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Puntos de vista - a personal Spain blog

Musings about Spain and Spanish life by Paul Whitelock, hispanophile of 40 years and now resident of Ronda in Andalucía .

Off-Peak Success - Electricity bill lowered
Friday, July 30, 2021 @ 5:38 AM

 

From 1 June new electricity tariffs came into force. Many regarded this as a cost rise, yet Pablo de Ronda felt that if you shifted as much electricity use as possible to the cheap tariff, you could end up paying less than previously. He's just had his first bill under the new system of charging. How did he do?

 

In my previous article , How to Save money on your electricity bill in Spain, (https://www.secretserrania.com/2021/06/how-to-save-money-on-your-electricity-bill-in-spain/)

I suggested switching as much electricity usage to the cheap tariff, ie 12.00 midnight to 08.00 am weekdays and all day at weekends.

So, the washing machine, tumble drier and dishwasher all go on after midnight.

We have a pool, so I let the pump run in the early hours. Our garden irrigation system also.

We reduced the temperature setting on our fridge to 3C.

An iron uses lots of power so we iron before 08.00am

We use the ECO setting on appliances like dishwashers, washing machines and tumble driers.

We watch less TV. We try to avoid having it on in the background.

Leaving devices and appliances on standby also consumes electricity. Unplug every time.

Well, I just got my first bill under the new charging system and it was way less than last year.

In fact I managed to shift the bulk of my consumption to the cheap tariff, 340 kWh. The dearest tariff accounted for 112 kWh. The intermediate tariff accounted for 92 kWh. Total consumption just 78 euros plus the standing charges.

I don’t want to appear smug, but making the changes we did has saved us quite a lot of money.

Off peak? Every time!



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7 Comments


jeffsears said:
Saturday, July 31, 2021 @ 9:47 AM

I have just received my bill for July. My consumption was 389kwh compared to 457kwh in July last year. My bill last year was €73.69, this year my bill is €82.38. So despite reducing my usage by 68kwh my bill has gone up and note that it would have risen by more if the IVA had not been reduced. The majority of my consumption 245kwh is at the lower rate. Last July I paid €0.093 for ever kwh.
This July I paid €0.244 for the high rate, @€0.158 for the middle rate and €0.117 for the lower rate. So even the lowest rate is a 26% increase and the high rate is a whopping 162% increase. There is no way that you can reduce your bills.


pjck said:
Saturday, July 31, 2021 @ 11:19 AM

So you simply use less electrical tools... wow, great idea!
What if you didn't use them at all?


Ten66 said:
Saturday, July 31, 2021 @ 1:26 PM

Unfortunately I already had a tiered supply.
I always used as mush as possible outside peak.
Now I cannot do as well, my bills have gone up even using slightly less. ARGH!



Smurph said:
Sunday, August 1, 2021 @ 4:57 PM

Well, I wouldn't like to live close to your house - all those machines and your pool pump on at night. What a noise! Or do you live way out in the country where you have no neighbours?


cranniedwall said:
Monday, August 2, 2021 @ 11:18 AM

It's not always feasible to use appliances at night, nor can everything be unplugged at peak hours. We only have 2.2kW contracted, so we don't have many appliances, either, because we get plunged into darkness if someone uses the hair dryer and someone else is using the microwave at the same time. I have tried to move as much as possible to at least the shoulder hours and the weekend, but I still paid at least five or seven euros more last month than usual.


jeffsears said:
Monday, August 2, 2021 @ 11:41 AM

The government knew that the new system would result in higher bills and that is why they have reduced the IVA until the end of this year. As you can see from my earlier comment even if I moved all my usage to the least expensive rate I will still be paying more than last year.


Mark1GB said:
Tuesday, August 3, 2021 @ 10:17 PM

The Electricity is split in to three time zones of 8 hours per zone, with peak power over 5 days a week, however lets say for arguments sake that there is 12 national holidays a year that is on average one day per month so in a typical month that would be 19 days ( 20 days - 1 national holiday) at 8 hour duration. however when you look at the standing charges I find peak power is charged over 30 days and not a third of a day either ! and low power at 30 days with no mention of middle rate, so before we even turn on the power this is skewed in the generators favour. food for thought.


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