It’s a well documented phenomenon that a lot of people will have chosen 7. People can be predictable. So when it comes to choosing a PIN to protect your most valuable data, despite there being 10,000 possible 4 number variations to select, research shows that around 25% of people will use one of those found in this top 20 list:

Passwords don’t fare much better in the research, with people still using P@ssword2, pets and relatives names and birthdays, and other predictable variations. And using these same PINs and passwords for everything. It’s like handing your, and possibly your employer’s, sensitive information to a hacker on a silver platter.

You may have seen various iterations of the below image doing the rounds on socials a while back saying password character length matters. Sorry but size really doesn’t matter, it really is what you do with it that counts!

Although longer is better, it’s also about randomness and multiple character types. A 36 character sentence-style password can be easily cracked if there’s enough information about you available online.

Why does this matter?

Our finances, essential services, communications with friends and family are mostly online now. If you’re using the same password or PIN across all your accounts, one breach can see your bank account drained, your friends scammed, and your identity used to set up accounts and impact your credit rating and future lending ability.

In November 2023, MBIE published the sobering statistic that scams had cost Kiwis almost $200m that year. In 2024 the incidents are reducing but the losses are increasing. CertNZ’s Q2 report (1 April – 30 June 2024) notes a 3% increase from Q1 in terms of direct financial losses with some of this increase attributed to incidents of ‘Unauthorised Access’ – unauthorised use of passwords to enter accounts.  

Making sure your security is tip-top:

• Use passphrases – 4 or more random words or a full sentence – but don’t use well-known quotes!
• Try not to have a pattern – if you can guess the next password in this sequence, so can a hacker…
  • MyF@veband01
  • MyF@veband02
  • MyF@veband03
  • What could the next one possibly be?!?!?!
• Test your password strength, and patience, using this online game
• Where MFA is available, use it!
• Use a password manager – if you can remember all your passwords, you’re not doing it right! If you’re an iPhone user, iOS18 has a Password Manager app built in – read about it here. For Android users and those who like to research their options, here are some reviews from the boffins at Wired Magazine and Google has their own version here. 
• Where a Passkey is offered, embrace the future! A growing number of organisations, like Air New Zealand, offer this option to secure your account. Find out more about what passkeys are and how they work here. 
• Make sure you keep your devices updated as recommended – don’t ignore those notifications. 

Check if your information has been involved in a data breach

You can check if your information linked to an email address has been found in any data breaches by putting each address into this website https://haveibeenpwned.com . If instances are found, even historical ones, it’s best to be safe and change your passwords asap – using the handy hints we’ve set out above! 

The post Staying safe online: Why a pet’s name isn’t a good password appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

Did you know Kiwi’s collectively spend around $400 million every year on unused mobile data? Shocking, right? Well, Kiwi Mobile is here to put an end to this madness and save you money with our innovative mobile plan.

Research shows that on average, Kiwis on post pay plans have about 6.7GB of mobile data unused every month. That’s a whopping 72.4 million gigabytes going down the drain annually. More than half of us (59%) are paying for more data than we actually need, and it’s no wonder that 68% of us want more flexibility in our mobile plans.

The Solution: Kiwi Mobile’s Choice Plan

Kiwi Mobile’s CEO, Luke Blincoe, has had enough of Kiwis being ripped off by inflexible mobile plans.

The current plans in the market are designed to make us pay for more data than we need, even the so-called ‘rollover’ plans.

Kiwi Mobile’s new plan is here to change the game.

How It Works:

Basically it’s one plan, that’s all the plans. You start with a 5GB max speed data allocation, then if you run out you can either use slower data (1.2Mb/s) for the rest of the month, or level up to the next tier (10GBs) to keep using fast data. You can keep levelling up all the way to 100GBs of max speed data. 

So if you need more fast data this month, go for it. If you don’t, that’s cool, you won’t need to pay for it either. Of course you can automate all of this easily in the snazzy new Kiwi Central app.

“It’s like being able to upgrade your plan whenever you want without the hassle of actually doing it several times a month,” says Luke. You only pay for the higher tiers on the days you use them, so no more getting ripped off or worrying about running out of data.

Transparency and Savings

We’re shedding light on the confusing tactics used by traditional telcos. These companies often encourage us to pay for more data than we need because it costs them very little to provide it. 

For example, if you’re on one competitor’s $65 endless plan with 15GB of data but only use 9GB, you still pay the full amount. With Kiwi Mobile, you’d only pay $44 for 9GB.

If you need 15GB, you pay $49, and if you go up to 89GB, you still only pay $61. You can use up to 100GB of max-speed data without breaking the bank.

No Hidden Costs, No Sneaky Fees

Following the Commerce Commission’s guidelines, Kiwi Mobile’s Choice plan has no hidden costs or penalty fees for leaving. Including sneaky notice periods.

