How to save big on your electricity bill
There are many ways to reduce your monthly electricity consumption, such as smart energy management tools, using the latest energy-saving lightbulbs and appliances, and cooking with gas.
These are important considerations for South Africans who want to reduce their monthly electricity bill, as well as those who are considering a solar power installation at home and want to minimise the cost of this investment.
In both cases, responsible electricity consumption habits will save you significant amounts of money over time.
To make this easier for South African households, leading financed Solar provider LookSee unpacks the best ways to cut your monthly electricity consumption, below.
High-wattage appliances
Focusing on high-wattage appliances offers the most significant savings potential.
A geyser accounts for 40% of the average household’s monthly electricity bill and there are several easy ways to reduce this expensive monthly cost.
The best way is to convert your geyser to solar.
To achieve this, LookSee installs normal solar panels on your roof that connect to your existing electric geyser through an innovative controller device.
The benefit of this affordable approach is that you don’t need to invest in a new geyser or expensive plumbing work.
What’s more, the conversion qualifies for a low-interest rate Solar Loan ensuring you can finance the cost over 5 years and use your electricity bill savings for the repayments.
After the loan is paid off, you’ll benefit from free geyser heating from the sun.
gas Addressing your cooking costs is also an excellent way to save money, as electric ovens and stoves draw significant amounts of power when in use.
Switching to a gas stove and oven has been a popular option in recent years as these offer loadshedding relief as well as cost savings.
Alternatively, newer technologies such as induction plates and convection ovens offer more efficient use of electricity.
You can also save big by upgrading appliances such as your washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer to newer, more power-efficient models.
If you’re not ready to upgrade, however, you can also bring down your electricity bill by using cold (or colder) washing cycles, taking advantage of the sun to dry your clothes, and allowing your dishes to drip dry.
Smart power management
Smart controllers and plugs are an excellent way to save even more money on your monthly electricity bill.
A smart geyser controller – which lets you decide when your geyser should turn on – can cut your geyser heating costs by up to 40%.
Smart plugs are great, too, as they can be used to control every household device – including the electricity vampires that stay plugged in and continually drain small amounts of power even when not in use.
Smart plugs reduce this wastage by ensuring that power is cut to unnecessary appliances when they are not needed.
Efficient usage
You must also be “smart” with your own electricity use, says LookSee.
In fact, people very rarely realise just how much electricity is wasted through light bulbs – either through less-efficient technology or inefficient usage.
Upgrading to energy-efficient LED light bulbs is your first step to decreasing your electricity bill but being proactive about switching off unnecessary lights will certainly assist your efforts.
This can be aided with motion detector lights for high-traffic areas in the home that tend to result in lights being left on, such as hallways and bathrooms.
For exterior security lights, selecting motion detection lights can reduce your electricity bill and the sudden lighting is more likely to alert you to intruders.
Reducing your pool pump operating time by one hour per day can save you around 274kWh of electricity – almost R700 – per year, according to Eskom.
Solar power
The best way to save on your monthly electricity bill, however, is to get solar power for your home.
LookSee executive head, Marc du Plessis explains: “Households are increasingly looking to solar for the significant financial benefits.”
“We’re already seeing that the immediate savings on the electricity bill can be used to pay off the majority of the monthly finance repayments, but now our customers are also looking at the considerable savings they’ll see once the loan is paid off.”
“At this point, the household starts benefiting from free electricity from the sun and the savings goes straight into their pocket.”
LookSee offers Standard Bank-vetted home solar installations and specialised Solar Loans with personalised interest rates ranging from Prime +1% to Prime +2.5%.
This makes it affordable for South Africans to install solar and save thousands of rand a year.
Loading ...
