It was not till I had to start paying for my own electricity bills then I realised how crazy the bills can get. Especially with air conditioning switched on. 

For those who are 1st time home owners like me and have never seen the utilities bill, I don’t know if your face will be as white as mine when I first received my official bill. 

So I came up with a few simple ways to manage this. See if this helps you. 

• Make sure all switches are switched off whenever you leave the house. This means making a habit to switch off all appliances and main switches except the fridge of course. I learnt that this helps. Wifi included. 

• If you must switch on air conditioning, try setting it to the fan mode and at 25 degree celsius. I invested in a good standing fan so I only use the air conditioner on humid days. It not only helps me improve my skin complexion it saves my wallet.

• Everytime you leave the room, keep it a habit again to switch off all lights and fans not in use. Through regular daily habits, you start to learn not to waste electricity by having so many appliances switched on concurrently.  

• If you are using a storage heater please remember that it takes energy to heat up the tank of water. So it consumes electricity. The storage tank’s heated water can last for quite a while so members can shower back to back and heater can be switched off once water is heated up. Avoid leaving the heater switched on for long period. 

• Fridge is one of the high energy consuming appliance at home. Remember to check out the consumption rate and consider changing to a better one. 

• You heard of LED lights. And they are higher in costs but gives you cost savings where electricity is concerned. And has a longer usage span. So change your lights to LED ones to save money in long run. 

• Avoid having multiple devices on to a PowerPoint.

Now with the latest enhanced version of SP Services bill, it not only shows the breakdown for water and electricity usage it also illustrates a comparison between neighbours and average usage across the nation. 

This helps you gauge if you are on the right track. 

Sample SP Services utilities bill ( Singapore) 

Love, 

Kris