A Brand You Can Trust

Kiwi Mobile is brought to you by Electric Kiwi, one of New Zealand’s most-loved power and broadband brands. So customers can expect the same award-winning service and customer support with wait times under a minute. Kiwi Mobile operates on 2degrees’ mobile network, covering 98.5% of the places where Kiwis live and work.

Join the Revolution

“We are fired up,” says Luke. “We intend to really bring the challenge to the big guys, and our goal is that Kiwis are the benefactors of that.”

Ready to stop wasting money on unused mobile data? Check out Kiwi Mobile today and start saving!

Data on wasted gigs based on research commissioned by Kiwi Mobile and conducted by Perceptive in 2024.

Comparison based on competitor’s 15GB Endless data plan $65/month (15GB at Max Speed) taken from thier website on 11.7.24 and compared to Kiwi Mobiles Choice Plan. Monthly Kiwi Mobile price rounded to the nearest dollar, and estimated assuming max speed data usage is spread equally across an average monthly data cycle (30.42 days). Kiwi Mobile Choice Plan Max speeds up to chosen data tier allowance (to 100GB per month), then Endless data at reduced max speeds of 1.2mbps. T&Cs and Fair Use Policy apply.

Flexible, fair, and designed to save you money. That’s better.

The post Why Kiwi Mobile is shaking up the mobile industry appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

The Good, the Bad, and the Data-Hungry

Group mobile plans can be a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, they can save you money if everyone’s on the same page about data usage. But let’s be real, who hasn’t been stuck with that one mate who streams Netflix 24/7 and blows through the whole data allowance before you can say “Bob’s your uncle”? Or that same person that means you need to join another group plan where you all have heaps of max speed data you don’t need.

Kiwis all have different needs in terms of data, and until now there was no easy way for Kiwis to get the benefit of buddying up as well as the freedom to have the plan that suits them best.  The good news is we reckon that’s all changed now Kiwi Mobile is on the scene.

The Kiwi Mobile Difference: Having buddies pays off

That’s where Kiwi Mobile’s option to add Buddies comes in. Unlike some of the other fellas, we reckon everyone should have their own max speed data allowance and not be tied to one data cap.

It means an end to paying a premium for someone else’s TikTok addiction.  

You can add friends and family to your plan while keeping everyone’s data separate! No sharing, no all having to pick the same max speed data limit.

Here’s the deal:

Let’s do a quick comparison on group plans by provider. As you can see, Kiwi mobile’s Choice plan has its nose ahead in terms of the features listed.

Details taken from an online review on the 15th of July 2024

So, are group mobile plans a good idea?

In a word. Yeah.

Adding Buddies can save you all some cash.

But we reckon that our Choice plan offers better freedom and therefor more potential savings than the others. 

To find out what you can save head to our site. In a few minutes you can calculate what you and your buddies could save!

Better yet. Call a buddy and crack on!

Learn more about buddies with Kiwi Mobile’s Choice plan here

Can include up to four buddies. Each buddy plan must be added to a primary account holders billing account who is responsible for all charges. You each get max speeds up to chosen data tier allowance (to 100GB per month), then Endless data at reduced max speeds of 1.2mbps.

The post Group Mobile Plans: Yay or Nay? A Kiwi’s Guide to Shared Plans appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

Type 1: The ‘buy enough, but don’t always use it’ people.

Annual Saving: $271

This is a common group in NZ. People who never want to run out of max speed data, so they buy enough to make sure that this does not happen (or at least very rarely). These types can end up paying for max speed data that they don’t use, especially in quieter months. So how does this look when we look at a real 12 months of bills?

The key difference with Kiwi Mobile’s Choice Plan, is that our plan flexes with your data usage. You don’t need to pay for 12, 15 or 100 GBs of max speed data every month just in case you might need it. You commit to 5GBs, and then after that you can use up to 100GBs of max speed data each month. 

This is Andy. To make the comparison fairer, below we’ve compared his old telco’s 15GB plan (the one they have in market based on our review done on 16/07/24)) – but note that in September, he was actually slowed down on his old 12GB plan. As you can see, every month he would have been better off on Kiwi Mobile’s Choice plan, and based on Andy’s actual usage he would have saved $271 over the last year with Kiwi Mobile.

Type 2: The ‘use more than you buy’ people.

Annual Saving: $167

So this is Tessa. She is with a big Telco and pays $63 a month for 12GBs of max speed data. As you can see below Tessa gets slowed down a LOT because she frequently uses more than 12GB of max speed data each month . In fact she was using endless data (at 1.2MB/s) 11 months out of the 12 we looked at.

