I know, I know, it could be shocking when the electric bill arrives. “We have consumed this much?!” You could gasp in disbelief. If you’re just like me who sometimes feels the electric shock when your utility bill arrives, then the Orange Tag program of Meralco will make you happy. Finally, we are now more empowered to make informed decisions about our appliance usage and energy consumption so that we become more prudent in your household spending, so that our next electric bill will not come as a shocker!
That’s right, sweet moms! With Orange Tags, we are now better informed on the power consumption of our home appliances to help us limit your expenses so we’ll not go over budget again!
The Meralco Orange Tag: What is it?
I’m pretty sure you’ve chanced to see an Orange Tag in your visit to an appliance store. Right? This is because Meralco has started tagging different models of refrigerators, rice cookers, air-conditioning units and washing machines found in leading appliance stores in Metro Manila. All these have undergone testing at the Meralco Power Lab.
Brought to you by the Meralco Power Lab, the Orange Tag shows you the estimated operating cost of an appliance sa isang tingin. Yup, all it takes is just one look at the orange tag and you’ll know how much it costs to operate as the tag displays the estimated energy consumption in kilowatt hours (kWh) and estimated cost per hour, day or wash.
This easy-to-read tag tells how much electricity a household product consumes.
In short, the tag gives you the power to know how much an appliance consumes, like this air conditioner:
Such a smart idea, isn’t it? The thought of you being informed on how much you spend per hour in an appliance gives you the power to decide how long you’re going to use it with the amount you are willing to pay for it.
In my previous workplace, which was a school by the way, the management created tags and hanged them onto the appliances when we really needed to cut down expenses on electricity because the bill was insanely high. For example, on air conditioners, there were tags that say, ‘It costs me P5.00 per hour to operate’ so we’re all aware. Classroom ACs were turned off a few minutes before dismissal and we did other ways to cut down power consumption. We of course rejoiced because when the next bill arrived, we hit the target power consumption. So tagging is a brilliant idea, the way Meralco does it. Might as well transfer the technology at home?
Just last week, together with other fellow bloggers, I had the chance to visit the Meralco Power Lab, the test bed of electric consumption of various home appliances and their equivalent power cost. Interestingly, I had the chance to see actual tests on energy consumption of various home appliances and I’ll be showing at the end of the post estimates on how much to spend when operating common appliances at home. (Shhh, I’ve also found out that the claimed ‘energy saver’ that they tell you to attach in your appliances to ‘save electricity’ sold in malls does not really work, the engineers at Meralco showed us in actual tests!)
So how much does it cost to run your appliances at home? To get an idea on the estimated costs of consumption, let’s check out some of the most common appliances:
With all prices of commodities jacking up nowadays, it always pays to take every possible step to limit our household expenses to stay within budget, the Orange Tags help us become more prudent in spending. And if you’re planning to purchase appliances for your home soon, do look for the Orange Tags to guide you in buying.
Check out http://www.meralco.com.ph to know more about the Orange Tag!
Leave a Reply