Pinching pennies
SUMMERTIME, and El Niño brings high temperatures, drought, and water shortages. In the age of technology, how is it that scientists have not found a way to impound water, irrigate farms, break the national habit of waiting for the rains to fall just because they will, sooner or later?
Look at the electric company. Meralco has found a way to show us at one glance – “sa isang tingin” – how much our electrical appliances are costing us, by the hour, by the day. One look at the “orange tag,” like the red or yellow discount tags in department stores, and consumers are jolted into action, either to save and conserve, or throw out wasteful appliances in favor of new-generation devices that save money by consuming less energy. Our new ref does!
But I did not believe that cooking rice in a one-liter cooker consumes only P1.87 an hour. Cheap, yes? It could be cheaper; no one cooks rice for one hour without burning the grains. Or that a one-HP airconditioner costs P4.93 per hour. As an experiment, I turned on the AC for five hours one night and it pushed up my bill by P100.
Additionally, watching a movie on a LED TV followed by singing along with a videoke, you and your date at home are supposed to spend only P1.69 an hour (compared to paying P360 for two movie tickets). A washing machine costs 89 centavos per wash, a flatiron P1.91 by the hour. Your labandera is more expensive, if you factor in her merienda while she keeps the electric fan going, at 64 centavos hourly.
“I don’t believe you,” I told Meralco’s telegenic You-Light-Up-My-Life man, Joe Zaldarriaga, and his sidekick, Tony Valdez. Their answer was to challenge me to visit their power lab, where those orange-tag tests are conducted. In general, appliances that turn up and turn down temperatures – water heater in the shower, AC in the bedroom and nursery – consume more electricity.
Ask any housewife, “What consumes the most energy in your home?” She’ll likely tell you, “My husband.” He opens the ref more often, for more and more ice. He wants the entire house cooled at 18C all day if possible. He tinkers with the computer when he’s not polishing his gasguzzling car in your fully lighted garage. He’s ”watching” TV when he’s not. And, too much trouble to unplug.