Endless data is great! It can help you control costs. With Kiwi Mobile’s Choice plan, you get endless data too (at the end of every tiers). The difference is that you can keep to max speed all the way to 100GBs each month if you want to without any hassle. You are in charge.

So comparing Tessa’s usage, she could have stayed on max speed data with Kiwi Mobile every month, and she still would have saved $167 over the year! Cool huh?

Note that Tessa is still on this plan, but the big telco she is with does not offer this plan anymore according to their website (review done on 16/07/24). The closest current option from this telco would be 18GBs of endless data for $72 a month.

Type 3: The ‘buy lots, but hardly ever use it’ people

Annual Saving: $298

Let’s take a look at Christine. She was buying 12GBs of max speed data for $65 a month (Like Andy, she could now upgrade to 15GBs of max speed data for the same price with the big telco).

Unlike Andy, Christine hardly ever uses lots of max speed data. And like lots of Kiwis, she has a bigger allowance because she does not want to get slowed down. 

So based on the year’s usage shown, Christine would have saved $298 over the year with Kiwi Mobile. She’d have stopped buying so much max speed data that didn’t end up being used – but she would have the freedom to use as much as she likes. That’s better aye?

It’s worth noting that even on the same big telco’s $45 plan (with 5GBs of max speed data), Christine would still have saved $58 with Kiwi mobile. So there is no need to have data anxiety anymore. Just get all the fast data you need, and pay for what you use!

Note that Christine is still on this plan, but the big telco she is with does not offer this plan anymore according to their website (review done on 16/07/24). The closest current option from this telco would be 15GBs of endless data for $65 a month. This would not change the comparison above.

The Kiwi Mobile Choice plan is like having one plan that’s all the plans. Use a little one month, and heaps the next, but only pay for the max speed data that you actually use.

The post All the different savers appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

To help you really understand the nuts and bolts, we’ll take you through a few examples of how you might use it, and what things might cost.

Andy’s plan.

Andy was with another big telco previously, and the below graph shows his monthly usage over a year (this is real usage from one of our staff). As you can see, he was paying $65 for 12GBs of max speed data (note the allowance has recently moved up to 15GBs). Andy used between 5GBs and 13GBs a month over the year.

The key difference with Kiwi mobile’s Choice Plan, is that our plan flexes with your data usage. You don’t need to pay for 12 or 15 GBs every month just in case you might need them. You commit to 5GBs, and then after that you can use up to 100GBs of max speed data each month and just pay for what you use. You get peace of mind, and save!

To make the comparison fairer, we’ve shown the below compared to his old telco’s 15GB plan – but note that in September, Andy was actually slowed down on his 12GB plan (he is still complaining about it). As you can see, every month Andy would have been better off on  Kiwi Mobile’s Choice plan.

Based on Andy’s actual usage he would have saved $271 with Kiwi mobile.

You may look at this usage and say, why did Andy not just move to that big telco’s 5GB plan ($45 per month)? 

Good question. But if Andy did, based on this usage, he would still save $39 annually with Kiwi Mobile, and he would avoid being slowed down 6 months out of 12. Sounds like he is better off with us.

Drilling into usage

Let’s look into a few examples of how monthly usage might work and what that would cost on the Kiwi Mobile Choice Plan (vs with his old big telco). We’ll look at January, February and March on Andy’s Kiwi Mobile Choice  plan. Note that the data used each day here is estimated, as his old telco did not have historical daily data usage available for this analysis. 

When we talk about data used below, we are assuming that all of it was max speed data (e.g. Andy was on the max speed mode and levelled up at the end of each tier).

Getting nerdy

With Kiwi mobile, you don’t have to level up to more max speed data when you run out. If you’d rather save more money, you can continue at the end of any tier on endless data (it just means you slow down to 1.2mb/s – which can be annoying for some things, but for email and simple stuff it’s ok). So let’s look at a few examples.

1. Capping your tier

This shows the price difference on Kiwi Mobile’s Choice plan if Andy had capped his max speed data at 10GBs in March. As you can see it would have cost $46 with the 10GB cap in place, and Andy would have spent 6 days on endless data (at 1.2Mb/s). To stay on max speed data the whole time it would have cost Andy $47.80 ($1.80 more to stay at max speed).

2. Using lots of max speed data

The cool thing about Kiwi Mobile, is that you can save if you use lots too. But just because you need to use lots of max speed data some (or heaps) of the time, it should not mean you need to pay for lots every month right?

The below example shows a comparison between a made up customer (let’s call him Bob) that used 86GBs. The comparison is between the other telco’s $85 unlimited plan. To stay on max speed the entire time, Bob would have paid $60.40 on Kiwi Mobile’s Choice Plan, and if Bob had capped his max speed data at 40GBs, then he would have paid $59.40.

