Prepaid purchases question

[WAslayer]

I am still convinced prepaid is more expensive than postpaid.

My mother went from postpaid to prepaid and halved her bill..

 

[Bliksis]

My mother went from postpaid to prepaid and halved her bill..

That's interesting.

 

[Spizz]

You must only buy what you need for the month
Dont buy more
You will go into a higher tier bracket
Wasting your money
So, only buy enough units for the month
As many times as you want
Just do not buy more than what you need

I like to maximise the cheap units every month so I have extra left to carry over for the winter or whenever you need more in a certain month, or even have a month where you pay nothing if you accumulate enough left over a few months.

So for me in Hermanus it's 0-350 units at tier 1 which cost R1.66 each. But remember the VAT, so to maximise the purchase I spend R669 which gives me the 350 units for R582 plus R87 VAT.

I've got solar so i put this in every month and the sunny months I've got lots left over which are saved for the winter months when I'll need more than 350 units.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

I like to maximise the cheap units every month so I have extra left to carry over for the winter or whenever you need more in a certain month, or even have a month where you pay nothing if you accumulate enough left over a few months.

So for me in Hermanus it's 0-350 units at tier 1 which cost R1.66 each. But remember the VAT, so to maximise the purchase I spend R669 which gives me the 350 units for R582 plus R87 VAT.

I've got solar so i put this in every month and the sunny months I've got lots left over which are saved for the winter months when I'll need more than 350 units.

Jinne I wish my units were that cheap.
I pay R2.98 per unit
Im white
Im also scared of buying too much and having my pre paid meter sitting on like 10 000 units and then the thing goes and breaks and I need to put in a new meter. I will lose those 10 000 units

 

[Spizz]

Jinne I wish my units were that cheap.
I pay R2.98 per unit
Im white
Im also scared of buying too much and having my pre paid meter sitting on like 10 000 units and then the thing goes and breaks and I need to put in a new meter. I will lose those 10 000 units

So all units at the same price?

It's sliding scale for me...

0-350 = R1.6636
351-600 = 2.4926
601+ = R3.1239

BUT our wonderful muni also charge us a monthly fee of R488.55 on our rates bill for the pleasure of having the DA rule over us.

So before I got solar I'd spend R2000 a month on my first purchase and it worked out at R2.91 a unit incouding the muni fee worked in, then anything I topped up after that, usually another R1000 a month was at R3.129 a unit. That was the real life costs.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

So all units at the same price?

It's sliding scale for me...

0-350 = R1.6636
351-600 = 2.4926
601+ = R3.1239

BUT our wonderful muni also charge us a monthly fee of R488.55 on our rates bill for the pleasure of having the DA rule over us.

So before I got solar I'd spend R2000 a month on my first purchase and it worked out at R2.91 a unit incouding the muni fee worked in, then anything I topped up after that, usually another R1000 a month was at R3.129 a unit. That was the real life costs.

Yes i am the same Tier brackets as you
I buy a little over 200 units a month and they charge me R2,98 per unit
Skelms

 

[Lupus]

So all units at the same price?

It's sliding scale for me...

0-350 = R1.6636
351-600 = 2.4926
601+ = R3.1239

BUT our wonderful muni also charge us a monthly fee of R488.55 on our rates bill for the pleasure of having the DA rule over us.

So before I got solar I'd spend R2000 a month on my first purchase and it worked out at R2.91 a unit incouding the muni fee worked in, then anything I topped up after that, usually another R1000 a month was at R3.129 a unit. That was the real life costs.

Weird it's almost 900 here in JHB and it's been in place since time and memoriam, almost as if it's not a DA thing. Luckily it doesn't apply to prepaid yet

 

[Speedster]

1 unit = 1000 watts for 1 hour

Or 4000 watts for 15 mins.

Although technically both our definitions are incorrect as the customer is limited to neither 1000 watts nor an hour.

If I went to an internet cafe and paid for 100mbps for an hour I'd expect to be limited on both download speed and duration. Here you are limited to neither. There's a reason the kWh unit exists.

 

[Speedster]

so is prepaid vs Postpaid cheaper or more expensive?
worth converting to prepaid?

Depends on municipality, and your usage. In Tshwane the rates are identical. Other municipalities have different fee structures for the different options.

