I need to know....

[Johno6]

my brother in law has told me you should change companies every 2 years or so or they just take advantage of u and rip u off.

not sure how true that is, but im too lazy to keep changing.

[Mythical Creature]

I'm normally too lazy as well, but when my bills are consistently 4 figures I need to keep an eye on things.

[Johno6]

that is true!!

the amount of times in the last year I have opened a gas/water/electricity bill and thought **** me are there a bunch of ppl squatting in here while we are at work

[Mythical Creature]

Yep. Its depressing. But, prepared to pay to have nice things running all the time, however less is best!

[heater31]

that is true!!

the amount of times in the last year I have opened a gas/water/electricity bill and thought **** me are there a bunch of ppl squatting in here while we are at work

My strata group did some investigating as the group is responsible for the water usage bill. Think the manager took an average over several years to find that the usage was very similar but it was the ******* price of the ol' 2 hydrogen atoms with an oxygen that had gone through the roof

[Psyber]

that is true!!
the amount of times in the last year I have opened a gas/water/electricity bill and thought **** me are there a bunch of ppl squatting in here while we are at work

My strata group did some investigating as the group is responsible for the water usage bill. Think the manager took an average over several years to find that the usage was very similar but it was the ******* price of the ol' 2 hydrogen atoms with an oxygen that had gone through the roof

In my last bill, in round figures the water usage was $50, the "Supply Charge" was $73, and the Sewerage "Access Charge" was $242.
The latter is basically a Land Tax by stealth, based on property value which is why it is so disproportionate.*

*An ALP former state Minister I know admitted it was being used as a back door way of taxing the primary residence which is exempt from formal Land Tax.
He, of course, thought it was perfectly OK to do that.

Your strata group may also find the tax by stealth component is a major factor in your bills...

[toot toot]

Has anyone looked at different electricity providers lately? I last looked 2 years ago and went with Lumo as they were the best at that time. I got a letter from them yesterday saying that my 2 year contract is up, so I spent a few hours last night looking at different options. Basically I just keyed in my last 4 bills into a spread sheet and used it to compare different companies.
The one that come up trumps by a few hundred $$$ was Power Direct.
I have never heard of them before, has anyone dealt with them and if you have are they ok.
By the way I never had a problem with Lumo.

I've just signed up with them recently (also previously used them a few years ago in a share house). I spoke with a guy at iselect and he said for SA they offer the best rates. They are a sister company of AGL as well. No problems to report..... at this stage.

[The Ash Man]

Has anyone looked at different electricity providers lately? I last looked 2 years ago and went with Lumo as they were the best at that time. I got a letter from them yesterday saying that my 2 year contract is up, so I spent a few hours last night looking at different options. Basically I just keyed in my last 4 bills into a spread sheet and used it to compare different companies.
The one that come up trumps by a few hundred $$$ was Power Direct.
I have never heard of them before, has anyone dealt with them and if you have are they ok.
By the way I never had a problem with Lumo.

My Lumo contract just finished too.
I did some research then rang Lumo and told them the best deal I found, they beat it so I stayed with them

[Mythical Creature]

Has anyone looked at different electricity providers lately? I last looked 2 years ago and went with Lumo as they were the best at that time. I got a letter from them yesterday saying that my 2 year contract is up, so I spent a few hours last night looking at different options. Basically I just keyed in my last 4 bills into a spread sheet and used it to compare different companies.
The one that come up trumps by a few hundred $$$ was Power Direct.
I have never heard of them before, has anyone dealt with them and if you have are they ok.
By the way I never had a problem with Lumo.

My Lumo contract just finished too.
I did some research then rang Lumo and told them the best deal I found, they beat it so I stayed with them

Cheers mate. I take it this wasn't difficult to do?

[Booney]

I'm normally too lazy as well, but when my bills are consistently 4 figures I need to keep an eye on things.

WTF? Regular bills over $1000?

