HOW TO REDUCE YOUR ELECTRICITY BILL AT HOME

Executive officer who limited his electricity bill at home to Rs.500

     There is a story of  an executive officer from Piliyandala who has successfully used electricity sparingly while drawing reference to the increase of electricity rates.
     The individual who has limited the electricity in his home to Rs.500 is also a person who makes use of all modern electrical appliances. But the secret of his
frugality is the use of equipment of standard value and in motivating members of his family to use electricity sparingly.
     The police on observing these low rates made an inspection in order to check whether he was pilfering current from elsewhere and had gone back with dismay being surprised at his method of consumption of electricity.
    "It was a Sunday. That was a day when all of us including our younger brothers and sisters got together. At the time of this incident I was in a neighbouring house. My home people informed me that the police have come. A police officer and an officer of the Electricity Board was there and they said that they wanted to check our meter. I told them that there is no problem in them going ahead. At that moment I felt a bit embarassed too because no such thing has happened to us before. However, we began to wonder why the police came to check the meter. Both of them then checked the meter and sealed it. Then they asked what my profession was. I told them what it was and then they said okay and went away. While they were going I overheard them saying that they thought that maybe we were someone who comes here only in the weekends.

    We then realised that they had made this check because our electricity bill never exceeded the sum of Rs.500. But if they came inside our house they would no doubt begin to wonder how this could ever take place.

   In an era where the monthly electricity bill keeps increasing, how can it be kept at a minimum? Mr.Prabath Athulathmudali who lives in Madapatha, Piliyandala, especially in a two-storied house with 4 members in the family, using essential electrical equipment and at the same time maintaining the electrical bill rates in this manner explains the method of this, which he says is done by him for fun. This is not an experiment of hs only but something done also with the co-operation of his wife and 2 children.

    I actually thought that instead of keeping shouting about the increase in the electricity bill, it would be better that we should motivate ourselves to use power sparingly. When compared to other countries in the world, it is we who pay the highest for electricity consumption. The day after the bill comes everybody in the office talks about it and for some people the rate payable was over Rs.10,000; but when I told them about my bill, they were amazed. Some laugh at me saying that I may not be using electrical appliances. No, but I do use electrical equipment. But the real truth is this".

   Prabath took us from room to room and then to the kitchen. His home has all facilities. There is almost every essential electrical appliance in his home." One method we can use to minimise the electricity bill is to use appliances that transform electricity into heat sparingly as much as possible. Electricity consumed by the hot-plate and heater is high. So saying we can't forego using the electric iron. What should be done in such a case is to use a high-quality iron. We use water pumped from the well. What we have in our house is a water tank which is rather large in size. We fill water to it once every 2 days. It is sufficient for our family of 4. In the same way we don't keep electric bulbs burning unnecessarily. When it's not necessary, we switch them off. We use high-quality bulbs. I am a busy person. But daily I watch the TV for about one and a half hours daily. Whenever there is a cricket match, it will from start to the end. That too with modern technical audio equipment. We iron our clothes almost daily. Having done all this it may be a question to a person as to how the electricity bill could be curtailed. To try out this experiment, I got a great co-operation from my wife Nilangi and 2 small daughters."

     This is what Nilangani Jayaweera has to say. "I studied at the Sacred heart Convent in Galle. There are 4 of us in our family comprising of elder sisters and younger sisters. Those days we studied in a hostel. It was there that we learned of how to live economically. It is difficult to live economically in a house all by oneself. For that there should be co-operation from others in the home. I receive maximum support in this respect from my husband. Two daughters also have followed our example and have disciplined themselves likewise.

     I iron my daughter's school uniforms at one and the same time. It not only is easy for me but contributes towards electricity being unnecessarily wasted. In the same way I cook rice in the pressure cooker. Unlike the rice-cooker, it takes only a few minutes to cook rice in the pressure-cooker. That also then saves some electricity. In the afternoon my 2 daughters watch TV for about 2 hours. That also only what is essential. In the same way we use a fan in the nights. Apart from that we use a washing-machine to wash the clothes. Whatever items we use, we use all those in a systematic way. Our 12 year old daughter is now aware and accustomed to switching off unnecessary lights, going from room to room. Someone might think that these people are following too much of a rigid economy-plan. Sometimes friends laugh and say 'Tell us how you economise like that'. At times they may be seeing me like some sort of a miser. But according to my job I have to travel overseas many times. At such times I wonder how people in those countries use electricity. We certainly can use electricity sparingly. One method is by using electrical appliances of a high standard in the house.

     I learned to save electricity from my wife. We were brought up in the village. My mother was a teacher; father a principal. I studied at D.S.Senanayaka Vidyalaya in Colombo. During schooldays of course we didn't feel anything serious about all this and at that time we had no electrical equipment in the house. When we were small, we lived a simple life. But today the situation has changed. Today we're identified as the Middle Class. Really, if a small family like ours is economising this way and if everything is systematically done, we can save everything".

    Prabath lives a busy life. But even through such a busy routine, he has chosen a splendid hobby and that is to use electricity economically.

    "I and my wife had an idea of making this house a 'House of saving electricity'. It is a hobby for both of us. At the same time a profit financially too. One of the methods  followed to make this hobby successful is the use of quality appliances. The refrigerator in our home is a non-frost fridge. Someone may say that electricity consumption in such an appliance is high. But using this fridge actually is economical where consumption of electricity is concerned. We have arranged items in the fridge in a manner that we have easy access to them. Through this process also electricity consumption is minimised. 

    Our next attempt is to minimise the useage of electric bulbs during daytime. To retain the natural light coming from outside, walls within the house could be whitewashed in white. However much we are busy, we pay a lot of attention to the consumption of electricity. By this time the number of units consumed is 70; if not, 71. For a long time our monthly electricity bill has been between Rs.500 and 700. It was for this reason that the Electricity Board and the police came here to check the meter of our house. Taking day-to-day steps to save electricity as an experiment has become a hobby for us now".

    To conduct domestic affairs in a systematic manner in order to minimise the electricity bill has become a hobby for Prabath and Nilangani. The next objective of Prabath is to frugally manipulate the consumption of electricity in the section under his administration in office.

Report and pics -- Wimal Karunatilleka