How to reduce your electricity account

At home

Hot water cylinder

• Instruct all household members, particularly domestic workers and children, in the economical use of hot water
  
  
• When bathing, use as little water as possible, or better still, have a shower
  
  
• Do not wash one cup at a time under the hot tap. Rather stack the dirty dishes and wash them in the sink at the same time
  
  
• Do not allow hot water taps to drip
  
  
• Have the hot water cylinder thermostat set as low as the household's hot water demand will permit
  
  
• Switch off the cylinder when not in use, for example at night, or, should the family go out to work during the day, the cylinder could be switched off in the morning. More importantly, switch off the cylinder when away for relatively long periods, such as when on holiday
  
  
• Recommended temperature setting is 55°C
  
  

Stove

• When boiling water, turn the heat down as low as possible so that the water just boils. Do not cook food with the controls set higher than absolutely necessary
  
  
• It is cheaper to heat water in a kettle than to heat it in a pot on the stove
  
  
• Do not cook food for longer than necessary
  
  
• Make sure that the bottom of the pots are flat so that good contact can be obtained between the stove plates and the bottom of the pots
  
  
• For stoves that have heavy, solid plates that retain heat, switch off the plate a few minutes before removing the pot
  
  
• Small pots should be heated on the stove's small plates to avoid unnecessary heat loss
  
  
• A microwave oven is cheaper to operate than a stove
  
  

Refrigerators and deep freezers

• Open the refrigerator or deep freeze door as little and for as short a period as possible
  
  
• Do not place hot food in the refrigerator or deep freeze. Allow it to cool externally first
  Ensure that door seals are in good condition
  
  

Space heaters and air conditioners

• Sit as close as practically possible to a heater to avoid the need to have both elements switched on
  
  
• Switch off the heater when leaving the room for any length of time
  
  
• When using heaters or air conditioners, limit or restrict as far as possible the opening of windows
  
  
• Curtains help to retain the heat in a room. Draw the curtains early in the evening, especially during cold weather
  
  
• It is cheaper to use an electric blanket than to heat the bedroom with a heater
  
  

Other electrical appliances and lights

• When using a kettle, do not fill it right to the top if you only intend making one cup of tea
  
  
• Store excess hot water from the kettle in a vacuum flask for the odd cup of coffee or for washing up later
  
  
• Dishwashers and washing machines should only be used when one has a full load to wash and not just a few items
  
  
• Do not leave lights burning unnecessarily
  
  
• Survey your incandescent lights for opportunities to replace them with compact fluorescents. These new lamps can save three-quarters of the electricity used by incandescent lamps and have a much longer operating life. The best targets are 60 - 100 W bulbs used several hours a day.
  
  

Swimming pools

• Operate the filter pump for minimum periods
  
  
• During winter algae growth is restricted and the use of the filter cleaning system can be limited to once every few days
  
  
  

General

There is currently a shortage of generating capacity in the country. To minimise the load on the electrical network in the country try to avoid the use of high consuming appliances during the evening peak hours of 18:00 to 21:00. These appliances include heaters, air conditioners, stoves, hot water geysers, tumble dryers, washing machines, dishwashers and swimming pool pumps

Consumers charged at the Lifeline Tariff and who purchase up to 400 kWh per month on average will continue to receive the free basic supply of 50 kWh.

NOTE: The 400 kWh was determined from the average monthly consumption over the 12 months up to May 2009.

Before considering ways and means of reducing your electricity account one should first consider the cost of operating the various types of domestic appliances.

The following table details the average cost of electricity consumed by various classes of electrical appliances and other consuming devices in the home.

(Kindly note that all tariffs and costs indicated in this document are inclusive of VAT)


Domestic High (73.46c/kWh) a service charge of R3,88 per day applies whether electricity is consumed or not.
Domestic Low (88.20c/kWh) would ideally be used if your consumption is between 400 and 800 kWh/month. The service charge is not applicable to this tariff.
Lifeline (61.45c/kW.h) is only available to consumers who purchase 400 kWh or less per month on average. The service charge is not applicable to this tariff.

Note 2:            1 kW = 1000 watts and 1 kW.h = 1 unit, which is equivalent to 1000 watts being
used for 1 hour or 500 watts for two hours or 2 000 watts for 0,5 hours.

Due to the water heater having an element of relatively high rating and this element being
energised for long periods each day, the water heater is the largest user of electricity of all the
equipment in a normal house.  The next largest users of electricity are the stove and in some
households, space heaters in winter.

Therefore, by reducing the use of the hot water cylinder, stove and space heaters, an appreciable
reduction in total overall consumption can be made.

An analysis of the monthly cost of operating the different classes of appliances in a typical home is given below:

Note : The costs shown for Domestic High exclude the daily service charge which would add R116.40 for a 30 day month.

At work

• Turn off the photocopier when you leave - a photocopier left on overnight wastes enough energy to make about 1 600 copies!
  
  
• Turn off your computer monitor - a monitor left on overnight wastes enough energy to laser-print about 800 A4 pages! By turning off your monitor energy consumption can be reduced by 50%
  
  
• Leaving the lights on in an empty office overnight wastes enough energy to make about 1000 cups of coffee!
  
  
• Save 10% of an air-conditioner electricity bill by turning the thermostat down 1º in winter
  and up 1º in summer