Personal Finance 101: Cost of living includes electricity too!
We will not die if we do not switch on the air-con the whole night
I usually sleep with my 8-year old son who says he will sleep on his own when we move to our new home maybe towards end of this year. One day he may not want me to be so close to him but since he needs me now, I better be close to him. Haha. He would love for the air-conditioner to be blowing the whole night. I usually switch it off after 2 hours. He could still sleep and I could also still sleep. I think I could afford the additional 6 hours but then again, ‘we will not die if we do not switch on the air-con the whole night.’
Electricity cost will continue to increase because people are consuming more
When electricity consumption goes up, the cost of producing it will also go up. The reason is because the demand will cause the company producing it having to procure more inputs / materials and when demand increases throughout the world, the prices of these inputs / materials go up. By the way, whether building a nuclear plant or buy more fuel or coal or even building more sun-harvesting solar panels, all these are costs. This is why if we could, there’s no harm to reduce the electricity usage. By the way, it’s not just for us. It’s for the less fortunate ones who just could not afford the price increase.
This is one such story. Heart-warming and yet worrying too.
Article in nst.com.my On a blustery late-winter day in Shakespeare’s birthplace, the foyer of the Other Place theatre is a cozy refuge. Visitors are having meetings over coffee, checking emails, writing poetry and learning to sew.
It’s like an arty café in the pictureque streets of Stratford-upon-Avon, but it’s a “warm hub” set up by the Royal Shakespeare Company drama troupe to welcome people struggling to heat their homes because of sky-high energy prices.
Warm hubs have sprouted across Britain by the thousands this winter as soaring food and energy prices drive millions to turn down the thermostat or skimp on hot meals.
Research by the opposition Labour Party counted almost 13,000 such hubs, funded by a mix of charities, community groups and the government and nestled in libraries, churches, community centres and even a tearoom at King Charles III’s Highgrove country estate. Do read here for the full article: Article in nst.com.my
RM70 a month is many hundreds every year
The typical average consumption of electricity for Malaysian household is higher than the below data which was until 2016 by statista.com (This site has a lot of data, go search it out)
Average number may not reflect the situation but at least we have some numbers. One recent data pointed out that majority of households spends less than RM70 per month. Source here: Article in paultan.org
This means that if we assume just RM70 per month, every year, a typical household would spend RM840. Okay, truth is, many households are many times higher than this average number. Now imagine if the price goes up by 10 percent? Or even just at the rate of inflation every year? Ok, my electricity bill per month is typically RM400.
Cold kills, Sweat does not
I still remember during winter in Bristol, UK, I sat right beside the heater because the room was very cold. I could imagine how people would have felt without any access to heater every day. I think it’s time we realise that we could make a small difference. Truth is, cold kills while sweat does not. Recently, it rained a little more than usual. I think I will just allow the air-con to be switched on for an hour. My son would just have to adjust accordingly.
Happy understanding and doing a small part in reducing unnecessary electricity usage.
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