How to Reduce Your Electricity Bill Part 2

Have you got your residential electricity bill after the new tariff rates was introduced on 1st January 2014? If your electricity consumption per month is more than 300kWh, you will be charged according to the new tariff system and the surcharge for Renewable Energy Fund revised from 1.0% to 1.6%.

In other words, if you maintain your monthly electricity consumption below 300kWh, you will not be affected by the new tariff rates and you do not need to pay for the 1.6% Renewable Energy Fund. I've previously posted about tips on reducing electricity, this time I'll concentrate on home lighting. Nowadays, our houses are typically litted by fluorescent lamps, such as downlights and 4' T8 fluorescent tubes. Over the past few years, LED technology had become popular in home lighting.

LED lamps consume less energy, generate less heat and have longer lifetime than fluorescent lamps. However, the price of LED lamps is normally double of fluorescent lamps. The price gap is smaller now as more and more LED lamps are manufactured. Today, you can get a branded LED downlight from RM 25 and T8 LED tube from RM 55 in the market.

Let's see how much we can actually save by changing the lamps from fluorescent to LED:
Scenario 1: 12pcs 15W downlights switched on everyday for 12 hours,
Scenario 2: 6pcs 42W 4' T8 fluorescent lamps switched on everyday for 12 hours.

	Fluorescent Lamp	LED Lamp
Scenario 1	64.8 kWh	25.92 kWh
Scenario 2	90.72 kWh	38.88 kWh
Total	155.52 kWh	64.80 kWh

The total monthly electricity consumption for LED lamps is reduced from 155.52 kWh to 64.80 kWh, almost 60% reduction as compared to that of fluorescent lamps. Assume that the total monthly electricity consumption ranges from 301 to 600 kWh before implementing LED lamps, total savings by would be RM 46.81 per month.

Total cost = RM 630 (Assume RM 25 for LED downlight and RM 55 for T8 LED Tube)

ROI = 13.5 months

In conclusion, it is recommended to switch to LED lamps as the price is more affordable now. You can start by changing the lamps that are frequently used and you can notice the difference from electricity bill.

How to Reduce Your Electricity Bill

Since the increase of power rate in June 2011, we have to pay extra 7% (in average) for the monthly electricity bill. So I would like to share with you my experience on how to reduce my electricity bill:

1. Do not use electric kettle/ thermos to boil water and store hot water. Heat generating electrical appliances consume a lot of electricity. Get a good kettle with whistle, use gas to boil water and keep in vacuum flask.
2. Get air conditioner with inverter instead of traditional air conditioner. Inverter air conditioners will be higher in price and installation fees. But you can save more in the long run.
3. Do not on air conditioner all night long. Use timer function to automatic turn off during midnight.
4. Unplug the electrical appliances that are not in use. Although the power is off, electricity will still be consumed if connected to sockets.
5. Do not put your DVD player or TV on standby mode if you are not using them. Switch off instead.
6. Use energy saving bulbs.
7. Turn off lights and fans when you're not in the room.
8. If you're using desktop, turn off whenever you're not using it.

I've tried the electricity saver that claims to save 20% of electricity. However, it does not really help to reduce my electricity bills after I've installed it for a few months. I feel that good habits and use of green electrical products are more effective in reducing electricity bills. By practising what I listed out above, I managed to save 15 ~ 20% from my electricity bill monthly.