Notwithstanding the China-Pakistan Eco­nomic Corridor (CPEC) ven­tures and recent invest­ments in the power sector, energy costs have generally been spiralling in Pakistan. In addition, over the years the government has been more than happy to slap on one tax after another on your electricity bill resulting in extremely high tariffs. While one can’t do much about those annoying tariffs sadly, there are other ways to reduce the bill.

IDENTIFY YOUR ENERGY WASTAGE

Locate areas that devour energy. Check that Xbox that your kid has left turned on. Switch the TV off when nobody is in the room. Why is the motor pump running when there is no need for water? Act smart and change your habit. Make it a habit of switching off devices when they aren’t being used: appliances consume energy even on standby. Additionally, avoid using appliances that consume a lot of electricity such as irons, ACs, and water motors during the peak usage hours of 6pm to 11pm.

USE ENERGY-EFFICIENT APPLIANCES

Technological innovation means there now energy-efficient appliances and lights that do the work for half the cost. Take lighting for example: many of us festoon our drawing rooms with yellow lamps and chandeliers that use 60 watts on average. While one can use the energy-saver fluorescent bulbs that consume around 23 watts, an even better option is replacing them with 12-watt LED bulb.

Struggling to pay your shocking electricity bills? Use your power carefully

Similarly, white and yellow fluorescent tubelights burn up to 55 watts and can be replaced by reliable LED tubes of 18 watts — thus, effectively reducing your consumption by more than a third. Many fancy LED lighting fixtures are now easily available in interior and exterior design markets that can be used in homes, gardens, offices, schools and even factories. Prices of LED appliances are falling fast but the catch here is using a good quality product and not opting for a cheap brand.

While it may not seem so, ceiling, pedestal and bracket fans form a large chunk of our energy use as we keep them running day and night. This 24/7 use of fans ends up drawing more power than we realise — a fan drains about 80 to 100 watts in an hour. Older models of these fans consume even more energy. One good option is to replace the older fans with the 50-watt energy-efficient ones. Do that and you will cut down your energy consumption by half.

In the market, these energy-efficient fans have a three-star rating label by the National Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (NEECA) of Pakistan. The price difference between energy-efficient and conventional fans is not greater than 500 rupees, and you can recover the payback in a few months at most.

Energy-efficient options for air conditioners and refrigerators are far pricier. For instance, a one-tonne inverter AC costs around 45,000 rupees but this investment can be recovered in reduced electricity bills in a year. Inverter fridges are also a good option: old refrigerators tend to run for 18 out of 24 hours in a day, while the new inverter ones draw power for 12 hours only.

USE RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

An appropriate grid-tied solar photovoltaic (PV) system on your rooftop can cater for your daytime needs and allow you to say goodbye to your expensive generator to compensate for all those too-frequent power outages. Don’t fall for the nasty low-quality stuff that has flooded the market. On a well-designed and installed solar PV system for 100,000 rupees you can run appliances rated at a total of one kilowatt.

Design and placement of solar home systems is important and requires some technical know-how so it’s worth consulting a qualified company or a technician. The advantage with these systems is that they don’t need constant maintenance — apart from the occasional cleaning of solar panels. Nevertheless, its a good idea to make sure that your installer provides after sales service and support. While plenty of bandwagon technicians have opened shop, few are actually well-versed in the basic engineering problems of solar home systems and their troubleshooting.

Good quality solar modules can run for 20 years, are portable and, unlike generators, don’t need to be refuelled. And hey, here’s your chance to make the world a greener place!

MOVE OFF THE GRID

If you’re brave enough, go off the grid completely. Keep your meter and pay its rent (which usually comes to 150-200 rupees a month) and install high-end solar panels. The upfront cost is a bit high — around 500,000 rupees — but you can easily recover that cost in two to three years if your average monthly bill is 20,000 rupees. The market is filled with technologically advanced solar panels that will generate electricity on minimal sunlight and even on a cloudy day and they last for around 20-25 years. And if you generate excess electricity, you can always sell it to your neighbours!

However, whatever you choose to do, some tweaking of how you consume electricity can go a long way to reducing your electricity bill.

The author is an engineer working in energy efficiency for a local utility, and tweets @hassaanidrees.

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 23rd, 2017