One of the best things about the Choice plan, is that while you know you have heaps of max speed data when you need it, you just don’t need to pay for the luxury!

Let’s look at a month where Bob only used 28.81GBs (still a lot for many people, but lower than average for Bob). As you can see Bob would pay just $52.40 with Kiwi Mobile, compared to his normal $85 with the other telco. That’s over $30 of savings in just one month!

The Kiwi Mobile Choice plan is flexible and fair and designed to save you money. You never need to worry about running out of max speed data, but you only pay for the max speed data that you need. That’s better.

Note: Prices for competitors sourced from their websites on 16/07/2024

The post Understanding the Choice plan appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

Electric Kiwi has made the decision to stop accepting new electricity customers due to extremely elevated wholesale energy prices. This also means that, for now, only existing customers can join broadband with Electric Kiwi.

Wholesale energy prices have increased by 73% in the past 6 months^* and current wholesale energy futures prices (these are the products that we buy in order to supply energy to our customers) have now reached a point where every new unhedged customer would be loss making for our business.

Obviously we are very disappointed. Electric Kiwi entered the market to make it better for Kiwis. Over the years we have saved Kiwi families millions, and brought heaps of innovations to market (from time-of-use plans, to the Hour of Power, the green meter and more). We’re gutted that we are now turning customers away.

What the hell is going on?

The wholesale market in NZ electricity has been a basket case for years. Wholesale prices have been steadily rising, and calls from us and others for market reform have fallen on deaf ears. In 2023 we raised a complaint with the Commerce Commission regarding misuse of market power in New Zealand energy markets.

The Commission agreed there was an issue but passed responsibility for resolution to the Electricity Authority who have the policy tools to quickly enact market reform. Commissioner John Small has stated^ “The wholesale electricity market is of real concern…we think it’ll be much faster [to work with the Electricity Authority] than dragging four or five big companies through the courts for three years and then be told that three years ago what you did was illegal. That doesn’t solve anything”.

Yet what has the Electricity Authority done to address this urgent problem? A year on and nothing has happened.

When we raised the complaint in 2023, the ASX baseload futures prices for calendar years 2024 and 2025 were around $165, this is now $298 and $277 respectively. If that is not evidence of something being properly stuffed, we are really not sure what is. And that’s before you take into account that during peak demand periods (mornings and evenings when we’re all using the most energy) prices can be multiples higher.

Below is a graph showing the wholesale prices since 2013. As you can see the upward trajectory is pretty full on and futures prices increased 17% just last week. And all of this is happening while the big four Gentailers (Mercury, Contact, Meridian and Genesis) make record profits. In FY22 they made $1.9bn, in FY23 they made $2.2bn and all indications are that they’re on track for even more massive profits in FY24.

^John Small, “Nine to Noon” interview by Kathryn Ryan, Radio New Zealand, July 24, 2024.

Chart shows the average annual baseload prices at the Otahuhu node (north island reference node). For the period Jan 2013 to June 2024 actual spot prices have been used and for the period July 2024 to Dec 2025 the current ASX futures price has been used (as at 15 July and 23 July 2024)

We are not the only ones screaming out for change. NZ is in a great position to provide green energy at reasonable prices for Kiwi households and businesses, which would encourage further investment in our economy and keep NZ the best place in the world to live.

A market controlled by a few players (the big four gentailers), who are highly incentivized to keep supply tight – and who hold all the power when it comes to providing energy during those critical peak times – is not going to get NZ where it needs to go.

In the end, these wholesale prices are passed through to Kiwi households and businesses. So we should all be pissed off, and we should all be demanding action.

So what’s next?

For the benefit of all Kiwis, something has to be done. We have informed both the Electricity Authority and the government on why we have taken this decision. And we hope this time that they have a mind to do something about it.

In the meanwhile, we will stay closed to new electricity customers.

FAQs

Why are you not accepting customers?

The wholesale price of energy, that is one of our biggest input costs, has reached a point where it is no longer commercially realistic to continue to acquire customers. For every existing customer we have, we have locked in some of our future input costs, but we need to keep buying forward contracts for those customers (to cover their future energy use), and these prices are extremely high.

If I am an existing Electric Kiwi customer, can I still move house?

Yes. If you are moving, you can do this via the app, or your online account. If you have a unique situation (e.g. you are moving, but a new person is taking the account), just jump on chat and we can sort this out for you.

Can existing customers still join broadband?

Yes. You can do this via your online account.

Can new customers join broadband?

No. At the moment we only allow people to join broadband if they have power. This is a technical restriction that we are planning to resolve. But for now that means that only existing customers can join broadband.

How long will this continue for?

It’s hard to say. At this point we are assuming it could be a month or more. But if things stay the same or get worse it could be longer. You never know, the government and the Electricity Authority might decide that it’s time to finally do something about the broken wholesale market?!

