**Yet Another - I Want To Convert To Prepaid Electricity Thread**

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Zarathustra

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There are quite a number of threads where people want to or are in the process of converting to Prepaid electricity.

We have installed two high pressure solar geysers systems, one of which is never connected to electricity. During those super-hot days a couple of weeks ago, our record temperature reached according to the Geyser Wise meter was 76 degrees.

My problem is that we can never see the savings, because despite me submitting my electricity & water readings to the $hitty Of Tshwane every month, most of the time they estimate whatever values they feel like & I therefore never pay what I am actually supposed to pay.

This month's estimate is the highest it has ever been & the meter hasn't even reached the readings they based their estimation on. As most people are aware, there is no arguing with these idiots and this is probably to increase their collections to pay for year-end bonuses or another ANC party. We have tried many things to save electricity, switching things off, converting to energy saving bulbs, installing solar etc. I am now sick & tired of this, so Prepaid would appear the only way to go.

Can anyone tell me the actual costs of converting to Prepaid i.e. What it has cost you & has it been worth it?!?

I have contacted Impact Meters in Pretoria. Although they manage many complexes, they don't deal with individual residential homes & have instead referred me to http://www.themeterman.co.za. I have requested pricing information etc. but would really like some real life experience feedback from people who have gone this route.
 
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Just an update:

Applications for Prepaid meters are made @ 373 Pretorius Street. Take along a copy of one's ID & the electricity account.

There is currently a three month waiting period & the cost of a meter is R1600.00

Company's like the Meter Man is a sub-metering company, which means that their meters sit between the council's meter & the main DB board. This type of meter is used for when a property is rented out to prevent people using services & then not paying. So, this type of solution doesn't make sense for people who are living on their own property.
 
I'm also considering moving to pre-paid - also in Tshwane - The dimwits send me an SMS with my account amount every month and suddenly this month (payable by 12Jan2012) is more than double what it normally is - WTF!!!???

I've read that the meter and installation costs about R2k and have seen the tariffs.

What I would like to confirm, is that when I buy electricity on pre-paid, I actually by a RAND value, say R300 and that value is then converted into units (kWh) as and how I use it, i.e. if I use 1000kWh per month, the 1st say R200 will be more/cheaper units than the last R200. Also, if I still have pre-paid vouchers left when the price of electricity is increased, I will be paying the higher price, even if the vouchers were bought before the increase?
 
here are the current rates but they're increased randomly and without warning http://www.citypower.co.za/tariffs/2011-12 Electricity Tariffs.pdf. ATM i purchase R380 on the first of the month which buys me about 500 units at 70.52c, the following purchase is at 94.82c per unit and the price escalates from there. i've managed to keep costs down to approximately R500 -R600 p.m. by being very schnoep - geyser's on 4 hours a day, pool 8 hours, washing once a week, no tumble drier etc.... and i live alone. prepaid works out more expensive if your household uses a lot of electricity. also they're smart when it's to their own advantage so even if you purchase R1000 on 1st of the month you'll still be charged 70.52 for 500 units, 94.82 for the next 500 etc.

p.s. maths is approximate .... unless there's been another recent secret increase :)
 
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Tshwane 2012 Rates
1 – 100 kwh R1.10511486 per unit vat included
101 – 400 kwh R1.1735154072 per unit vat included
401 – 650 kwh R1.2362159088 per unit vat included
651 - …. kwh R1.3171549968 per unit vat included
 
does the prepaid meter stay in your home ? if that is the case, then can't you just tap power from it?
 
Nicodeamus said:
does the prepaid meter stay in your home ? if that is the case, then can't you just tap power from it?
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If you mean bypass it and not pay, then yes you can, but they do keep tabs on whether people are buying electricity. If you never buy they'll get suspicious. I know some guys in the UK who made their meter behave in all kinds of strange ways while they were experimenting with a project that involved tampering with the AC waveform.
 
maumau said:
here are the current rates but they're increased randomly and without warning http://www.citypower.co.za/tariffs/2011-12 Electricity Tariffs.pdf. ATM i purchase R380 on the first of the month which buys me about 500 units at 70.52c, the following purchase is at 94.82c per unit and the price escalates from there. i've managed to keep costs down to approximately R500 -R600 p.m. by being very schnoep - geyser's on 4 hours a day, pool 8 hours, washing once a week, no tumble drier etc.... and i live alone. prepaid works out more expensive if your household uses a lot of electricity. also they're smart when it's to their own advantage so even if you purchase R1000 on 1st of the month you'll still be charged 70.52 for 500 units, 94.82 for the next 500 etc.

p.s. maths is approximate .... unless there's been another recent secret increase :)
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Woah Maumau, we just got our bill for billed elec and we did R564 for the month, we are 4 people, computers running all day, washing everyday, use the dryer every 2 weeks, when the washing piles...and yeah...we do not switch the geyser off or anything, and boil the kettle everytime it is needed. I am not sure if I want to deal with prepaid, sounds like a total headache tbh!
 
maumau said:
here are the current rates but they're increased randomly and without warning http://www.citypower.co.za/tariffs/2011-12 Electricity Tariffs.pdf. ATM i purchase R380 on the first of the month which buys me about 500 units at 70.52c, the following purchase is at 94.82c per unit and the price escalates from there. i've managed to keep costs down to approximately R500 -R600 p.m. by being very schnoep - geyser's on 4 hours a day, pool 8 hours, washing once a week, no tumble drier etc.... and i live alone. prepaid works out more expensive if your household uses a lot of electricity. also they're smart when it's to their own advantage so even if you purchase R1000 on 1st of the month you'll still be charged 70.52 for 500 units, 94.82 for the next 500 etc.

p.s. maths is approximate .... unless there's been another recent secret increase :)
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Where do you stay? Today I paid R800 for 706 units. works out to be around R1.13 per kilowatt. this is from Checkers. I used to buy from powertime until someone told me it's more expensive from there. I got an extra 20kw from Checkers actually.

