OP, with a prepaid meter you are just more conscious of your usage, because you can see the units being eaten away. Then you start making plans to reduce elec. usage by switching off the geyser certain part of the day, changing light bulbs, etc.
So yes, prepaid will save you moola! (Only if you submit & admit that you're an electricity rapist)
where do you normally buy? I buy at the same PnP Family Store each an every time.Originally Posted by beans100
That's called the block tariff. The more you use, the more you pay. It resets each month.
So is it better to buy at the beginning of the month?
Not necessarily. The first block might be 0 - 100 units at 90c; the next at 100 - 500 units at R1.00 and 500 - 1000 units at R1.20 and so forth.
Your monthly consumption will always be the same average amount of units, depending on when you buy them doesn't matter, just how many units you use.
Pre-paid is the same as post-paid.
No its not, it all depends on the plan youre on.
Have a look and see which plan is best for you.
I am 13531
"Balance is the key to everything, without it we would just keep falling over."
PnP in Joburg at the beginning of the month R400 usually buys 497.6 units at R70.51. so i wait till friday 1st june and pay over R400 - the mothers give me 370 units at R94.83. is it possible the *********s hadn't reset the meter from May - or have they sneaked in an increase?
BTW having that thing showing the consumption sounds like a curse. it must take all the fun out of cooking, boiling the kettle, enjoying a piece of toast, having a hot bath, using an electric blanket, or even keeping the pool blue!
For Tshwane the prepaid and normal tariffs are the same price. I switched to pre-paid 3 years ago when I saw a billboard which promised 20% saving. Now, I think I was a fool for not checking properly.
Where it does help, is to buy a lot of electricity before a price increase. I am still using electricity on the pre July 2011 prices, and we are almost at the next increase again. So I made my saving there.
The other nice thing is that there is no stupid readings (happened to my water bill the last 2 months where the first one was double the normal amount, and this month I have to pay nothing for water).
The bad thing is that they block you from buying electricity as soon as there is a payment outstanding on your normal rates/services account.
Yea patents did that too, purchased 30k worth of electricity over about a month or so! Lasted pretty long lol
Be careful of IBT when you do that, you could be purchasing a lot less than you expect.
How does it help? There is a step rate for electricity - the more you buy, the less you get.
No single raindrop believes it is to blame for the flood
Example if you use 1000 units per month:
The current peak tariff starts at 600kwh and is R1.15 ex vat. Thus 1000 * 1.15 = 1150.
The cost of buying 1000kwh (incl discount) is 50kwh*R0.965 + 300kwh*R1.026 + 250kwh*R1.0852 + 400kwh*R1.15 = R1119.05
R1150 - 1119.05 = R30.95 * 1.14 vat = R35.28 which you will lose per month because of the discount.
But, with the new prices it will be:
The cost of buying 1000kwh (incl discount) is:
100kwh*R1.0326 + 300kwh*R1.1652 + 250kwh*R1.2154 + 350kwh*R1.2936 = R1209.43
Thus a saving of R1209.43-R1150=R59.43 ex vat
Now if you are using 1500 units/month like me, then it becomes for the year:
1500kwh * 12 months * R1.15 = R20700 ex vat if I buy it this month and
100kwh*R1.0326 + 300kwh*R1.1652 + 250kwh*R1.2154 + 850kwh*R1.2936 = R1856.23 * 12 months = R22274.76 ex vat for the year.
So it is still a saving of R22274.76 - R20700 = R1574.76 * 1.14 vat = R1795.23 incl vat.
Now the question is, would I have earned a better return elsewhere? And I can still buy electricity every month, just to enjoy the saving of the cheaper units up to 650kwh.
To add: If you use less than 100kwh/month, then it does not make sense to buy it in bulk. From next month all units more than 100 will cost more than the current max rate.
EDIT: Both these posts are for Tshwane only.
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