 

[Speedster]

Cool, thanks. Ok, I missed the part that usage scaling needs to be built into the system.

I think it's also worth noting that the tiers reset on the 1st of each month. So buying R5000 at the start of the month is no different to buying R100 50 times throughout the month.

 

[Speedster]

In my head, I am simply buying kW/h units and it makes no difference. Am I wrong?

It's kWh. kW/h doesn't exist / is non-sensical.

 

[Supine]

It's kWh. kW/h doesn't exist / is non-sensical.

Thanks, that was just a typo. The part I missed and was that you get charged on a sliding scale for usage and that they need to prevent people from just always buying at the cheapest price.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

Or 4000 watts for 15 mins.

Although technically both our definitions are incorrect as the customer is limited to neither 1000 watts nor an hour.

If I went to an internet cafe and paid for 100mbps for an hour I'd expect to be limited on both download speed and duration. Here you are limited to neither. There's a reason the kWh unit exists.

Yup, I was trying to keep the example as simple as possible

 

[leon.davibe]

In my area all units are at a flat rate
So the price per unit came down
With the last increase

(we do have a levy now so gotta include that for effective rate)

I think the indigent users have a tier setup one rate for the first x units then higher the rest

 

[richjdavies]

Related to the topic -- don't forget you've only got 10 days to top-up at this years rates!

The golden top-up rule - only top up to the top of the band you normally use - then carry on buying to the bottom of the band you normally use.

So for City of Cape Town at 600kWh just one decision - do I usually use more or less than 600kWh. If it's normally more - then fill your boots before 1st July 2023!

Cheap Electricity for 10 days only! (Update: 20th June 2023) – Homebug

www.homebug.com

 

[richjdavies]

Related to the topic -- don't forget you've only got 10 days to top-up at this years rates!

The golden top-up rule - only top up to the top of the band you normally use - then carry on buying to the bottom of the band you normally use.

So for City of Cape Town at 600kWh just one decision - do I usually use more or less than 600kWh. If it's normally more - then fill your boots before 1st July 2023!

Cheap Electricity for 10 days only! (Update: 20th June 2023) – Homebug

www.homebug.com

So recipe for next year for Home Users (who consistently use about/more than 600 units) -- make sure you buy at least R1851/month (last year this was R1577). I.e. even if you're on holiday, not using much in summer etc... buy R1851 each month to get the lovely 28% discounted units!

For Domestic - that's R2104

Flip -- just realised R4.24/unit -- almost cheaper to use a generator once you're over 600 units!

 

[labratza]

Thats where suppose I am lucky well my family is lucky. Looking at the rate now I am happy my rent includes water and lights. just before we moved to new place we were spending roughly R4k a month on electricity(Tariff B in Ekhuruleni)so was a fixed Tariff. Average units was roughly 1100 units give or take a few.

Step Tariff's are a pain in the backside so always said stick to B it is easier. What we use to do is in December when get Bonus we would buy for 6 months then we know we are fine for 6 months.

If meter has to break and if it is a PLC or Din Rail Meter then the unit will keep how many units you had which can be pulled from the meter so was never worried about it breaking

Work with the meters on a daily basis. I breath eat and sleep Prepaid meters for a living

 

[Speedster]

So recipe for next year for Home Users (who consistently use about/more than 600 units) -- make sure you buy at least R1851/month (last year this was R1577). I.e. even if you're on holiday, not using much in summer etc... buy R1851 each month to get the lovely 28% discounted units!

For Domestic - that's R2104

Flip -- just realised R4.24/unit -- almost cheaper to use a generator once you're over 600 units!

View attachment 1544397

Which rates are these?

 

[yebocan]

moved into a new place couple of months back...first round buying prepaid electricity units, I got 50 units free, was like wtf-- ... supply is directly from Eskom...was advised if usage is below a certain level per month, on a 6 monthly cycle, you are deemed indigent automatically ... who am I to attest differently ...

 

[Lupus]

moved into a new place couple of months back...first round buying prepaid electricity units, I got 50 units free, was like wtf-- ... supply is directly from Eskom...was advised if usage is below a certain level per month, on a 6 monthly cycle, you are deemed indigent automatically ... who am I to attest differently ...

Area?