^*This refers to Calendar year 2025 futures price increases over the past 6 months.

The post Why is Electric Kiwi not taking new Electricity customers? appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

What do you mean by “peaky”?

The electricity market gets really peaky when there is a lot of demand for electricity stretching capacity to supply. This is when wholesale spot prices soar, and also when we tend to use more of that dirty generation (like coal).

Normal peaks occur in the morning (between 7 – 9am) when we’re all busy getting ready for our day, or in the evening (between 5 – 9pm) when we’re all back home cooking and doing whatever we need to do! When things get really peaky during these times then we have a Peaky Event.

How does Peaky Bank help?

At Electric Kiwi, we are all about loadshifting, as it reduces costs for our customers and helps reduce New Zealand’s emissions by reducing demand when it’s peaky so less coal and gas needs to be burned.

We believe that Kiwis deserve a seat at the table. Peaky Bank is your opportunity to help reduce those peaks when there’s a Peaky Event and be rewarded for doing so.

Key things to know:

1. Peaky Events will last for 1 – 3 hours and will very likely be during normal morning and evening peak times. They will most likely be during winter and early spring.
2. We will send customers Peaky Bank notifications by email and app when things are peaky – this will likely be the night before morning events or by lunchtime for evening events.
3. You can opt out of these notifications at any time.
4. Peaky Bank notifications will let you know the time and length of the peaky period.
5. To be eligible for the reward you need to opt in to each event.
6. If you choose to participate you will be paid $2/kWh for the electricity that you reduce (this will be calculated based on your normal usage using the method described below)

How do I maximise my rewards?

We don’t recommend that people sit in the dark or go cold. But there are simple things you can do to reduce your electricity usage for an hour or two.

1. Turn off lights in rooms you are not using.
2. Turn off heating in rooms you are not using.
3. Delay putting on the washing machine, dryer or dishwasher.
4. Delay charging things like phones, computers and cars.
5. Turn off stuff that you are not using (like the TV in the spare room).

FAQs

How do you figure out how much I reduced my power by?

We will take the half-hourly profile of your power usage over the past four weekdays, or four weekend days (if the Peaky Event is on a weekend). These four days will exclude any days which had a Peaky Event.

We will then calculate how much your profile changed during the Peaky Event and then calculate the energy saved in kWh based on your total energy usage on the day.

When will this happen?

Peaky Bank rewards are more likely to happen in the morning, and the evening and during the winter months. This is because this is when Kiwis use the most power.

When will my Peaky Bank credits hit my account?

We will run a process monthly to credit your account for all of the peaky bank rewards that you are due. Some months this may be for multiple events.

Are these events an emergency?

No. Only Transpower can issue warning notices about potential supply issues with the national grid. The national grid is very well managed, and while things get tight (and expensive) fairly often, this does not usually mean there is anything to worry about. However, it is possible that a Peaky Event coincides with a Transpower warning notice.

Either way, as a household you are not obligated to reduce or shift your load, as Transpower, the distribution networks, generators and very large electricity consumers are also doing their part to manage the risk. However, you still might want to take part to add to your Peaky Bank, help reduce emissions and just generally be helpful as every little bit counts!

Do I have to do this?

Nope. We know this is not for everyone. If you don’t want to participate you do not need to, and if you want to stop getting notifications you can opt out (we will provide this option on all of the email notifications, and then remove you from the list if you ask us to).

There might be the rare occasion when there is a genuine grid emergency. In this case we will notify you of this and post social media messages. You will also hear about it directly from Transpower and from trusted news media.

The post Introducing Peaky Bank appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

A talented hacker, Michael, integrated Electric Kiwi with Home Assistant. We asked him some questions about his project, so if you’re keen to know what inspired him to work on this project and how it benefits EK customers, read on!

Can you share a bit about your background in software development and how you became interested in home automation?

I have a degree in Computer Science from Otago. I’ve been in software development for about 10 years now. I’ve been working on mobile apps, small scale games, websites and complex integrations and systems. The main languages I’ve used are Javascript (and Typescript), C#, a bit of Kotlin and Java thrown in. No python though which is what Home Assistant is written in.

I started getting really interested in Home Automation when we moved home about 2 years ago and I wanted things like my lights and speakers to turn on automatically when I walked into my home office. Kids also leave things on a lot, like lights and so on, so I want them to turn off on their own. I’d discovered Home Assistant and started learning about all the things it could do. We’d also had solar installed so that further made me want to utilise the excess power better.

What inspired you to participate in the Electric Kiwi Juice Hackers campaign?

