Search this site
Home / Curb Your Power / How to Curb Your Power

Curb Your Power

How to Curb Your Power

How to curb your power

If you’ve received a message from us asking you to curb your power, you’re in the right place – you should find all the info you need to make sure you can take part and earn rewards.

When the Event starts, reduce your power usage as much, and as safely, as you can for the course of the Event to meet your Curb Target. Do not turn off any vital appliances or devices.

If you’re just interested in how the Curb Your Power program works, this info is also for you!

Introducing Curb Your Power

What is my Curb Target?

To hit your Curb Target, you must:

  • Reduce your power usage by at least 10% of your Baseline, or
  • Reduce your usage by at least 1kW for each hour of the Event, or
  • Reduce your usage by at least 0.05 kW for each hour of the Event if you have solar.
What’s my Baseline?

Your usage reduction is measured by an algorithm that calculates your usage data from the last 14 days to create a profile of what your usage would be at a certain time. This is your Baseline. Your Baseline is what your usage would have been if you hadn’t responded to an Event. We then use your actual usage data for the day of the Curb Your Power Event to figure out if you were able to reduce your usage enough to hit your Curb Target.

Ways you can curb your power

Curbing your power doesn’t mean sitting quietly in the dark for an hour or two with all the appliances switched off until the Event is over. Participating can be as easy as doing your washing after the Event, or powering down the house and heading out for soup instead.

Here are just a few ways you can curb your power:

Heaters

Electric and split system heaters use a lot of power. Pre-heating your house if possible and then turning off your heater before the Event is a great way to curb. Otherwise, you could turn down your heater's temperature.

2kWh

is what heaters can use every hour

Dishwasher

Not running your dishwasher during an Event could mean you reduce usage by around 1kWh. What more of an excuse do you need to delay doing the dishes?

1-2kWh

per cycle

Washing machine

Washing machines and dryers are BIG energy guzzlers. Delay doing your washing if you'd usually do it during the time of an Event.

0.5-1kWh

per cycle

Pool pump

Switching your pool pump off (if you have a pool – lucky you) during an Event could be all you need to get the minimum reduction needed. Just remember to turn it back on again!

1-2kWh

every hour

Electric oven

An electric oven can use up to 1kWh every hour, so why not use the BBQ or cook dinner a little earlier or later.

1kWh

every hour

TV

Plasma TVs use about 0.4kWh while LCDs use about half that. Read a book or listen to a podcast instead (just don't charge your phone - that'll use about 0.03kWh).

0.3kWh

every hour of the Bachelor we know you pretend you don’t watch

Lights

Everyone knows you should turn the lights off when you leave a room. Turning off 4 halogen down lights during an Event can reduce your usage by 0.2kWh.

0.05kWh

a single halogen downlight can use 0.05kWh every hour

Hair dryer

Let your hair air dry - it's better for your hair and not using it for 10 minutes will save you 0.25kW.

0.25kWh

for 10 minutes

Microwave

We don’t think you’d be using your microwave for a whole hour, but even if you use it for 5 minutes to heat up last night’s take away, that’s about 0.12kWh.

0.12kWh

to heat up last night’s pizza