Your bill could be higher than expected due to a few reasons:
- Your bill may have been generated based on an estimate read. If you do receive an estimated bill, any difference between your last actual read and your next actual read would balance out. You can check your consumption and type of reading on the back of your bill.
- You may have been billed for a longer period than usual – you can check the number of days you have been billed for on your bill.
- You may be on the wrong user plan. To check what user plan is right for your home, click here.
- You may have had visitors staying with you during this period
- You may have used your heater or air conditioning more than usual
- Your gas heater or heat pump may need a service
- You could have a faulty appliance that is using more electricity then it should. Read below for information on how to do a “two-man test”
Our Customer Support Hub has a range of useful resources including budgeting support tools and energy efficiency advice which can be viewed here.
To check if one of your appliances is faulty and using more electricity than it should, you can do a “two-man test”:
- Turn off all appliances in your home (including hot water cylinder) and take a meter reading
- Have a friend stand at the meter while you turn on one appliance and see how much the meter reading increases
- Then turn this appliance off, go to another one and turn it on
- Go through each appliance one by one. If you notice one appliance is causing the meter reading to increase much faster than other devices, this could mean that the appliance is faulty and using more electricity than it should
If you believe an appliance is faulty, it is best to contact an electrician to repair the appliance or replace it.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to email our team on customer.care@pulseenergy.co.nz