robbietan Posted November 14, 2005 Share Posted November 14, 2005 kuryente mysteries explained.... energy saving devices...... tips on buying appliances...... for FREE! Quote Link to comment
masi Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 Great thread! With the high cost of electricity, I am more deliberate in using electric home appliance and electric devices. Now can someone tell me if those plug-in power saving devices advertised on TV really work? I mean, really help you cut down on the consumption of electric power? What is the principle behind it? Thanks! Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted November 15, 2005 Author Share Posted November 15, 2005 good day bos masi! can you be specific on that TV ad? what I can remember is the one being shown in ch. 13/9. the white one that looks like a mouse that you plug in a wall socket. bad news sir. it doesnt save you that much. the thing has a capacitor inside that explains how it can provide short bursts of power during a power interruption. if you plug it in before your ref/washing machine - it would save a little power. although the price of the thingie would not justify the savings you get from it. if you plug it like what the commercial does, (which was anywhere) you introduce things in your home that you don't want - overvoltage, for one. harmonics is another. the only energy savings devices are certified by our very own Dept. of Energy. if someone is selling you one of those thingies, call the DOE to verify if it was approved by the DOE. better yet, provide them a sample so that they can test it. most of these thingies I've encountered so far put all sorts of company logos on their boxes. then a very fine print saying that the product was DEMONSTRATED to these companies, they don't say that these companies actually USE them. ingat lang, Sir. Quote Link to comment
masi Posted November 15, 2005 Share Posted November 15, 2005 good day bos masi! can you be specific on that TV ad? what I can remember is the one being shown in ch. 13/9. the white one that looks like a mouse that you plug in a wall socket. bad news sir. it doesnt save you that much. the thing has a capacitor inside that explains how it can provide short bursts of power during a power interruption. if you plug it in before your ref/washing machine - it would save a little power. although the price of the thingie would not justify the savings you get from it. if you plug it like what the commercial does, (which was anywhere) you introduce things in your home that you don't want - overvoltage, for one. harmonics is another. the only energy savings devices are certified by our very own Dept. of Energy. if someone is selling you one of those thingies, call the DOE to verify if it was approved by the DOE. better yet, provide them a sample so that they can test it. most of these thingies I've encountered so far put all sorts of company logos on their boxes. then a very fine print saying that the product was DEMONSTRATED to these companies, they don't say that these companies actually USE them. ingat lang, Sir.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> thanks for the info, robbie!!! you are correct, those devices look like a mouse that you plug into a convenience outlet. The ads were Taiwanese dubbed in English but I think lately RJTV has been airring a local version. I will check tonight. So, it's one of those "too good to be true ads" pala!!! And those devices are not cheap!!!! Thanks for the tip! Ingat ka rin, bro --- mahirap na "kuryente" ang usapan!!! Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted November 15, 2005 Author Share Posted November 15, 2005 yep, those taiwanese commercials even use a clamp ammeter to show 'power consumption'. and they do post those company logos where they DEMONSTRATED their products. pero ayaw magpadala sa amin ng sample nila, baka mabuking.... erferferf Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 as a public service, here is a miniseries on the 'unbundled' charges for your MERALCO bill residential: generation charge - cost of electricity from NAPOCOR (or IPPs) that MERALCO bought transmission charge - cost of using TRANSCO's wires to transmit electricity from the power plants to your home system loss charge - the cost of technical and non-technical losses that occured during the transmission of electricity from the power plant to your home distribution charge - MERALCO's service charge Quote Link to comment
hoodsy2004 Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 bro is it true na yun mga nananakaw na kuryente eh binabayaran pa rin ng mga may metro??? Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 sir, that comes under the 'non-technical losses' of your system loss charge in your MERALCO bill.non-technical losses include pilferage, kaya all acts of pilferage will be added ultimately to that bill heading. kaya pag may alam kayo na illegal connections, kindly call 16211 (MERALCO) and report it. kahit papaano, makakababa sa binabayaran nating lahat yan. Quote Link to comment
bubuy Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 what is this thread about ba.. the "power-saving" devices or your meralco bills??? Quote Link to comment
PageDown Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 So, lahat ng nakaw sa kuryente ay binabayaran natin? Quote Link to comment
