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Designing your own electricity system - part 4 (how much electricity are you using?)

1) Make a summary of how many kilowatt hours (kwh) you are using per month and how much it costs you. Calculate your cost per kwh. If you have a service charge remember to include this as part of your kwh charge.

2) To find out how much electricity you are using, buy a Voltage and Current metre from me. You can plug your equipment into them and they will tell you how much watts you are using. R500 cash before despatch price each plus postage and packing.

3) This metre tells you per plug what you are using. If you'd like a metre that shows what your house is using, then I have one for about R950. It has a special plug that goes into your electricity distribution board and a wireless screen that you can have with you anywhere in the house. This allows you to see your total consumption and to look for "ghost consumption" ie consumption you don't know about. This could be a geyser that you don't know about or devices that you think aren't using electricity, but which actually are using electricity.

4) Do you know how much electricity you are currently using? If not, buy a metre and find out.

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