[dedja]

I've used PowerDirect for over 3 years ... always have been the cheapest by far

[Brodlach]

I'm normally too lazy as well, but when my bills are consistently 4 figures I need to keep an eye on things.

WTF? Regular bills over $1000?

We have a guy at work who every quarter has a bill of over $1400 and he only has a family of 5.

[HH3]

I have a guy at work that clears $1000 every quarter and its only him and his missus.

I have my suspicions...

[The Ash Man]

Has anyone looked at different electricity providers lately? I last looked 2 years ago and went with Lumo as they were the best at that time. I got a letter from them yesterday saying that my 2 year contract is up, so I spent a few hours last night looking at different options. Basically I just keyed in my last 4 bills into a spread sheet and used it to compare different companies.
The one that come up trumps by a few hundred $$$ was Power Direct.
I have never heard of them before, has anyone dealt with them and if you have are they ok.
By the way I never had a problem with Lumo.

My Lumo contract just finished too.
I did some research then rang Lumo and told them the best deal I found, they beat it so I stayed with them

Cheers mate. I take it this wasn't difficult to do?

No, I rang them and told them I could get 18% off my bill elsewhere. (which may or may not have been true)
They transferred me to retention then they reduced all their kW/h rates and gave me 15% off my bill.
It worked out better.

[Mythical Creature]

I'm normally too lazy as well, but when my bills are consistently 4 figures I need to keep an eye on things.

WTF? Regular bills over $1000?

Yeah 3 of the 4 are. The other ones about $800.
I guess the pool and air con would be using the most. Have 2 fridges running (1 outside under the v/dah) plus a deep freeze and a couple of flat screens. The wife and son are home most of the time so the aircon gets a fair workout nearly all year.

Nothing dodgy going on from my end.

[Mythical Creature]

Has anyone looked at different electricity providers lately? I last looked 2 years ago and went with Lumo as they were the best at that time. I got a letter from them yesterday saying that my 2 year contract is up, so I spent a few hours last night looking at different options. Basically I just keyed in my last 4 bills into a spread sheet and used it to compare different companies.
The one that come up trumps by a few hundred $$$ was Power Direct.
I have never heard of them before, has anyone dealt with them and if you have are they ok.
By the way I never had a problem with Lumo.

My Lumo contract just finished too.
I did some research then rang Lumo and told them the best deal I found, they beat it so I stayed with them

Cheers mate. I take it this wasn't difficult to do?

No, I rang them and told them I could get 18% off my bill elsewhere. (which may or may not have been true)
They transferred me to retention then they reduced all their kW/h rates and gave me 15% off my bill.
It worked out better.

Thanks. I'll give this a go next week and see what they offer then do the maths from there. Origin offer 18% so you can get it, just their starting rates are fairly high so it doesn't make a lot of difference.

[dedja]

Just a small tip for the uninitiated, do not take any notice of the percentage figure reductions, they're meaningless.

Instead ask for the specific tariffs so you can compare apples with apples.

[Booney]

I'm normally too lazy as well, but when my bills are consistently 4 figures I need to keep an eye on things.

WTF? Regular bills over $1000?

Yeah 3 of the 4 are. The other ones about $800.
I guess the pool and air con would be using the most. Have 2 fridges running (1 outside under the v/dah) plus a deep freeze and a couple of flat screens. The wife and son are home most of the time so the aircon gets a fair workout nearly all year.

Nothing dodgy going on from my end.

Yes, the pool would add some for sure. We purchased a spa about 18 months ago and haven't really noticed any major increase.

[Sturtman]

the name of a good boarding kennel in Adelaide or Adelaide hills for my dog

[Booney]

the name of a good boarding kennel in Adelaide or Adelaide hills for my dog

We sent ours while re-plumbing our house to http://hedgegroveboarding.com.au/ .

I've heard no bad reports from anyone who has used them and we thought the place looked pretty reasonable. The dogs were only there for 4 nights though.