Buying bulk electricity...

[MrsCerebus]

Not sure if this is the right place to post...

I just have a question. We have pay as you go electricity. Usually we buy max R200 worth at a time, and that usually is about 165 units(about)...which takes us about 10 days to use. So we use roughly R450 to R500 a month on prepaid electricity.

This month hubby bought R500 worth at once which bought us about 370 units. Looking at our usage that should last us the month. BUT...2 weeks in and we have 100 units left, which will(at the rate of it running down) be run out in the next 5-6 days. Which is not even 3 weeks. So we probably need to buy another R200 odd to get us through the month, which brings our spendage up to R700 for the month, which is R200 more than we spend.

My question: Does it "cost more" to buy electricity bulk...or does it pay off to buy in small amounts as the month goes on...electricity usage is normal than every other month.

 

[DerpiesFreud]

Not sure if this is the right place to post...

I just have a question. We have pay as you go electricity. Usually we buy max R200 worth at a time, and that usually is about 165 units(about)...which takes us about 10 days to use. So we use roughly R450 to R500 a month on prepaid electricity.

This month hubby bought R500 worth at once which bought us about 370 units. Looking at our usage that should last us the month. BUT...2 weeks in and we have 100 units left, which will(at the rate of it running down) be run out in the next 5-6 days. Which is not even 3 weeks. So we probably need to buy another R200 odd to get us through the month, which brings our spendage up to R700 for the month, which is R200 more than we spend.

My question: Does it "cost more" to buy electricity bulk...or does it pay off to buy in small amounts as the month goes on...electricity usage is normal than every other month.

Hullo,you look familiar I think...
and yeah I think so,my folks use prepaid and it was like 0-50 units @ 70c then 50-99 @ 90c,99-999 @ 1000c (just an example)

 

[PhreeMe]

Not sure if this is the right place to post...

I just have a question. We have pay as you go electricity. Usually we buy max R200 worth at a time, and that usually is about 165 units(about)...which takes us about 10 days to use. So we use roughly R450 to R500 a month on prepaid electricity.

This month hubby bought R500 worth at once which bought us about 370 units. Looking at our usage that should last us the month. BUT...2 weeks in and we have 100 units left, which will(at the rate of it running down) be run out in the next 5-6 days. Which is not even 3 weeks. So we probably need to buy another R200 odd to get us through the month, which brings our spendage up to R700 for the month, which is R200 more than we spend.

My question: Does it "cost more" to buy electricity bulk...or does it pay off to buy in small amounts as the month goes on...electricity usage is normal than every other month.

As mentioned by Nuke, you will be charged in brackets. You would also normally need to supply your 'card' to buy the electricity.
Unfortunately it doesn't matter the qty that you buy. If they are handling it legally, you will automatically move up the brackets as you purchase.

So if you continually bought for R200 a time, you would start off getting say 300 units/R200. As you purchase more, you change brackets (I can't sadly remember where the brackets change) at which point you start getting charged a the higher rate/kw.

The point of it is to charge you as someone 'on the grid' would be, penalising those that use plenty kw per month.

I remember creating myself a simple spreadsheet showing the most cost effective way to purchase electricity, only to have my bubble burst when attempting to do so

 

[plod]

It does not cost more to buy a week supply each week or a month supply once a month but each week will cost you more but buying for a few months can cost more

The amounts depend on your area and tariff but the principle is normally the same. If you take the example above the first 50 units are 70 cents a unit and the next 50 units are 90 cents each, so if you buy 100 units in one go your first 50 units costs 70 cents each and the 2nd 50 units costs 90 cents each so you pay R35 + R45.50 = R90.50.
If you buy twice each ticket with 50 units then the first one will be 50 units at 70 cents and the 2nd ticket will be 50 units at 70 cents so will have two tickets one for R35 and one for R45.5.

you start at the bottom price on the 1st of the month again.

 

[guest2013-1]

It does cost more if you buy more

 

[Saajid]

Best way is to buy in small increments, not bigger than the size of the next level. Using Nuke's example, let's assume the billing levels are defined as follows:

Level 1: 0-50 @ 70c
Level 2: 50-99 @ 90c
Level 3: 99-999 @ 100c

So you should buy as much as you want/need up to the point where your usage will be moved up from level 1 to level 2. So 49 units x 70c = R34.30. This ensures your first purchase is within level 1. Once that is depleted buy another 49 units (giving you a total of 98 units). This will push you into level 2, but not yet into level 3.

