4 ways to save money on new electricity bills

We are tired of paying our electricity bills growing every month and, when we check the bill in detail, it is boring to separate so many figures and concepts, parts of the bill and different concepts included in the invoice document. Things got worse when billing per hour came into force on 1 October 2015. The new electricity price-setting system is intended that the consumers pay for their hourly consumption throughout the day.

Consumers may benefit from this new tariff, Voluntary Price for Small Customer, because they can check the hourly prices in the invoice and, accordingly, decide the time of use rates for electricity in order to reduce the energy bill.

It sounds well, but where to check prices? How to organize my consumption to benefit from this rate?

Visit Red Eléctrica website to check the hourly pricing schedules of energy used that apply in electricity bills. You may know in advance the hourly price –for, example, the cheapest time to run the washing-machine- and organize your energy consumption to reduce the bill.

But be careful. This new system is applied only to consumers who have a smart meter installed. Red Eléctrica has implemented a new system to calculate the cost of electricity for households who still do not have a smart meter installed.

PVPC is just for those consumers whose contracted power capacity does not exceed 10 kW. You can also contract free market rates with no fixed prices and including other discounts.

If you prefer a regulated market, a PVPC rate and have a smart meter installed, here you have five tips to reduce the new electricity bill:

1. BILL CALCULATOR
Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia offers a calculator to check the daily or weekly consumption and cost, as well as compare to other tariffs by using simulations. Check it, calculate and do not hesitate to change tariff or company to reduce the bill as much as possible.

2. NEW CONSUMPTION HABITS
You may find difficult to change your electric consumption habits, but you will appreciate when receiving the electricity bill. To improve your consumption habits, we focus the attention on three main items:

– 25% of the energy we consume comes from electric appliances with continuous power consumption (for exemple, fridges). You can do nothing but paying attention to Energy Efficiency Qualification when renewing our electrical appliances. There is a great difference between an A qualification and a C qualification.

– 50% of our energy bill comes from consumption related to our daily needs (for example: televisions, lamps, heating). Our tip is to take advantage of natural light, sun light 🙂 Opening your curtains and blinds as well as installing photovoltaic solar panels help to save energy and money. If natural light is not enough, do not hesitate to change incandescent and low consumption light bulbs for LED bulbs to save up to 96% of energy!! Unbelievable, but true.

You can also save between 5 and 7% of your energy consumption by unplugging appliances like televisions, printers, computers, etc. when not using. When we turn off TV with remote control, the device remains in standby mode and consuming energy. We should manually turn off or unplug it. You can reduce between 5 and 10% by using power strips with power switch and timers. Check power shift is off to make sure television is unplugged.

– The remaining 25% of energy used comes from dishwasher, washing-machine, dryer and oven, and their use depends a lot on our consumption habits. These are our tips to maximize your benefit from the new tariff:

a.   Program washing-machine and dishwasher to run during off-peak hours. Iron and hair dryer are also high consumption appliances. You’d rather use them early in the morning or late in the evening. Mobile phones, tablets and portable devices should be loaded in off-peak hours, between midnight and five o’clock in the morning. Weekends and holidays also have off-peak periods.

b.   Avoid peak hours, usually between 14:00h and 17:00h and between 21:00h and 23:00h. Try to use high power consumption appliances like oven outside these periods.

c.   Winter habits and summer habits are different. In summer, air conditioner uses a lot of energy, between 4% and 6%, depending on temperature. 24ºC is a good choice.

3. DIFFERENT TARIFFS FOR DIFFERENT LIFESTYLES
a.   General rate: it offers a more stable price all day, but off-peak hours may change according to the day.

b.   Time of use rate. This is the most recommended tariff due to a better save. It has an on-peak period during the day with higher prices and a valley period at night with lower prices. It is a good choice for people working during the day and staying at home only at night.

c.   Electric vehicle rate.

4. ADJUST CONTRACTED POWER
Most of households have contracted power up to 10kw. You can save 4€ per month by reducing 1kW. Adjusting contracted power to household consumption is a great benefit. Check a monthly bill and look average power used to know your household consumption.

In short: 55% or 65% of our electricity bill is regulatory taxes and costs, but the remaining 35% or 45% depends on our energy consumption.

Information given is offered for information purposes, excluding the company from all responsibility, not constitute an official publication nor will it be binding. We always recommend check with your lawyer or adviser.