We’d recently moved house and power providers (to EK) and had solar installed. Our 1960s house is not very energy efficient so it’s very warm in summer and too cold in winter. The bedroom was one of the worst with next to no insulation in the roof; however, we have five heat pumps and the one in our bedroom was Wifi controllable, which means I could automate it. So a nice warm (or cool) room for an hour sounded like a great idea. I’d managed to set up the automation to go off manually, but of course what if I changed my Hour of Power? I’d then have to change all my automations too!

On top of this, I wanted everything to be easy for my wife to use if she wanted to change the hour. I knew other energy providers had APIs so off I went searching and found the Juice Hackers API, I was stoked!

How did you initially approach the project? Were there any specific problems you aimed to solve with your integration?

I’d never written a Home Assistant integration before and to be honest it’s really daunting. I joined the Home Assistant Discord channel to ask questions and also looked around to see if anyone was already working on it. I found an unofficial integration by Matt (one of EK’s founders) on Github but wasn’t really what I wanted to build and wasn’t a home assistant integration either. Some others had made minor attempts at an integration but didn’t get far. Once released I got a lot of “I was going to do this but didn’t have time” from others.

Can you walk us through the process of developing the integration? What were the biggest challenges you faced, and how did you overcome them?

I don’t write Python at all in my daily job so it was a huge learning curve! Learning python and Home Assistant at the same time!

When I discovered the API I also learned there was no Python API for the Juice Hackers API. With Home assistant integrations, you need to separate the interfaces (client) from the integrations. It took me at least three iterations to get an API client I was happy with and worked in a way that was easy to use. So I had to publish my first Python library which can be installed using pip (the python package manager).

I did this as I slowly learnt how to make a basic integration using sensors (displaying static data like account information)

I also wanted to publish my integration into Home Assistant – this takes a lot of time and patience, there are hundreds of pull requests that the developers go through so it took months before they were able to review my integration. However; fortunately, that didn’t prevent me from sharing a version others could use while I waited for that to get reviewed. Patience is hard!

I also got EK in touch with Nabu Casa (makers of Home Assistant) to better integrate signing users into the integration using home assistant cloud instead of users having to sign up for their own access keys. This was an interesting process on its own but made for a much better user experience.

How does this integration improve the everyday lives of Electric Kiwi customers using Home Assistant?

Customers can now set up automations around when their free Hour of Power is, whether that’s heating the spa or turning on the dishwasher or setting an alarm. The possibilities are only limited by one’s creativity.

So in short it helps customers save money on their power bill and manage their spending on power as they can also see their current account balance and bills.

They can also change their free Hour of Power using automations based on power use or manually using the selector so they can have this on custom dashboards instead of having to open the app.

Are there any future enhancements or additional features you’re planning to add to the integration?

I’ve been asked a few times to provide energy usage e.g daily, weekly etc. However due to how Home Assistant works and my limited knowledge, this is a bit harder than just exposing the data as the initial days data is usually an estimate and not accurate. Home assistant provides a really useful energy dashboard so getting this data in would be great, so is next on the list. This will allow users to use their energy data to better save money by learning about their energy usage.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working on this project?

There are probably two rewards for me.

One is my own achievement of publishing both the EK Python API and EK Home Assistant Integration and solving the challenges that came along with it.

The other is the sense of achievement and satisfaction knowing I’ve helped other kiwis use their power better and give them their data to use as they wish.

Thanks to Michael’s work, Electric Kiwi customers can now do all sorts of cool stuff. They can set up their gadgets to turn on and off automatically, saving power and money. Michael’s also thinking about adding even more features, like showing how much energy you’re using each day. Keen to give your coding power a go? Visit our EK Juice Hackers website for more info!

The post Meet Our Electric Kiwi Juice Hacker appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

The Notice Period Challenge

Currently, broadband customers looking to switch often have to give 30-days notice or pay a fee to leave. You might think this is just the norm, but we don’t understand why this is necessary. We don’t have notice periods in energy. If you want to switch you can do so within a couple of days. We think notice periods are causing unnecessary complexity, especially when people are moving house.

Moving House Hassles

Moving is already a headache, and a 30-day notice period just adds to it. If you don’t plan more than 30 days ahead, you end up dealing with the internet stuff twice. First with your old provider and then with the new one after the move. This almost feels like a trick to stop people from thinking about changing providers when they move, which we know is a key time that customers shop around and look for better deals.

Double Charges and Worry

If you don’t know about the notice period and switch to a new provider, you might get charged twice. It’s the last thing that people want to deal with when they’re trying to save money by switching retailers. It also makes people worry about whether they’ll be double-billed. To help our customers avoid this, we set up our system to default to a 30-day switch. But, we’d much rather you could switch on the day you wanted to without any of this sneaky stuff!

