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Free power from 9pm-midnight every night

Check if Good Nights is available at your address

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Frequently asked questions

The Good Nights plan is available to residential customers who have a communicating smart meter – most properties have this type of meter installed already. Check if you have the right meter here. When you sign up, we'll double-check this and confirm that you’re eligible.

If you’re an existing Contact customer and would like to take advantage of this great offer, you need to be on an open term energy plan and change to the Good Nights plan. You cannot add the ‘3 free hours of electricity’ to your existing plan.

Please note that when you change to the Good Nights plan, you will no longer receive any associated rewards from your old plan, like discounts.

It’s simple to change to the Good Nights plan online here.

 

I’m currently on a Low User plan – will that still apply if I change to Good Nights?

You can still go on a Low User plan. When you change plan online, you'll need to select the Low User plan option.

 

What about my Contact broadband – can I still get this and does anything change?

You don’t need to do anything – when you change to the Good Nights plan your broadband service will continue as usual (your current modem will still work) and your monthly broadband price will stay the same (subject to any price change or other notification you may have received.) Please note that if you are currently receiving any associated broadband discounts that are linked to your current energy plan, when you switch to new energy plan, you will no longer receive the discount and standard broadband prices will apply.

If you don’t already have broadband with us but would like to add it, you can either do this when you change to the Good Nights plan online or add it later via the app (under the ‘My property’ section).

To find the energy rates for your property on the Good Nights plan, click here and type in your address. Then click on ‘view details’ under ‘3. Choose your new plan’ to see the rates.

To go on the Good Nights plan, you need to have a communicating smart meter that records and send us your electricity usage at every half-hourly interval. This way we can identify the right amounts of electricity used in the free periods vs the chargeable periods and bill you accordingly. 

Unfortunately, some meter types aren’t as reliable in providing this half-hourly usage data as others, meaning we might not get all the data in time to bill you accurately. So, we’ve had to exclude some smart meters from being eligible for the plan.

If we find your meter isn’t sending the required usage data to bill you accurately on Good Nights, we may need to remove you from the plan. But don’t worry, we’ll discuss all of this with you first and make sure we find a plan that works best for you.

The Good Nights plan is only available to residential customers who have an eligible and actively communicating smart meter.

When signing up online, once you enter your address we can identify if you have the right type of meter or not. If you don’t have the right type of meter, the Good Nights plan will not display.

Any savings associated with the Good Nights plan will vary depending on your meter setup, how you use electricity overall, and particularly how much usage you shift to the free period (9pm-midnight every night).

Everyone’s usage is different. Check out our tips to maximise your free hours.

You can track your savings on our app or online through My Account.

All electricity used during 9pm and midnight every night is free.

Please note that:

  • The daily charge will still apply.
  • Natural gas and bottled gas isn’t included, so appliances (including hot water heating) that run on gas are not included during the free time period.

We know that the evenings are when most households use the most power. We're able to offer free power later in the evening because that's when it's generally cheaper for us to purchase the power you consume.

For now, the free period is fixed, so you can't change it to another time of day. We're always on the hunt to improve our plans, so this could be something we consider later on.

Opt to do your power-greedy chores like running the dishwater, washing machine and dryer later in the evening. Shifting usage to off-peak times can be better for the environment too, as it reduces the need to ‘fire up’ carbon-intensive power generation.

Yes, using lots of appliances at once can blow a house-fuse and risk a power cut. It’s also not safe for you or the people who work on the network if something needs to be fixed. Here are some tips to help manage this, we know it can be tempting to turn everything on at once!
When you change to the Good Nights plan, we will bill you up to date for any usage on your old plan, so you will receive a bill shortly after we have made the change. As this bill will cover any usage from your last bill until the date you changed to Good Nights, it’s likely to be for a shorter period than normal. This will also mean your first Good Nights bill will not be for a whole month, as it will only cover usage from the date you changed to Good Nights. From then on, your bills will be as per your current billing cycle.
This plan requires an actively communicating smart meter that sends us actual read meter data every 30 minutes so we can invoice you accurately. Your meter can’t send us readings if it is turned off. If you are planning to turn off your smart meter for more than 3 days, please contact us and to temporarily move you to another plan that can invoice you.

Tips to maximise your free hours

 

 

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With some little adjustments and clever thinking, here’s some tips from customers to help save money and make the most of the Good Nights plan: 

 

  • Check which appliances have timers or delay start buttons – you might be surprised. For example, many washing machines, dryers and dishwashers come with this nifty button. If they don’t, whip them into action at 9pm.

  • Keep the heater or air conditioner going into the late evening or midnight at the latest. This may help keep your place warm (or cool) well into the early hours.

  • Use slow cookers in a whole different way! There’s actually some great recipes out there for breakfast cooked in the slow cooker. Turn it on after 9pm and you’ll get at least some cooking time for free.

  • Mix up a batch of biscuits during the day when it suits, but then leave the cooking until after 9. 

  • Love your electric blanket? No problem. Switch it on at 9, jump into bed at 10 and you’ve got a cosy warm bed without the running costs. (Just make sure you switch it off before nodding off.)

  • Shower just after the free period starts – did you know that heating hot water usually accounts for around 30% of the usage on a power bill? Showering early in the free period means your cylinder will also refill while the power is free. Win win.

  • Charge all your devices at once. If you have a stick vacuum cleaner, it’s a good time to charge that too.

  • Use the free hours as a great excuse to stay up late and watch the latest recommendations streamed to your device. Or catch up on some live overseas sport. 

  • Our best tip of all? Reward yourself with the money you have saved on Good Nights with a little treat or whatever tickles your fancy.