Few things in life remain the same, your energy bills are no different. They can go up and down for reasons that you might not notice at the time. To help with understanding the fluctuations in your energy bills, we've put together a checklist to highlight the most common reasons why your bill can change.
There's been a change in seasons
The weather has a significant influence on your energy use. Air conditioning will boost your energy usage in summer, while the short days and colder temperatures in winter mean you'll likely spend more time with the lights, TV, computer, clothes dryer or heater on.
Heating and cooling can make up a large portion of your energy use. Even just one week of unusual weather can have a significant impact on your bill.
To see if your energy use has changed dramatically, we recommend comparing your daily average with a bill from the same billing period last year.
For some great energy saving tips, see these Summer energy savings
You've recently moved
If you have recently moved, your new home may be less energy efficient than your old home. It may have different types of heating or cooling installed that may use more energy than your old home.
You've been using appliances that consume more energy
You may be surprised at how much energy some home appliances use. For information on their usage, take a look at the products manual, the manufacturers website or its 'energy efficiency' label.
If you've recently bought new appliances, they may be consuming more power than you realise - particularly if the appliance uses stand-by power.
Air conditioners and heaters often have economy modes which may assist in saving energy.
Manufacturers often provide advice in their website or in the product manual.
Your bill was estimated
We take all efforts to make sure your bill is based on an actual meter read. However, there are times where we may need to use an estimate reading.
To check if you've been issued an estimated bill, see the top of the second page of your Altogether invoice.
If we have estimated your current bill, it may be higher than your actual usage.
If we have estimated your previous bill, we may have under estimated that usage. In this case, your current bill may be catching you up.
Its a longer billing period than usual
The number of days in a billing period can vary. If your bill is for a period that is longer than usual, it will be higher. To check the number of days in the billing period, see the top of the second page of your Altogether invoice.
There was a price increase
There are many factors that affect the cost of getting electricity to you, prices increase from time to time. If there's a price increase, we'll always let you know ahead of time.
Additional people at home
The more people you have in your house, the more energy you're likely to use. Visitors, housemates, temporary guests, a new baby, or even school holidays could mean more people are at home, increasing your households energy usage.
You still owe money from a previous bill
If you didn't happen to pay the full amount of your last bill, the remainder will carry over to your next one. Check to see if there was money owning from your previous bill.