I don't trust that their billing departments and billing systems to get the transition between steps right, so I do it as above. So if you purchase 150 units, your first 50 units should cost 70c (R35 total), the second 50 should cost (R45), and the next 50 should cost 100c (R50 total). So your total cost for 150 units should be R130, assuming their billing systems do it right.

If the billing systems don't get it right, you might end up paying 150 units x 100c = R150, which is R20 more. I haven't actually tested this theory yet, but perhaps someone else can comment?

Of course the above are not the real rates or billing levels. You need to get these from your municipality. You'll most likely find it on their website.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

...
I don't trust that their billing departments and billing systems to get the transition between steps right,....

Puts on Tin foil hat.

A lot of time and effort goes into these billing systems. I know of a couple of developers that have worked on these systems. These systems work and the only reason why urban legends start, is users do not keep track of their purchases.

It makes no difference to buy R1000 in a single purchase once a month versus spending that same amount across multiple purchases.

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

...
My question: Does it "cost more" to buy electricity bulk...or does it pay off to buy in small amounts as the month goes on...electricity usage is normal than every other month.

In winter I always make my initial purchase of what I usually use and then start to just top up with R250 as the month goes buy. With the current weather its very hard to predict if one is going to use R700 or R1700 electricity.

Its only towards the last few days of the month that I might drop my purchases to smaller amounts of R100. One must also keep in mind that prepaid systems do go offline and always make sure you have 3-4 days of units left and not just a few minutes.

With your new born in the house, your going to use a lot more than what your use to.

 

[Saajid]

Puts on Tin foil hat.

A lot of time and effort goes into these billing systems. I know of a couple of developers that have worked on these systems. These systems work and the only reason why urban legends start, is users do not keep track of their purchases.

It makes no difference to buy R1000 in a single purchase once a month versus spending that same amount across multiple purchases.

Perhaps the major metros implement it correctly, but are you sure that all metros do, even the smaller ones? Remember there are hundreds of municipalities around the country, each using their own system, and with their own rates. I'd much rather wear the tin foil hat for nothing, then get nailed even more by our governments shocking services. The above method I use for several holiday homes we've rented around the country, and whenever prepaid electricity needs to be bought.

 

[Billy]

The unit of electricity consumption is the kilowatt hour (kWh), not Rands.

Electricity costs have recently gone up, in Centurion wef July 1st. Comparing Rand costs from month to month is no measure of consumption.

How many units do you use per month? That is the only measure for comparison.

 

[plod]

Perhaps the major metros implement it correctly, but are you sure that all metros do, even the smaller ones? Remember there are hundreds of municipalities around the country, each using their own system, and with their own rates. I'd much rather wear the tin foil hat for nothing, then get nailed even more by our governments shocking services. The above method I use for several holiday homes we've rented around the country, and whenever prepaid electricity needs to be bought.

Most of the smaller municipalities outsource the running of the system to a supplier and there are only a few suppliers so the smaller municipalities often have the same system running as the larger ones. The systems are not custom written for each area.

 

[Saajid]

Most of the smaller municipalities outsource the running of the system to a supplier and there are only a few suppliers so the smaller municipalities often have the same system running as the larger ones. The systems are not custom written for each area.

OK.. I hear you. I hope you're right.

That said, it's still better to buy in smaller increments, because as you approach month-end, you ideally want to start the new month with close to 0 units. You don't want to carry-over expensive level 2/3 units into the new month. Does this make sense?

 

[ColinR]

Similar to this post here, with some good explanations: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/547117-Pre-paid-electricity-Am-I-getting-ripped-off

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

OK.. I hear you. I hope you're right.

That said, it's still better to buy in smaller increments, because as you approach month-end, you ideally want to start the new month with close to 0 units. You don't want to carry-over expensive level 2/3 units into the new month. Does this make sense?

Mr & Mrs Cerebus have a new born (and we live in the same area). Advising them to have near 0 units is not good advice during this time of year as the switching networks do go down at times.

I'm keeping my advice relative to the OP.