SAVE ON YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL

So our electricity (in South Africa) may double in 5 years. Everyone is screaming at ESKOM (energy service provider), for this new tariff proposal. The question is whether we will ever see an end to these abnormal tariff hikes. Are the protesters staging at the Eskom buildings going to help? Probably NOT.

Save on your electricity bill - image via

A price hike of more than 500% in just 4 years can’t be healthy for anyone. It’s not great for the private sector and definitely not good for households. By the look of things, my family of four will be parting with R5000 per month to keep our lights on. The argument that our electricity is among the cheapest in the world is also not helping. It looks to me like we have to adjust our lives and learn to live with high/ normal electricity bills. There’s definitely a lot you can do to save on your electricity bill.

I must confess, I have a long way to lower my own electricity bill. Like a typical SA girl, most thinks in my house operate on electricity right now. I heat, clean up, cook, wash, etc. with it. These are the steps that we will be taking to lower our electric bill:
Insulate The House Roof
We are insulating our roof, with the hope that this will keep our house cool in summer and warm in winter. This is long overdue. Our temperatures are relatively mild. We seldom use a heater really. We don’t have a real need for air conditioners. But the top floor of the house tends to have quite high temperatures in summer.

Solar Geyser
We will finally take advantage of the ESKOM rebate and get us a solar geyser (solar water heating) too. Its time we make good use of our African sun. This is what eskom says about the rebate programme:

To actively encourage and promote the widespread implementation of solar water heating, Eskom has rolled out a large-scale solar water heating programme. This programme will assist you when buying an SABS tested solar water heater to replace your conventional geyser.

In addition to the rebate that you will receive upon installation of solar water heating, many insurance companies are now allowing you to put your claim value towards a solar system or are offering solar water heaters as replacement in the event of a burst geyser.

Gas Heater
We will behave like other normal people and invest in a gas heater. I hope we wont need to use this much though. No more electric heater for us. That's a huge cut on the winter electric bill.

Energy Efficient Appliances
We will definitely switch to more energy efficient appliances. This is not such a problem as I need a few appliances anyway.

Solar Panels
Add some solar panels on that bare roof. This is where Home Owners Association starts irritating. I might need some written permission. Can they really say NO? I wonder.

Other small changes that can lower my electricity bill include switching off stuff that I usually leave on standby like a DVD player, TV... Same goes with boiling just enough water in the kettle, sticking with the energy saving light bulbs, keeping my appliances clean, etc. It can’t be that difficult. It’s only a mindset shift.

What do you do to save on your electricity bill?

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