On the slip it says, 97.38c per kw which excl VAT etc.
 
In Cape Town when buying through the city the electricity rate is tiered and it is the same rate whether you use a pre-paid meter or not.

Pre-paid was once a bit of a hassle, but these days it's so easy to buy online and even from a cellphone that it's no big deal. I'm not sure I'd bother putting it in now. We got ours when the city was installing them for free. The one place where they are absolutely worthwhile is rental property. It never fails that tenants skip out on the last month's electricity
 
Just another update...Prepaid application complete!?!

As I mentioned before, in the $hitty Of Tshwane, application forms are filled in & completed @

BKS Building
373 Pretorius Street

The cost of a Prepaid meter is now: R1368

They have promised installed within 6-8 Weeks.

Apparently, one can also apply @ other places:

- Mamelodi Municipal Offices – 012 805 2044
- Eersterus Municipal Offices – 012 806 6241
- BKS, Room 102, Pts CBD; 373 Pretorius Street – 012 358 4401/4151
- Centurion Municipal offices counter 9 – 012 358 9077
- Atteridgeville Electricity Depot – 012 373 6287
- Roslyn Offices – 012 358 9411
- Akasia Offices – 012 358 4424

Conditions for applying
- Your municipal account should not be arrears
- If in arrears, settle your account or make arrangement to pay-off your bill
Documents required
- Latest municipal statement, proof of arrangement
- Copy of your ID
- Connection fee (R1368)

I can't wait to be rid of the illiterate meter readers employed by the council!?!
 
Just some more information which I found out while going through the application process...

There are two kinds of meters:

- The one like I applied for, which replaces the council meter on the pavement.
- The other type is one which can be installed inside a house between the DB board and the council electricty. This is useful when one rents out a house or flat. The tenant then tops up the electricty as required. These are supplied by companys like The Meter Man (http://www.themeterman.co.za/).
 
oh you arent done with Municipal billing.

I switched 2 properties to Prepaid in August 2011.

Its now February 2012 and STILL receiving 'estimates' on electricity. Phone the ****y Power Call center. "yeah it takes a few months to adjust your account, just pay and we'll credit"

No ways, I deduct the electricity from each month and pay that.

Afterall, they cant really cut you off if you are using prepaid... right?
 
naeem said:
Afterall, they cant really cut you off if you are using prepaid... right?
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the retards should never have let you switch to prepaid, if your account wasn't fully paid, but I assume they could still cut your power - this efrica.....
 
And the final update:

Six weeks & one day after application, we received a call that the installers were waiting outside the gate to do the Prepaid installation. When asked why they didn't SMS & let us know in advance we were told that a 'missed call' was given. Not sure how a 'missed call' from a number I don't know means that the Prepaid Meter Installers are outside one's gate makes sense, but this is Africa where nothing really makes sense in any case.

Anyway, the removal of the old meter & the installation of the new meter took about 10 minutes. The final meter reading of the old meter was written down on an official form which I had to sign.

I was given another metering device which must be plugged into any wall socket in the house. It has an LCD display which indicates KWH used, credit remaining, date, time & a couple of other things which I have no idea what they mean. I was told that it communicates with the main council meter which was installed, over the power lines, so it needs to be plugged into a wall socket & switched on permanently.

One is given a credit of R5.00 which means that an immediate purchase of units is required ASAP before the juice is automatically switched off. Units can be purchased online or a BP, Checkers, Spar & a plethora of other sources.

A quick trip to the local Spar (I wanted E-Bucks in exchange for my spend) & a R1000 later which translates into approximately 820 units & I am officially running on Prepaid.

If nothing else, Prepaid Electricity means that I will no longer receive estimated electricity readings for which I have to pay first & argue later. In addition, it has made the family & I VERY aware of the electricity being consumed & it isn't just a bunch of numbers any longer - since installation, we consume approximately R32 per day worth of units.
 
thanks for the feedback - some good info there!

I was just wondering, who does the meter belong to and what happens if the meter is broken? Who repairs/replaces? Will you then sit without power?
 
I think that the meter belongs to the council as it is vey clearly branded 'City Of Tshwane'.

I received a card along with the meter. The number printed on the card is used when buying units, so I assume that it is linked to the meter etc.

Also printed on the card is an emergency number, so perhaps this is what one phones when the meter goes up in smoke.

I will however try to find out what one does in such a situation, because it is actually something I would rather know in advance than have to find out after disaster has struck.

So, I will update once I have more information.
 
Zarathustra said:
I will however try to find out what one does in such a situation, because it is actually something I would rather know in advance than have to find out after disaster has struck.

So, I will update once I have more information.
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great, thanks!
 
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