Watt’s the big deal?!

I was shocked when I saw my electric bill two months ago. For the life of me, I could not figure out how it could have ballooned to a five-figure amount. And once over lunch, I heard my friends and relatives complain, too, about the high cost of electricity; they also scratched their heads in wonder.

One blames the retirement money of Napocor officers. Another thinks it is the OPEC. One suspects the electric companies are charging more than they should, while another insists such is the sad effect of the government’s pogi points when the rates were lowered to unrealistic rates. Another says it is the high dollar. (That sounds better than a weak peso). Like me, they do not know what else to switch off at home that would make an impact on the bill. "Alin ba talaga ang malakas sa kuryente?" one insistently wanted to know.

So, I talked to Gerry Nepo, our nice engineer friend who makes sure we have electricity in the city. I asked him if they make more money when the electric rates go up.

He chuckled and patiently explained that the increase from the power suppliers is just automatically passed on to us, the consumers, without them, the distributors, making more money from it. "So, don’t look at us," he said.

"And you must compare your electric bills based on the KWH consumed and not just the amount in pesos. It could also be because your consumption has increased," he said. "And one more factor that affects the price of electricity is the season. During the winter time, the rates naturally go up because of the high demand for oil of the cold countries. And come the rainy season, Napocor uses more of the hydroelectric plants, which are really cheap because they only use water that is free. That is the reason why your electric bill goes down starting July. It will go up again once summer sets in because the dams will be dry by then. " (I bet readers did not know that, too.)

"Can you just tell me which appliances take much of the bulk of my consumption, so I know which to unplug or adjust?" I insisted. "Alin ba talaga?"

He suggested I refer to Meralco’s appliance calculator (MAC) website at http://www.meralco.com.ph/Consumer/mybill/calculator.htm. And I did. I suggest you do, too. You will be amazed at how detailed it is. I honestly had fun doing it. It is so like shopping in a supermarket and comparing prices. It will answer a lot of your questions on the power consumption of your home appliances. I am 100 percent sure you will look at your appliances very differently.

The best news is that my favorite appliance of all – the washing machine – does not consume much electricity. It runs only on P2.50 (if 280 watts) per hour. Which means I can still afford to wear fresh clothes every day and sleep on fresh bed linens every Tuesday night. Never mind the ironing bit. After all, peasant-bohemian style is now much in fashion.

Now what gives? We always think the air-conditioner hurts the budget most at P7.08 an hour for a one-horsepower AC. But your automatic flat iron actually consumes more electricity (P8.93/hour) than your AC. And your clothes dryer uses even double (P14.29/hour). Although, of course, you do not use your dryer and flat iron eight hours a day, every day. Your rice cooker that your maid leaves plugged in all day costs you P4.47 an hour. So, if you use your "heating" appliances wisely, you may not need to sacrifice your good night’s sleep. The harmless looking hot water dispenser, plugged all day, is the worst of all. It is costing you a whopping P3,300 a month! That is equivalent to two air-conditioned rooms a month. Whey! If that does not amaze you, I do not know what will.

A month after Claude started to build his Bale Dutung (wooden house) in 1991, Mt. Pinatubo erupted and there was no water and electricity in the whole of Pampanga and Zambales. The construction had to stop unfortunately. But Claude learned the need to survive without gas and power. First, he built a three-burner stone stove and a brick oven to make cochinillo and marvelous pizzas. (Of course, his stomach is always the first he satisfies). Both his stove and oven are fired by wood scraps and twigs. It is exactly like my grandmother’s three-burner stone stove, which was built in 1931; but hers had a small oven to make pandesal and was fired by rice husks (ipa). And grandma was wiser; she had the water pipe pass through the stove, so that the whole day she had "free" hot water.

What’s best about such ovens, like the old-style charcoal iron, is the fire ceases if the maid makes telebabad and forgets she is cooking or ironing. It is not only economical but also safer to use. (And to think we referred to our ancestors’ ways as primitive.)

Claude also made a banggura, where the wet plates and glasses are laid to drip-dry on wooden slates; under the slates are plants that get watered in the process. He put a huge manual water pump or bomba. He made his house mostly all wood, with a very high ceiling and lots of big windows for cross ventilation. And that is why we have no need for an air-conditioner even in summer.

Today, after checking out the MAC, we use electricity more sensibly. I showed the computer screen to the help, so that they, too, have a better understanding. They now use a big water jug for their iced water and they cook on Claude’s stone stove. We thaw the meat in the fridge the night before instead of using the microwave. We unplug the rice cooker after each meal. We only plug the water dispenser if we have really big parties. We turn off the computers when not in use. We replaced our incandescent lamps (ordinary bulbs) with compact fluorescent lights.

And my last electric bill has gone down remarkably! It is 36 percent less in kilowatt consumption and cost us only P5,900! Yet we do not feel deprived or pathetic at all. My lifestyle feels the same. And one more bonus is Claude noticed my softer skin as I now take shorter hot showers.

I cannot wait to see our next month’s bill. Of late, we only use the electric iron on Tuesdays and use the charcoal type on Thursdays for the bed sheets, napkins and undergarments. Very soon, we will use the manual bomba to replace the water in our koi pond instead of the jet-matic pump. And we are looking into ways of replicating my grandma’s stove for "free" hot showers, too.

As our bright engineer friend said, "The only answer to the high cost of gasoline is to travel less. And the only answer to the high cost of electricity is to consume less. That’s all."

So, let’s all be happy and conserve energy. We save money, we save our country, and we save the world!