John and Teresa Christie were recently approached by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority's public relations company to have timers installed on their two heated towel rails.
The EECA says the move will save them about $230 a year or 10% of their annual power bill.
New Zealanders are wasting millions in electricity charges by leaving heated towel rails on for much longer than they need to, says the EECA's Stuart Ross.
Running a heated towel rail costs about $175 per year if it is left on for 24 hours a day, and most of that money is "wasted".
"Using a heated towel rail timer still delivers a warm, dry towel, but operating your towel rail for eight hours a day instead of 24 hours a day could save you up to $115 a year."
Mrs Christie says they were happy to try the timers, which took only 10 minutes or so to install.
Their heated towel rails now come on twice a day, for four hours at a time.
The couple and their three children already use solar hot water heating. The EECA estimates there are 1.25 million heated towel rails in New Zealand and another 94,000 are installed during renovations or the construction of new homes every year.
If all of them had timers, New Zealand households would save about $70 million a year in electricity costs, which is equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 23,000 households or a town the size of New Plymouth.
"A heated towel rail timer is fast and easy for an electrician to install," says Mr Ross,"and we're encouraging people to get one if they're buying a new heated towel rail, or the next time they need an electrician to visit their house."
Several models are available, selling for between $30 and $220.
Concealed timers are installed behind the faceplate for the power switch.
Other models replace the faceplate with one that incorporates the timer.
There are also built-in timers that are part of the towel rail.
Another easy way for householders to save money is by replacing their traditional incandescent light bulbs with efficient light bulbs, Mr Ross says.
Efficient light bulbs cost $5 a year to run, compared with $25 a year for a traditional light bulb.
Despite the rapid uptake of efficient light bulbs over the past few years, nearly 90% of New Zealand homes still have older-style bulbs in more than half the sockets, he says.
For more information about ways to make your home more energy-efficient, visit www.energywise.govt.nz.