The Customer Journey

Last year, we commissioned a survey into Broadband switching in New Zealand. It showed that switching isn’t always a breeze:

• 50% had to tell their old provider 30 days before switching
• 20% had to pay extra fees
• Almost half found the whole process daunting.
• 66% had to talk to their old provider to get things moving
• 25% had to contact their old provider more than once after stalled transfers
• Preparing meals early during off-peak or shoulder periods, as appliances like ovens and kettles consume considerable power.
• Avoiding the use of power-hungry appliances during peak times and using Wi-Fi switches to turn them off.

Despite these challenges, 90% of people were happy they made the switch, showing that a smooth process is crucial.

Because of these issues, Electric Kiwi has formally complained to the Commerce Commission, asking them to look into why notice periods are necessary for internet providers. We think getting rid of them would make things easier, encourage fair competition, and make customers happier. We’ll keep you posted on how things progress.

While the Commerce Commission is still looking into the problem, we’re not just sitting around twiddling our thumbs. After all, we wouldn’t be Electric Kiwi if we don’t do something cheeky! Here’s a comic strip we made which you’re more than welcome to use when you decide to break up with your Broadband provider – or any provider, really.

The post Breaking Up with Your Broadband Provider Shouldn’t Be Hard to Do appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.

From harnessing solar power to smart home automation, these experiences offer a glimpse into the future of efficient and cost-effective home energy use.

It’s not just about numbers and graphs; it’s about real people making smart choices and seeing awesome results.

Customer 1: Using Solar Power for Efficient Water Heating

We have solar panels installed on our roof and use a standard hot water cylinder to heat our water. A power diverter is in place to redirect any excess solar-generated electricity to our hot water cylinder when our solar production exceeds our needs. Once the cylinder reaches its desired temperature, any surplus power is then fed back into the grid. The power diverter autonomously manages the energy supply to our hot water cylinder. It's programmed to activate at 5 pm for two hours in case there's no solar energy generated during the day, and again at 4 am for two hours, ensuring we have hot water in the morning.

Since we consistently require power at 4 am, I've scheduled our hour of power for this time. On average, we receive 30-40 kW of free power every fortnight, which translates into substantial savings of hundreds of dollars annually.

Customer 2: Integrating Timers and Solar Power with Batteries

Since moving to our new property and adopting a time-of-use rate, we've made considerable adjustments to our lifestyle. Our initial step was simple: avoiding the use of the dishwasher and washing machine during peak hours, which was easily manageable as we both work from home. We've also installed timers on our hot water system, ensuring it heats only during off-peak hours at night. Additionally, we're fortunate to have a solar power system with batteries. I've modified this system by setting the inverter to charge the batteries to 50% by 7 am, when peak rates begin. This charge level is sufficient to get us through the morning peak, even on cloudy days. The system is also programmed to fully charge the batteries before the evening peak. Typically, this is achieved solely through solar power, though occasionally it's supplemented by grid power during shoulder periods.

Our hour of power is set for midnight each day. At this time, the inverter recharges our batteries, and our hot water system reheats, leading to additional savings.

Overall, this strategy has been highly effective, saving us a substantial amount of money compared to the flat rate plans we've previously considered.

Customer 3: Smart Timing cuts Power Costs

Initially, I switched to Electric Kiwi to capitalise on the hour of free power, recognizing that our hot water cylinder was our home's main energy user. I found myself constantly adjusting the hour of power to coincide with our shower times, which became quite a hassle. I eventually found a solution by installing a timer switch on the hot water circuit. We programmed it to activate the hot water for an hour each afternoon during the 'hour of power' and for three hours early in the morning before 7 am. This change has allowed us to shower at our convenience without the need to reschedule the hour of power. It's an excellent arrangement for us!

The most rewarding discovery was that simply by adding a timer to our hot water cylinder, we've been saving at least $60 monthly on our power bill. Hot water was a major energy guzzler, particularly as my wife frequently uses hot water. Now, the cylinder only consumes power during off-peak periods, mainly at the half-price night rate.

Additionally, we've set delay start timers on our washing machine, dryer, and dishwasher to run overnight while we sleep. Our heat pump is also programmed to pre-heat or cool the house during off-peak hours.

There's much we can do to transfer our power usage to off-peak times, and it's surprisingly easy.

Customer 4: EVs and Smart Power Management

My husband and I switched to Electric Kiwi after retiring. After considering various plans, we chose the MoveMaster account, anticipating the purchase of an electric vehicle (EV). This plan has proven to be an excellent way for us to save on electricity costs in multiple ways.

We now own an EV and charge it overnight at the lowest rate. If it only needs a minor boost, we charge it during our free hour of power. Since we have a spa pool and are home during the day, we've scheduled our hour of free power from 9 am to 10 am, which allows the spa to heat up. During this hour, we also run our washing machine and dishwasher and charge our laptops, phones, vacuum cleaner, earbuds, Kindles, and Bluetooth speakers.

