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With electricity prices increasing again in South Africa, finding ways to manage those rising costs is even more critical than before.
We’ll provide you with 10 proven strategies to help you reduce your household power usage and lower your electricity bills. Some suggestions include using smart meters or apps to monitor your usage, unplugging devices when you’re not using them, and investing in renewable energy solutions to gain energy independence.
Let’s dive in so you can start saving money today.
Examine Your Household Electricity Use
To save money on electricity, it’s important to understand how much kWh your house uses. You can find that on your monthly electrical bill or your prepaid meter. If you’re on prepaid, ensure you understand your inclining block tariffs and other ways to maximise your savings on prepaid.
Once you know your total usage, check the wattage of your appliances and see if they have any energy efficiency ratings. Inefficient old appliances should be replaced as soon as you can afford them.
Utilise Smart Metering or Smart Apps
Knowing your total electrical usage is essential, but you must also understand what uses the most power and when. Smart or prepaid meters that allow you to monitor usage in real-time can help you identify where your power is going.
Additionally, use the EcoFlow App that comes with any EcoFlow Solar Generator. It allows you to monitor your usage right from the convenience of your smartphone. Check out our Cost Savings page for further information.
Insulate Your Home and Seal Air Leaks
Since heating and cooling often account for a significant portion of your bill, ensuring your home is properly insulated will help you save money. Check your door and window seals and use weatherstripping or caulking to seal the leaks. Those leaks can waste a lot of power, especially during extreme weather like the recent winter storms that battered Cape Town.
Mind Your Thermostat
To help reduce the cost of heating and cooling, it’s important to be more mindful of your thermostat. Use a programmable thermostat to help regulate heating and cooling while sleeping or at work. Also, set your temperature for comfort, but don’t make your heating or cooling work harder than necessary.
If you’re indoors and need to wear a warm shirt in summer or take one off in winter, you’re using excess power when you could simply wear the right clothing for the weather. Remember to clean or replace the air filters in your heating and cooling systems regularly to ensure they operate at maximum efficiency.
Use Renewable Solar Energy
Incorporating renewable energy sources like EcoFlow Solar Generators is one of the best ways to reduce household costs.
Solar generators work by harnessing clean energy from the sun via the photovoltaic effect to generate renewable energy. The generator comes with a built-in storage battery and a balance of system components, including a built-in inverter, so it can store and release electricity whenever needed.
When your home uses a solar generator, you can significantly reduce or even eliminate your power bills. You also won’t have to worry about load shedding or other blackouts ever again. Even when winter storms damage the grid, you can keep your household running.
The EcoFlow DELTA Series of solar generators comes in all sizes to suit any budget, especially with great winter sales now happening. Thanks to the expandable batteries of EcoFlow DELTA 2 Max + 220W Solar Panel and EcoFlow DELTA Pro + 400W Solar Panel, even large homes with high energy use can get enough power to go off-grid.
Adjust the Water Heater Temperature
Water heating is another big electricity user, so lowering your water heater’s temperature to about 49°C (120°F) may significantly reduce your bill. It’ll be hot enough for showers and washing and won’t require so much cold to bring it down to a temperature that won’t burn your hands.
Also, insulate your water heater and pipes to reduce heat loss in the winter.
Switch to LED Lighting
Old incandescent light bulbs consume as much as 10 times the power and last about 1/100th as long before needing replacement. Even compact fluorescents, while better than incandescents, are still less efficient than LED lights.
Unplug Electronic Devices When Not in Use
Most electronic devices and many appliances continue to draw power even when turned off because they are in standby mode, sometimes called “phantom power.” Unplug your chargers, computers, TVs, and other electronics when not in use. An easy method is to use power bars to easily switch multiple devices on and off simultaneously.
Practice Energy Efficient Cooking
Use lids on pots and pans to hold in the heat so water boils faster and food cooks quicker. You can even turn the burner off when something is just a few minutes from being done and let it finish with the lid on using the heat contained within. Also, use small burners for small pots and large ones for large pots.
Consider using microwave or toaster ovens for smaller meals since they are more energy efficient than a full-sized oven. You could even buy or build a solar oven and use free energy from the sun to cook your food.
Use Natural Lighting and Ventilation When Appropriate
Turn off your lights and open your curtains whenever possible to take advantage of natural lighting. Also, instead of using fans or air conditioners when it’s just a bit too warm in your home, why not open your doors or windows to let the air flow through and naturally cool your home?
Final Thoughts
I hope you found some useful tips to help you save money on your electrical bills. Whether you start monitoring your energy use or better managing your thermostat, you can start saving money today.
Consider taking advantage of our great winter sales and investing in an EcoFlow Solar Generator. You could eliminate those bills and achieve complete energy independence. The best part is that after the solar payback period, your electricity will be free for 20 years! With electricity costs these days, who would say no to free energy?