Power Up Your Savings: Simple Ways to Save Electricity at Home in the Philippines

Electricity is becoming more and more expensive in the Philippines. It is concerning, considering that for the same consumption of power, you now have to pay almost double the price. As a hot country, we need air-conditioning systems and fans—making it more difficult to save on power.

As more people demand power, the price also goes up. Today, we will talk about how to save electricity in the Philippines. In the end, you will learn how to save power, like around 3098.16 per year by using a Appliance Energy Calculator  (1) This tool is available on the Meralco website and is free to use. Use this calculator to get an idea of what your energy bill might be.

10 Free Tips to Start Save Electricity Right Now

1. Take Advantage of Natural lighting

Turn off your light bulbs in the daytime. You really have no reason to use them unless it is dark in the room. Light bulbs, especially incandescent ones, use a lot of power. If you really need light, make sure you use LED bulbs, as they can save you a lot of money. Also, you must use less wattage. 

Here is a Comparison: 

ITEM	HOURS ON PER DAY	COST PER DAY	COST PER MONTH
Incandescent Light Bulb 25 Watts	8 hrs per day; 7 days a week	₱1.45	₱40.63
LED Light Bulb 20 Watts	8 hrs per day; 7 days a week	₱1.02	₱28.44

As you can see, the LED light bulb saves you 12.19 per month. And we are talking about one bulb only. If you have four bulbs, then you will save ₱48.76 a month. These savings, of course, does not yet include other charges, like transmission charge, power generation charge, etc.

2. Turn on your Computer’s Energy-Saving Features

As computer processors become more and more powerful, they also use lots of power. Some computers have energy-saving features. For example, you can toggle the GPU to not provide the best video quality. In this regard, it will not use a lot of power. 

3. Unplug Gadgets When not in Use

All appliances are power vampires. They use power even if they are not turned on. Because of this, the power they use eventually adds up. 

Turn off your TV and radio, and remove your phone chargers. The only thing that must be plugged in at any time is your refrigerator and your internet modem or router.   

4. Use your Washing Machine on a 30C

It is a good practice if you use your washing machine at 30 degrees Celsius. It uses less energy when washing. The reason behind this is that most detergents are efficient at cleaning at this temperature.

In addition, we recommend that you do not wash with an incomplete load. It does not make sense to use the washing machine to wash only two pieces of clothing. The washing machine will use the same power if you wash only two items of clothing. Do not overload the machine, too. 

5. Be Energy-Efficient in your Sleep

There are appliances that you can program to automatically turn off. You can use these to program how long the AC will be on. For example, you can program it to work for four hours only, and then it will turn off by itself. 

Some electric fans also do the same. One thing we can add is for you to keep your windows open at night—provided that you have grills or something to prevent thieves from entering.

Use appliances during off-peak hours. Many electricity providers in the Philippines offer lower rates during off-peak hours, so try using appliances during these times to save money.

6. Fix any Electrical Problems in your Home

Frayed or damaged wires have an impact on your electric bill. If the wire is damaged, it can cause the appliance to heat up. If you think about it, energy also dissipates in a frayed wire instead of getting into the appliances themselves. As a result, you will be using more power and, thus, pay more. 

7. Switch to Ceiling Fans

Ceiling fans are better than stand fans. The reason is that ceiling fans use gravity to push the air downward. As a result, the air or wind a ceiling fan generates covers more ground area. 

Since the ceiling fans cover a bigger space, you do not have to turn on several of them. If you use stand fans, they cannot even cover 180 degrees of any given area. As a result, you will use several of them. 

8. Turn on your Air Conditioner Early

If you use the AC in the morning, it is best that you turn it on early so it can cool down your house when it is hot. If you turn the AC on when it is already hot, it has to work harder, therefore using more power. Clean your air conditioner regularly. A dirty air conditioner can use more electricity than a clean one, so make sure to clean or replace the air filter regularly. 

9. Avoid Temperature Changes

Do not let the sunlight get inside the house. Sunlight is hot, and it will make your room hot. Block it with a thick drape. Close your doors and windows if the sunlight is coming in. only open windows on the side of the house where sunlight does not penetrate.

10. Maintain Your air Conditioners

Maintaining your air conditioners can help you save money. Always be on top of the maintenance schedule. Call the technician to maintain it even if it works properly. 

The purpose of maintenance is to remove any blockage. If the air cannot pass through, the room will not get cold. Because of this, the sensor will think that it has to make the machine work harder.

Electricity-Saving Hacks

1. Cook with lids on pots and pans. Using a lid on your pots and pans can help retain heat and cook your food faster, which can help save electricity.
2. Use a clothesline to dry your clothes. Drying your clothes in a dryer can use a lot of electricity, so try using a clothesline to dry your clothes instead. Do not iron your clothes one by one. It is better to iron several clothes in one session.
3. Make sure your refrigerator is not overpacked. Overpacking your refrigerator can make it work harder and use more electricity, so try to keep it organized and avoid overpacking it.
4. Clean your air conditioner regularly. A dirty air conditioner can use more electricity than a clean one, so make sure to clean or replace the air filter regularly.
5. Take shorter showers. Heating water uses a lot of electricity, so taking shorter showers can help save electricity and reduce your water bill as well.

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Make Small Repairs to your Home to Reduce Heat loss

One more thing you can do to save energy is to repair some parts of your house. For example, you must repair your windows and make sure you can open them during the daytime. 

Why? Because windows will let the light in your house. Use natural light instead of light bulbs as a source of light. 

In addition, a window allows air to blow into your house. If possible, make the house have windows on three or four walls. In this case, the heat can easily dissipate, and you no longer need to use an electric fan. 

We also recommend that you insulate your ceiling. Some houses only use GI sheets as a roof. In this case, the metal can get really hot from the sun, and you will be forced to use an electric fan. Buy foams and insulation material to keep the heat off. 

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Replace Appliances with Energy-Saving Ones

Technology has allowed us to build appliances that save power. Many refrigerators and AC systems now have what they call inverter technology. 

If you want to save no power, you must buy appliances that use this kind of technology, or something similar, to save on the cost of electricity. 

All appliances today also have what we call the Energy Efficient Factor, or EEF. It is a rating that tells you if the appliance saves power. The higher the EEF, the more efficient the appliance is.

Use inverter air conditioners

Inverter air conditioners have been shown to reduce electricity bills and save energy compared to non-inverter models.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE) (2) in the Philippines, inverter air conditioners are up to 60% more energy-efficient compared to non-inverter models. This means that using an inverter aircon can result in significant energy savings and lower electricity bills 

How much Can you Save?

Now, it is time for use to talk about how much you can save in electricity for the actions that we recommended.

Item	Savings Per Month	Savings Per Year
Use fans sparingly; 8 hours versus 16 hours	266.82	3201.84
Use natural lighting; use LED 8 hours a day only	32.5	390
Unplug the charger; use 2 hours on average per day only	27.06	324.72
Use aircon 6 hours only; turn off automatically instead of using it 8 hours	258.18	3098.16

As you can see from this simple example, you can already save 7,014 per year in electricity.  

Final Thoughts

Saving money on power consumption requires discipline. It also takes planning to do it. You must take the time to assess which of your appliances are power guzzlers and then take the necessary actions to reduce your power usage. Nowdays power or utility companies increase prices. If this is the case, you will also have to reduce your power consumption drastically. We hope our tips help you save energy in your home and reduce your bill

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