What's Your Utility Bill Like and how to reduce it

[therock]

This is a thread asking how much do you spend on your utility bill monthly and how we can reduce it

 

Dear friends

I was in a chat with some friends over lunch and I was shocked to find the variation, so I hope everyone can share the amount they spend and also how they reduce it.

 

Maybe everyone can post the total bill size (including gas, water and electricity if it is from different vendors) and the number of members in the household and any other info?

 

Eg I have a friend in a four storey landed with 9 pax and two kids who use $900 plus a month - they have the aircon turned on in the living room most of the waking hours.

Another young couple only use $30 a month and they spend most of their time at work and seldom eat at home.

 

Here are some tips on saving electricity from Asiaone :

https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/10-hacks-save-your-water-and-electricity-bill-home

 

Quote

. Getting the right curtains or blinds 

Mr Marcus Tan demonstrating how the honeycomb design works on blinds and curtainsPhoto: AsiaOne

Did you know? A household can save up to $1.25 a month for each degree adjusted upwards on an air conditioner. 

To keep the house cool on hot days without turning up the air-conditioner, Mr Tay suggests putting up blinds with special designs, such as a honeycomb structure, which can trap air and act as an insulator. This can help keep the heat out, and the cooler air in.

2. Use an induction cooker

Photo: Pixabay

Another tip provided by Mr Tay is to use an induction stove over the traditional gas stove. 

The way and induction stove works involves having an electric current running via a coiled wire below a glass surface. When a metallic object such as a pot or pan is placed above the stove, an electromagnetic field is created, causing the metallic area to heat up.

What this means is that only the areas in contact with the glass panel are heated up, and the heat is also kept at a constant level, as long as the current remains constant. A gas stove on the other hand relies on an open flame, which means plenty of heat will be wasted on the ambient surroundings, which will ultimately result in inefficient use of electricity and energy.

3. Turn off energy vampires at night

Photo: Pixabay

Another commonsensical fact we are all aware of is how whenever we turn off the television using our remote, it is never really off. The same goes for our desktop PCs, and Wi-Fi routers. Throughout the night, the household may no longer be using any of these devices, but that does not stop them from drawing on standby energy.

One suggestion is to use a power strip, which remotely turns off all connected outlets with the flip of a switch. Another method is to use a timer for even greater convenience, so that you will not need to go out of your way to turn off these devices.

4. Use a mug while brushing your teeth

Photo: Pixabay

People are often either too lazy, or not thoughtful enough to think about the running water being wasted while they brush their teeth. Yet the fact is that leaving the water running for just two minutes while brushing your teeth uses up to 12 litres of water. 

Both PUB and Mr Tay suggest using a mug instead while brushing your teeth. Doing so only uses about 0.5 litres of water, which is 11.5 litres of water saved. That's almost eight 1.5 litre bottles of water. Bet you never thought of it that way.

5. Make the change to LED lights

Photo: Pixabay

Perhaps it's time to make the change from incandescent light bulbs or Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs to LED bulbs if you have not already done so.

LED bulbs, especially those that are ENERGY STAR rated are able to use at least 75% less energy as compared to conventional light bulbs. LED bulbs are also known to last up to ten times longer than traditional incandescent lights.

Enlightened yet? Here are other tips we've found that could shave a few dollars (or cents) off your monthly utility bills.

6. Keep your fridge cool

Photo: ST

Every time a fridge door is opened, cold air escapes the refrigerator and some hot air comes in as well. The fridge therefore has to expend more energy trying to regulate the temperature back to its original coolness.

In order to counter this, you could keep the fridge as full as possible at all times. If there are simply not enough items to fill up your fridge, empty closed containers or jugs of water may be used as an adequate substitute to help regulate the temperature inside the refrigerator and minimise temperature fluctuations.

Or maybe just don't open your fridge door so many times.

7. Use lids on pots and pans while cooking

Photo: Pixabay

Whenever possible, one should cover up the pots and pans with lids while cooking. This way, the heat will remain trapped, allowing the food to be cooked quicker and more efficiently, without heat escaping into the air.

Doing this may even help keep your kitchen cooler while cooking!

8. Cold water to wash clothes

Photo: Reuters

It should be a no-brainer to deduce that using warm water while washing clothes in a washing machine (for the uninitiated, some units do provide that option) results in considerable energy being spent heating up the water. Yet it remains a fact not many of us think about.

With the technology we have today, there are very few reasons why we should still be using warm water to wash our clothes. According to consumer reports, heating accounts for 90 per cent of the energy needed to operate a washing machine, and using cold water instead of warm water can save your family up to $82 a year.

Furthermore, using cold water is actually better as compared to using warm water in many cases. For example, colder water prevents fabric dyes from running, helps prevent the shrinking of clothes, and will not result in stains being set into the clothes, which will happen if you use warm water.

Of course, there are many considerations to think about when using cold water to wash your clothes, such as the type of detergent to use. For more information, click here.

9. Cut the duration of your shower

Photo: Pixabay

We get it, sometimes taking a nice long hot shower after a long day of work is the closest equivalent you can get to an hour-long massage at a luxury spa. Doing this once in a while would probably not hurt too much, but do keep in mind that the average 10 minute shower uses up about 90 litres of water, according to PUB's findings.

To put things into perspective, the average amount of water used in a bathtub hovers at around 80 litres. This means if you take a 10 minute shower, you would actually be saving water if you were to take a bath instead.

