Household Energy Survey

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alanB

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Feb 18, 2008
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One of the key things to know when embarking on any alternative energy project is how much energy (kWh) you require per day.

This figure seems to vary widely between households.

In the interests of building up public knowledge in this area, we thought it would be very useful to compile a database of daily energy consumption figures for various household in various areas, while noting factors like the size of the house, number of occupants etc.

So I put together an entry form on the informational site PowerSaving to gather that data.

I know that many people are spending a lot of money, time and effort in this area and they would all benefit from the results.

So ultimately this is a "by the community - for the community" type initiative.

So if you are interested, why not take a moment to fill in the form - it shouldn't take more than a minute, if you have your council bill at hand. http://powersaving.co.za/energy-consumption-survey/

We plan to show the results on an ongoing basis on the same site, in a searchable/sortable table as well as various graphics, which will be updated on an on-going basis as the data comes in. I'm sure it will be very useful to everyone.

Even if you are not planning to embark on any sort of alternative energy project, the results should enable you to compare your own home to your peers.

It would be interesting to see what the results are.
 
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envo

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You should tailor this to people with prepaid as well, those (especially) know how much they use in a given period, that data would be useful.

I don't find a lot of people with post-paid anymore
 
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alanB

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envo said:
You should tailor this to people with prepaid as well, those (especially) know how much they use in a given period, that data would be useful.

I don't find a lot of people with post-paid anymore
Click to expand...

Ja you are right.

I'm trying to switch to prepaid myself!
 
Sinbad

Sinbad

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MickZA said:
Can't imagine why, from what I've heard it's a major PITA as well as being more expensive.
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In my experience (City of Joburg) prepaid is saving me about R400 per month, even before taking ebucks rewards of 15% on prepaid purchases into account.
 
Sinbad

Sinbad

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MickZA said:
Because it's cheaper or because you're monitoring your usage and economising?
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Cheaper.

Cost difference between prepaid and postpaid is 4c per kwh, up to 2000kwh usage.
Postpaid has standing charges of almost R500 though, which prepaid does not.
 
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MickZA

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Sinbad said:
Postpaid has standing charges of almost R500 though, which prepaid does not.
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:confused: Standing charges? We only pay for usage in PE on post-paid - R1.38/kwh on 1150kwh last month (I believe a sliding scale applies).
 
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heartbroken

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MickZA said:
Can't imagine why, from what I've heard it's a major PITA as well as being more expensive.
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+1

Don't do it. Prepaid is the worst thing that ever happened to my household.

MickZA said:
:confused: Standing charges? We only pay for usage in PE on post-paid - R1.38/kwh on 1150kwh last month (I believe a sliding scale applies).
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Also never had standing what what charges on my post-paid. R/unit was much lower and none of this super expensive time of use BS
 
A

alanB

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mmacleod said:
0-600kWh 175.90c
600.1+kWh 213.90c

In CoCT we have to permanently assume the bent over position :p
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Ja I've been trying to convert my smart meter (City of Joburg) for some time now :confused:

The majority of my electricity bill is some fixed charge (cant remember the official name they give it) which apparently falls away with prepaid), so my bill would about half as far as I can tell, its quite low already because I run quite an efficient house.

But it is a major pain in the butt to try get them to actually do anything.

But anyway....

Back to the main subject.

The more people who take the time to complete the survey, the more useful the results will be. http://powersaving.co.za/energy-consumption-survey/

Just a hint...:D
 
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oober

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alanB said:
Ja I've been trying to convert my smart meter (City of Joburg) for some time now :confused:

The majority of my electricity bill is some fixed charge (cant remember the official name they give it) which apparently falls away with prepaid), so my bill would about half as far as I can tell, its quite low already because I run quite an efficient house.

But it is a major pain in the butt to try get them to actually do anything.

But anyway....

Back to the main subject.

The more people who take the time to complete the survey, the more useful the results will be. http://powersaving.co.za/energy-consumption-survey/

Just a hint...:D
Click to expand...

Yeap, those service charges are a pita. Now imagine you have a PV array ready to feed back a few units a day but if you want to feed back you must convert to postpaid AND pay R0.5 per installed kW of PV per day. So then you suddenly end up paying R500 extra to just feed back, whenever CoJ decides that we can do it, that is.
 
A

alanB

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Feb 18, 2008
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640
OK so we are getting a reasonable response :thumleft:

Thanks to everyone who took a moment to add their data.

The more submissions we receive, the more useful the results become so please add your home if you can, it doesnt take more than a minute if you have your council bill to hand! http://powersaving.co.za/energy-consumption-survey/

We have enough data to start showing preliminary results for those that are interested.

Summary figures are available here http://powersaving.co.za/surveys/household-energy-survey/

The detailed table of data submitted is here http://powersaving.co.za/surveys/household-energy-survey-data/
You can filter that table by using the search box just above the table. You can also sort the result using the little arrows in the column headings. The table spans several pages so use the pagination buttons below the table to scroll.

As we get more data in we'll revise the summary figures. We'll try update the table once a week or so.

I hope the results are useful.

Any suggestions on what to show in the summary are welcome (although avialable time will dictate what changes can be made).
 
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