I've set alarms on my phone to remind me to switch everything on at 9 am and off at 10 am. I also use our EV's charging app timer for overnight charging. Apart from essentials like the fridge, freezer, hot water system, TV, modem, and toothbrush, we switch everything off at the wall. We're adapting to this routine of turning devices on and off.

The MoveMaster account has made us more mindful of our power consumption, and the Electric Kiwi app is a great tool for tracking our usage.

It may sound like a lot to manage, but we've established a routine that works for us. We adhere to a rule that everything should be done calmly and without stress. When we have visitors, for instance, we're more relaxed and simply do what's feasible.

Customer 5: Automation for Off-Peak Load Shifting

We've been loyal customers for many years now, and while the Hour of Power is fantastic, off-peak load shifting has been a game-changer for us, akin to a ninja-level strategy.

Our home springs to life at off-peak hours, reminiscent of an automation scene from 'Home Alone,' just as we're getting ready for bed. With the arrival of off-peak time, our home buzzes with activity. The various aftermarket wall plug timers we've installed start clicking into action. In winter, our heaters begin to circulate warm air, while our trusty washing machine starts another load, regardless of the season. Outside, our electric vehicles emit a couple of out-of-sync beeps as they start guzzling free electricity. If we're particularly organised, the dryer in the garage hums to life, spinning the day's remaining laundry. Sometimes, we find ourselves scurrying around the house, plugging in other appliances that need charging, or we might use our Alexa voice automation system to manage any we might have forgotten.

The appliances work through the night, completing their tasks, and by morning, we're all recharged and ready for another day of family chaos.

Our top load-shifting tips include:

• Utilising electrical timers, especially Wi-Fi plug timers with app control from a local hardware store, which are particularly useful during the festive season for controlling lights and decorations.
• Pairing these Wi-Fi switches with a budget-friendly voice-activated home automation system helps orchestrate our electrical needs, including Wi-Fi lighting.
• Checking if new appliances have built-in timers or delayed starts to leverage off-peak power.
• Making the most of electric vehicles, which often have built-in charging timers, is ideal for economical transport. Adding a higher capacity wall charger at home allows for faster charging of the vehicle’s batteries.
• Bathing the kids around 2-3 pm or showering after 9 pm, so the water cylinder heats up the next tank with cheaper off-peak electricity.
• Preparing meals early during off-peak or shoulder periods, as appliances like ovens and kettles consume considerable power.
• Avoiding the use of power-hungry appliances during peak times and using Wi-Fi switches to turn them off.

Joining EK has revolutionised how our family uses energy. By selecting quality electrical products, vehicles, and appliances, and automating their usage during the Hour of Power and off-peak periods, we stay prepared for the day ahead. These simple yet carefully refined changes have made us more energy-conscious and saved us significantly on energy costs, for which we are immensely grateful. Thank you for your excellent customer service and for continually offering fresh ideas.

Customer 6: Smart Switches for Off-Peak Usage

We've implemented smart switches and carefully managed appliance timings to maximise off-peak usage. Here's how we've maintained an impressive 77% average in off-peak usage while saving on energy costs:

• We installed an additional smart main switch equipped with a metering function.
• A similar smart switch was installed on the hot water circuit, which also includes timer and metering functions.
• We use a smart multiplug extension with four individually controllable power outlets and two USB outlets, all featuring timer functionality.
• The timers on the latter two are set to align with our chosen hour of power time slot. During this period, rechargeable batteries for our lawnmower, power tools, and electric bikes are charged automatically. We manually switch on other devices like the washing machine, ice maker, and begin pre-cooking the evening’s main meal. Four rechargeable power banks are also charged, ready to power our mobile phones the next day. Instead of using a dryer, we dry our laundry on a clothesline, utilising the sun and wind.

These strategies enable us, a household of two retirees, to average 3 kWh per day for hot water and 3.5 kWh per day for general usage, while maintaining over 77% off-peak usage.

What could MoveMaster mean for me?

Our MoveMaster customers are not just saving money; they’re leading the way in smart, sustainable living.

Their journeys, filled with practical tips and a dash of ingenuity, show us that shifting to a time-of-use plan isn’t just about cutting costs—it’s about embracing a lifestyle that values efficiency and environmental stewardship. From the clever use of solar power and batteries to effective automation of household appliances during off-peak hours, these stories aren’t just inspiring—they’re a roadmap to a future where every home can be more energy-smart.

So, whether it’s the middle of the day or the quiet of midnight, our customers are proving that a little planning and some smart tech can make a big difference to your wallet and the planet.

The post How our MoveMaster customers are saving money on a time-of-use plan appeared first on Electric Kiwi Times.