We know a price spike can feel alarming for Flicksters on our Freestyle plan. But, instead of panicking when you see that wee notification come through from your Flick app, take a moment to put things into perspective.

The typical price spike lasts for one, and sometimes two, 30 minute periods. If you can flick things off for an hour or so, you’ll probably get through it with very little impact on your bill. So, although it’s good practice to turn off the appliances that aren’t necessary to keep your household warm and comfortable, the following guide might give you an idea of what some common peak time appliances might cost during higher pricing periods.

What else can you do?

• Set your heater or heat pump temperature to around 21 degrees, where most people are comfortable. That way it’ll automatically stop heating when the room reaches that temperature and you won’t waste power trying to hit 25 or 30 degrees.
• Send the kids around to flick all the switches off at the wall, and have a chat about why prices are high and how we can collectively reduce our carbon impact, one switch at a time. Our blog, There’s Certainty in Fixed Rates, But What’s the Cost?, is a good place to start.
• If you’re concerned about your usage during the price spike, use it as a good excuse to unplug, or get out of the house for 30 minutes or so. Play a few board games, head down to the local park, get out in the garden, or, if it’s night time, indulge in a bit of stargazing (the SkyView app makes exploring the universe a whole lot more interesting!).
• Sign up to Volt by Flick. This handy little guy lets you choose a regular dollar amount to pay to Flick each week so that you can build up credit on your account that’s only used when your bills reach a certain amount, chosen by you. By paying slightly more than your typical weekly bill, you’re able to build up money in your Volt so that when you have a bill that’s higher than normal, you’ve already got the funds there to cover it. Brilliant!
• And, if the ups and downs of the spot price market are all getting a bit much, it could be worth considering Flick’s newest pricing product, FIXIE. On FIXIE you can fix your generation price (that’s the spot price) for 6 months at a time. You’ll still get all the costs of supply passed through at the wholesale price, and our Flick charges are still totally separate and transparent (of course!). It’s price certainty on a short-term contract, and without any hidden cost. Just what you’d expect from Flick, right?

Flick offers New Zealanders power over their power, and Flicksters on our spot price plan, Freestyle, have saved an average $350 annually (as at April 2018). If you can ride a few high price events, we’re confident that you’ll be better off in the long run with Flick.