10. Add a dry towel to your load of clothes in the dryer

Photo: HouseHoldHacker

This tip is slightly less well known: whenever you dry a load of wet clothes in the dryer, adding a large dry towel into the load will help the load dry more quickly, hence reducing the time the dryer is left on, saving energy.

Watch an actual experiment of this handy energy saving hack here.

 

More tips:

https://iswitch.com.sg/save-electricity-tips/

 

https://www.pub.gov.sg/savewater/athome/watersavinghabits

 

 

 

 

Edited September 9, 2019 by therock

[therock]

My own personal usage is about $250 / mth with four pax.

I set my aircon at 27-28C at night, and I keep the doors closed as much as possible when I turn on the aircon. I also use a door bottom seal to prevent the cool air escaping.

For my dining area, I employ a curtain to keep the cool aircon air confined and I use the washing water for cleaning the floor. I also collect as much rainwater as possible for washing the floor and for watering the plants.

[therock]

The average local bill size:

https://www.valuechampion.sg/average-cost-monthly-singapore-power-sp-bills

Quote

Average Cost of SP Bills Differ by Size of Home

As one would expect, the size of SP bills depended heavily on the size of a person's residence. As you can see below, a 1-room HDB flat would have a SP bill that costs less than 10% of what it would cost for a bungalow. Interestingly, for a HDB flat, the cost of SP bill increased by approximately 30% for each additional room until you reach 4 rooms. For 5-room HDB flat flat, the cost increase was only about 9% from a 4-room HDB flat, while going from a 5-room flat to an executive HDB flat saw an increase in SP bill of about 17%. Interestingly, an apartment's SP bill was roughly the same size as a 5-room HDB flat's SP bill.

Average Monthly SP Bill by Residence Size	Jan-17	% Increase vs Smaller Residence
HDB 1 Room	S$62.32
HDB 2 Room	S$79.47	27%
HDB 3 Room	S$105.22	31%
HDB 4 Room	S$134.15	27%
HDB 5 Room	S$146.71	11%
HDB Executive	S$172.25	17%
Apartment	S$163.22	-1%
Terrace	S$286.79	69%
Semi-Detached	S$361.72	26%
Bungalow	S$683.74	88%

 

According to our research, an average SP bill consisted mostly of electricity bill. Electricity took up about 50% of an average SP bill, while water services took up the other 40%. Gas services cost the least, taking up only10% of an average bill. This makes sense given Singapore's tropical climate: people usually don't need much heating (i.e. gas) unless it is for hot water for showering or for cooking.

Breakdown of an average SP bill	%
Electricity	50%
Gas Services	10%
Water Services	40%

 

 

 

[Ash2017]

I cannot under why we need to pay charges e.g. for 6 toilets even when 1 is literally converted to storeroom.

On top of that there is the GST tax.

[Victor68]

I wonder curtains and blinds iareceffective in reducing heat gain or a solar film or sun shade will do a better job. If use of curtains as an i insulation against thermal penetration,  then there are many factors to consider. Ventilating the room probably if more effective in my opinion.

[UncleAtas]

Only in SG you can TAX over a TAX.

[therock]

What’s your total utility bill like bros ?

[Beehive3783]

And nobody is talking about the water conservation tax which is another 50% of what you use. That makes up a significant cost of my utilities bill every month.

And no matter how much water you save or reduce, you still get slapped with the 50% tax.

So is it really to encourage conservation, or just another lame excuse to tax more?

A proper and fair conservation tax should only apply to those who use more than the national average of their respective levels. And those who use below the national average should not be made to pay this tax at all.

[Count-Bracula]

I am paying $75-$90 per month for household of 3 persons. Never exceed $90.

 

[Ichibawa]

I am paying around 90 to 110 for 3 adults and 2 children. 

[Cloud9]

105-130 for 2 adults

[Chongster]

used to keep to sub-$200 for household of 2 adults 3 kids and a maid in a condo.  last two months became $200 plus.  i still on SP, think can become cheaper if i use another electricity provider. 

[therock]

Don’t worry 

when you switch you’ll get at least 20-30% off bro 👍 

[Ct3833]

On 9/9/2019 at 8:08 PM, therock said:

My own personal usage is about $250 / mth with four pax.

I set my aircon at 27-28C at night, and I keep the doors closed as much as possible when I turn on the aircon. I also use a door bottom seal to prevent the cool air escaping.

For my dining area, I employ a curtain to keep the cool aircon air confined and I use the washing water for cleaning the floor. I also collect as much rainwater as possible for washing the floor and for watering the plants.

Currently paying about $270 to iSwitch, $120 for water and about $20 for 2/3 tank of Union gas,.... per month

[Buadongdong]

Mine is abt 130-150 for 5adults 2 children. Uses aircon for all 3 rooms at night when sleeping. Front load washer and also a dryer. 

[Angcheek]

3 hours ago, Cloud9 said:

105-130 for 2 adults

 

waaaa U stay in atas place 

 

for 2 only ..... where is 小三 

[Cloud9]

18 minutes ago, Angcheek said:

 

waaaa U stay in atas place 

 

for 2 only ..... where is 小三 

No leh, I also don't know why. But like this range, now switch to tuas power still got chance to see 105 hor. Last time 120-130. But the electricity did comes down a little but water up. My friend 2 persons also there about wor. 

Edited September 12, 2019 by Cloud9

[Cloud9]

1 hour ago, Buadongdong said:

Mine is abt 130-150 for 5adults 2 children. Uses aircon for all 3 rooms at night when sleeping. Front load washer and also a dryer. 

Wah Wah i suspect maybe SP made mistake on my bill. I rarely use dryer