As a mom that manages a household of 14 (family and househelp), I was concerned that Meralco was once again raising its rates.
Since my past issue with our electric bill, I’ve been careful about our power consumption. I didn’t want to get shocked upon opening the envelope so I did some research on this.
The Energy Regulatory Commission has approved Manila Electric Company’s Php 4.15 increase in its billing—the highest in Philippine history. The rate hike will be implemented in three tranches.
Meralco says the record rate increase is due to the scheduled maintenance of the Malampaya natural gas platform, which forced the company to get the bulk of its supply from the Wholesale Electricity Market (WESM).
Meralco will collect Php 7.67 per kwh in its December 2013 bill and spread the deferred cost over the February and March 2014 billings. That’s a bit of good news—better than paying the rate in one billing period.
The important thing is that every household to learn how to use energy properly.
For starters, you can download the Meralco app on your smartphone or tablet to give you round-the-clock access to Meralco’s services.
The app’s appliance calculator allows you to find the estimated cost of operating your individual home appliances while the bill manager allows you to know the estimated energy cost contribution of your home appliances to your total household energy cost.
The app also allows you to check your bill, find the nearest Bayad Center, get electricity tips, and more.
If yours is a high-consumption household like ours, try enrolling in Meralco’s Peak/Off-Peak rates program.
This is an alternative energy pricing scheme that is based on the time of day electricity is generated, and on the cost of supplying electricity during that time.
With this pricing scheme, Meralco customers can avail of lower generation costs in their total electricity rate during pre-defined off-peak hours.
Here are some energy-saving tips from Alfred Iporac, Meralco’s energy expert:
1) Using an HP inverter split-type aircon saves up to 50 percent savings versus a conventional split-type unit. It can reach the desired temperature setting faster, making it more energy efficient.
2) If your airconditioning unit is old (like ten years old), consider changing it as it costs more energy and money to operate an old aircon than to buy and operate a new one.
3) Did you know that lighting can account for up to 20 to 30 percent of your electrical bill? Use natural light whenever possible.
4) Maximize the operation of your washing machine. Use a water level appropriate for the size of the load.
If your washing machine doesn’t have different water level selections for different loads, always try to wash in full loads. Do not over-wash clothes. Different types of clothes require different wash cycles. That’s what those knobs are for,
5) Rice cookers have a keep warm function used for maintaining the appropriate amount of heat needed to keep rice warm after it is cooked. Prevent the unnecessary operation of the keep warm function by properly scheduling the cooking of rice in accordance to the eating time.
6) Schedule clothes ironing to once (if you are a small household) or twice (if you have a bigger one). Some say it is cheaper to iron at night than in daytime. A friend also recommended not ironing pajamas or sleeping clothes—you will save a lot!
7) Unplug power cords of household appliances when not in use because keeping them plugged generates phantom electrical use that adds up. If you are too lazy to plug and unplug like me, invest in power strips with power switches that light up. These will remind you to turn off the switch when you’re not using the appliance.
Luckily I didn’t get the bill shock this month. Hoping we will keep it down long after the ‘ber months are over.
And you? What are your power-saving tips?
Originally published at Chuvaness.com. You can comment here or there.