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Tips to Save on Electricity

It is always a good idea to minimize household electricity costs. Not only does this mean that you minimize expenses, but it also helps the environment (i.e. minimizing use of fossil fuels). It is quite possible to significantly reduce electricity costs, even with relatively easy-to-implement measures.

Lighting

Incandescent lamps really use a lot of electricity. A single 60-watt lamp which is used 5 hours/day would cost (at the present price of PhP 7/ KwH) PhP 63/month. If this lamp is replaced by a 12-watt Compact Flourescent Lamp (CFL) – which gives out the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent lamp – the cost per month would go down to about PhP 13/month, resulting in a PhP 50/month savings for just replacing a single lamp!

Tips
  • Replace incandescent lamps with CFLs.
  • Turn off lights whenever you leave a room.
  • For stairways or corridors which are not often used, have a lamp which is switched on with a timer (this switches off the light automatically after a couple of minutes).

Cooling

In our warm climate, people do their best to keep the inner temperature cool. Some do this by airconditioning, more often by electric fans. Airconditioning units and electric fans use a lot of energy, and it is a good idea to try to minimize their use.

Tips
  • Keep the house cool by pulling thick curtains or shades over windows during the day, especially when no one is using those particular rooms.
  • Set airconditioning units to 22 degrees C (instead of the more usual practice of 18 degrees).

Refrigerators

Refrigerators take up a significant part of our electricity bills. However, by taking steps to maximize its cooling capacity, it is possible to minimize electricity costs from refrigerators.

Tips
  • Position the refrigerator in a cool place, not near the stove/oven or where the sun will shine directly on it.
  • Make sure that at there is at least 10 cm space between the refrigerator and the wall. It uses less electricity if the warmth released at the back can easily flow away.
  • Open the refrigerator door as short as possible.
  • Defrost every two months, or when a layer of ice builds up. The ice reduces the cooling efficiency of the refrigerator.
  • Thaw frozen items inside the “cool” section of the refrigerator, instead of outside the refrigerator. This way, the coldness that is released goes into cooling the refrigerator, saving energy.

Cooking

The cost of cooking with LPG will rise faster than that of electricity. For many places in the country, it may be a good idea to shift to cooking with electric stoves.

Tips
  • An electric stove remains hot even after being turned off. Turn the stove off before the food is fully cooked, and use the remaining heat.
  • Use pans of the correct size (i.e. not too big), keep the pans covered while cooking.
  • Where applicable, cook using a microwave oven.
  • Use a pressure cooker when you need to boil food for a longer time.
  • When you need hot water, it is better to boil water in a water heater than boiling water in a pan over the stove.

Computers, TV, etc.

Tips
  • Turn off the computer completely (and peripherals e.g. printer) when you are not using it. Keeping it on screensaver or “sleep” status still uses a lot of energy.
  • A cellphone recharger should be unplugged after use. Otherwise it would continue to use electricity even if there is no phone connected to it. Likewise, any appliance with a transformer (e.g. a coffee maker made in the US) or a capacitor (e.g. light dimmer) also uses electricity even when not in use.

Others

Tips
  • Wash full loads of clothes.
  • Iron clothes in big batches.


Regular monitoring of your electricity use generally helps to reduce your monthly bills. But in order to do this, it is important that every household should have their own electricity meter. In cases of people renting rooms (e.g. students), in many condominiums, or in family compounds, it may be that there is only one electricity meter covering many households. The problem with this arrangement is that people are not conscious of the amount of electricity they use; and they would not benefit from reducing their electricity use.

A tool that could help in understanding how much appliances use electricity, you could try using the Meralco Applicance Calculator.

In places where it is possible, you may also consider the option of having a Prepaid Electricity Meter.
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