeting app, puts each payment in a category, so your power bills sit together across the year.
Two charges to find on the bill
The supply charge is a daily fee for being connected, and you pay it on every day of the bill whether or not anything is switched on. The usage charge is a price for each kWh you use, so it moves with your habits.
Made-up rates, with no solar, discounts or time-of-use pricing.
If Leo used 30 kWh less over the month, the bill would come to $81. The $9 saved comes entirely off usage; using less doesn't reduce the daily supply charge.
Some plans charge different rates at different times of day, called time-of-use pricing. On those, running the washing machine or dishwasher in a cheaper window lowers the bill. On a single flat rate, the time of day makes no difference, and the rate lines on your bill show which kind you have.
Compare plans at your own usage
Plans trade the two charges off against each other, so the cheapest one depends on how much power you use. Say Leo pays $1.20 a day and 30c a kWh, and he's offered a plan at 80c a day and 35c a kWh.
Bills for 30 days at the made-up rates above.
In a mild month the lower daily charge wins by $3. In a hot month, with the air conditioner on most evenings, Leo's current plan wins by the same amount. A discount or a headline percentage works the same way: it's worked out at an assumed amount of usage, which may not be yours.
Your current retailer is the first place to ask. Your bill has to include information for comparing offers, and you can ask whether there's a better plan for how you use power and how long its price lasts. Power is one of the bills you only have to switch once, and a plan nobody has checked in years is worth a phone call.
To compare across retailers, the government's free comparison sites let you enter the usage from your bill. Energy Made Easy covers NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, and Victorian Energy Compare covers Victoria. In WA and the NT, your supplier is the place to ask. Read the supply charge and usage rate side by side, check what a discount depends on and note when the price ends.
Keep cool without changing the rental
Summer is when the usage part grows, and most of what reins it in needs nothing from your landlord. Try the air conditioner between 23 and 26°C, with its eco mode on if it has one, and cool only the room you're in with the doors to the rest closed. Closing the curtains or blinds before the sun reaches the windows keeps heat out, and opening up again once the evening air outside is cooler lets it go. On milder nights, a fan may be all you need.
If the air conditioner's filter is one you're meant to clean yourself, the manual will say how; otherwise ask your property manager. Anything that changes the property, such as outdoor blinds, a new air conditioner or electrical work, goes to your landlord or agent as a request.
On a dangerously hot day, staying cool comes before the bill, and so does anything that keeps food or medicine safe. If the bill that follows is more than you can pay, ask your retailer about its hardship program.
Have the summer bill covered before it lands
Even with all of this, a hot month usually costs more, and it's easier to meet when you've seen it coming. Putting a bill against your paydays is covered in budgeting for monthly bills on fortnightly pay.
You can't control the weather or the building, and you don't need to. The power you used each day, printed on every bill, will show you whether the changes you make are working.
A note from us
Money you stop spending on power should end up somewhere you chose, rather than quietly disappearing into the next fortnight. In Clova, a savings goal can give the amount you've freed up somewhere to build towards.