Aussies are being told to brace for a hot start to November as a weekend heatwave approaches, with some parts of the country to swelter through temperatures above 40C. That means many air-conditioners will be getting a workout and power bills could see a spike if households aren’t careful.

Many parts of the country will get “an early taste of summer” when a large pool of hot air spreads across Australia in the first week of November. The highest temperatures are likely to hit central and northwestern Australia, Weatherzone said, where some places could reach the mid-40s.

Money-saving expert Joel Gibson told Yahoo Finance hotter weather was doing more damage to people’s electricity bills than in previous years.

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“A hot summer is a bigger problem for most people because power prices have risen around 40 per cent in the past few years,” Gibson said.

“So every time we turn on the air con now - and three in four homes have air con - we're paying around 40 per cent more for it.”

Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino said the heat would spread over South Australia on Saturday and into eastern Australia from Sunday.

“A second wave of heat is then expected to drift across central and southern Australia next week,” he said.

Parts of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia are expected to exceed 40C.

“The late-spring heat will also be felt in some of Australia’s state capital cities, particularly in the southern and eastern states,” Domensino said.

How to lower your energy bill as temperatures heats up

Gibson said there were a couple of ways to minimise the cost of summer cooling as the weather starts to warm up.

“First, don’t dial it all the way down to 18 degrees! That could save you hundreds over the season,” he told Yahoo Finance.

“Start around 22 and see how it goes - remember it's a target temperature, not the temperature of the air coming out of the unit.”

Every extra degree can add about 10 per cent or $100 to your bill over the season.

"And second, see if you can pay less for your power by switching providers," Gibson said.

“There are offers costing at least 15 per cent less than the government price in all states right now and some also feature hundreds of dollars in credits when you switch."

Wholesale electricity prices were lower in the three months to September 30, the latest Australian Energy Regulator data found, but were up significantly from the same period one year earlier.