Track your usage
Common Powershop terms
Here's a few expressions you'll regularly hear us use, and what they mean.
The Shop
The Shop
Where you go to buy Powerpacks. You can visit the Shop from Powershop’s mobile app or from your desktop account.
Powerpacks
Powerpacks
Dollar amounts of power you can buy from the Shop. Most types of Powerpacks give you a discount on your Standard Rate!
Estimated usage
Estimated usage
We estimate your future usage using consumption data from your meter to calculate and show you:
In the Shop: How many days a Powerpack is likely to last you and how much that Powerpack costs, and
In your Power organiser: How many days or dollars of power you’re likely to be ahead or behind in your Account Review period, taking into account the Powerpacks you’ve bought to date.
Standard power or Standard power rate
Standard power or Standard power rate
The rates you are charged for your power if you don’t buy Powerpacks from the Shop and are based on your meter set-up, where you live, and whether you’re a low or standard user. Our Standard Rates are still competitive, but by buying certain Powerpacks in the Shop, you will reach what we call your Special Rates.
Special rates
Special rates
Your Special Rate is the rate you'll pay if your actual usage matches your Estimated Usage for an Account Review period (a month), provided you have bought the Monthly Staying Power Powerpack and all the Special Powerpacks made available in the Shop during that period.
Account review period
Account review period
This is like a billing cycle. We measure (and if necessary, bill you for) your power usage between the start and end date of your Account Review period. Each Account Review period is a month.
Account review
Account review
A monthly email and attached PDF that summarises your usage, transactions, meter readings and what (if any) balance you have to pay.
Understand your usage
The Usage section in the Powershop app helps you understand how much electricity you’re using and spot changes over time.
To get started, open the Powershop app and select Usage → View trends from the navigation menu.
You can view your electricity usage and cost across different time periods, making it easy to see how things change from day to day, week to week, month to month or across your billing period.
We’re continuing to add more usage insights, but you can already get a handy view of your electricity use to keep an eye on trends and better understand what’s contributing to your bill.
How do I track my usage if I have more than one property?
How do I track my usage if I have more than one property?
Not in Powershop Lab yet – but watch this space! ⚡
Using the Activity Tracker in the mobile app
Using the Activity Tracker in the mobile app
This feature has retired to a sunny beach somewhere!
Switched to Powershop and used a lot of power?
Switched to Powershop and used a lot of power?
This could be because the final meter reading your previous power company gave us for your property was an estimate that was much lower than what you had actually used. So it will look like you’ve used more power than you actually have since switching. If this is the case, email us or contact us via the Live Chat option on our website and we will contact your previous power company to sort it out
I seem to be using more power than usual, what’s going on?
I seem to be using more power than usual, what’s going on?
If you’re getting through more power than usual, first have a think about whether anything in your household has changed. Cold weather can sometimes sneak up on us and we find ourselves using the heater more or having longer hot showers. Or perhaps the rellies stayed a few nights, in which case, it’s more than likely you used more power than you normally would.
For tips on keeping usage as low as you can visit the Energywise website.
If you’re using more power than usual and you’re sure that nothing has changed, it could mean that one of your appliances is faulty. For example, leaking hot water cylinders can churn through electricity. If you suspect something’s not quite right, ask your local electrician to come and assess your home.
Which activities and appliances use the most power?
Which activities and appliances use the most power?
If you have a smart meter you can figure this out from your Usage Patterns in your desktop account, by selecting ‘Usage’ then ‘Usage patterns’.
Your usage patterns chart will help you see when your usage is highest. By knowing this, you can make changes to become more energy efficient.
Let’s say your highest usage is between 5.30pm and 7.30 pm – when you’d normally run the bath and have the heater on.
Over the next few days, you could experiment with alternating between only having a bath and only having the heater on, to see how it affects your usage during that period.
If your usage falls dramatically when you only have a bath, you know that your heater is using a large chunk of your power. You may then decide to look into more energy efficient heaters.
If not having a bath makes the biggest difference, you may decide to swap to showers to trim your usage down.
What can I do to reduce my power usage?
What can I do to reduce my power usage?
The main ways to save power are to invest in energy efficient appliances and look at where you might be able to change your habits.
You’ll find heaps of power saving ideas on our blog post about saving power at home.
High Usage / Reducing Usage - FAQs
Switched to Powershop and used a lot of power?
Switched to Powershop and used a lot of power?
This could be because the final meter reading your previous power company gave us for your property was an estimate that was much lower than what you had actually used. So it will look like you’ve used more power than you actually have since switching. If this is the case, email us or contact us via the Live Chat option on our website and we will contact your previous power company to sort it out
I seem to be using more power than usual, what’s going on?
I seem to be using more power than usual, what’s going on?
If you’re getting through more power than usual, first have a think about whether anything in your household has changed. Cold weather can sometimes sneak up on us and we find ourselves using the heater more or having longer hot showers. Or perhaps the rellies stayed a few nights, in which case, it’s more than likely you used more power than you normally would.
For tips on keeping usage as low as you can visit the Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority website.
If you’re using more power than usual and you’re sure that nothing has changed, it could mean that one of your appliances is faulty. For example, leaking hot water cylinders can churn through electricity. If you suspect something’s not quite right, ask your local electrician to come and assess your home.
What can I do to reduce my power usage?
What can I do to reduce my power usage?
The main ways to save power are to invest in energy efficient appliances and look at where you might be able to change your habits.
You’ll find heaps of power saving ideas on our blog post about saving power at home.