xycho_g Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 since kuryente thread ito...can somebody explain what does each of the charges of our meralco bill pertain to? and why is it included...tnx... Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 mga bosing, this thread is all about electricity - bills, power saving devices, etc. feel free to ask/share anything that is powered by electricity part 2 of miniseries: residential bill metering charge - This includes the cost of reading, and operating and maintaining power metering facilities. Lifeline DiscountThe EPIRA provides that residential customers consuming less than 100 kWh in a given month will enjoy a Lifeline Discount on generation, transmission, distribution, supply, metering and system loss charges at these percentages: Using 50 kWh and below will get 50% discount Using 71 to 100 kWh will get a 20% discount Interclass Subsidy residential customers enjoy a subsidy of P0.7130 per kWh funded by a charge paid by commercial and industrial users of electricity beware! the interclass subsidy will be phased out starting next year. tho liliit ang charges sa commercial and industrial users, residential users will bear the increase in rates CERA - Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment This covers adjustments for fluctuations in the Philippine Peso-U.S. Dollar exchange rate Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 yes sir, ultimately, LAHAT ng nakaw na kuryente will be paid for by those people regularly paying their bills. how? EPIRA gives a 9.5% ceiling on how much the govt will reimburse MERALCO for losses. saan pa ba kukunin ng gobyerno ang ipam-babayad nila sa MERALCO kundi sa taxes natin? so, para na rin sa atin ang pagsumbong ng mga hindi nagbabayad (i.e. -gumagamit ng jumper) para bumaba ang binabayaran natin Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 5, 2005 Author Share Posted December 5, 2005 I would also like to warn everyone about MERALCO people wanting to get inside your homes to 'check' out your appliances, wirings, etc. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT let these people in! these people are fakes! I have received e-mails of such M.O. MERALCO's service STOPS at your meter. If they want to enter your house, they just have to get a warrant like everyone else. Call their hotline 16211 to verify if they have such work orders in your area. If these people are for real, they will happily wait for you to be satisfied with their identities before starting their work. Quote Link to comment
hoodsy2004 Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 sir, that comes under the 'non-technical losses' of your system loss charge in your MERALCO bill.non-technical losses include pilferage, kaya all acts of pilferage will be added ultimately to that bill heading. kaya pag may alam kayo na illegal connections, kindly call 16211 (MERALCO) and report it. kahit papaano, makakababa sa binabayaran nating lahat yan.<{POST_SNAPBACK}> salamat bro! very usefull thread indeed! Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 7, 2005 Author Share Posted December 7, 2005 here is the 3rd part of the electric bill miniseries: residential Franchise Tax - this amount goes to the national government as franchise tax, and a range of 0.05% to 0.75% of the gross is paid to local government units. this will be replaced in december by 10% EVAT Universal Charge - This is remitted to the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM), a company owned and controlled by government, created by Republic Act 9136. missionary - missionary electrification that subsidizes places where providing electricity is a non-viable business. this includes very small islands that cannot be connected to the grid environmental - used to maintain/rehab watersheds, etc. that help provide power what goes to meralco - Distribution Charge, Metering Charge, Supply Charge, Currency Exchange Rate Adjustment what goes to government/napocor - Generation Charge, Transmission Charge, System Loss Charge, Franchise Tax (now EVAT), Universal Charge, Lifeline Subsidy, Lifeline Discount, Interclass Subsidy for a bill that consumed 117 kwHr (actual bill), 16.527% of the money went to MERALCO, the rest went to the government. Quote Link to comment
floppydrive Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Great thread! With the high cost of electricity, I am more deliberate in using electric home appliance and electric devices. Now can someone tell me if those plug-in power saving devices advertised on TV really work? I mean, really help you cut down on the consumption of electric power? What is the principle behind it? Thanks!<{POST_SNAPBACK}>As boss Robbietan mentioned, the mouse like device contains a capacitor. It wont work for residential electricity consumers in the Philippines because of the method of measurement used by Meralco for residential accounts. The good news is that it WILL work for industrial consumers. In fact, Meralco gives a discount for those who use capacitor banks (way larger versions of the mouse like device) in their system, and can be seen in the industrail account's monthly electricity bill. For more technical info, read on. Meralco charges residential customers based on kilowatt-hour (KWhr) consumption, and charges industrial consumers based on kilovolt-amp-hour(KVAh). Although in basic electrical terms the two are similar, the KVAh has another component that Meralco monitors solely for industrial - the reactive power. A right size of capcitor bank will compensate for the reactive power and will bring the KVAh to equal KWhr. So if you have a lot of motors running, you'll be consuming a higher KVAh, even if on paper you have a set KWhr consumption. By putting a capacitor bank and running the same motors, the KWhr will be the same, but the KVAh will be reduced. Hope this helps, even if it's late. Quote Link to comment
floppydrive Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Some tips in buying electrical appliances - For Airconditioners get the unit with the highest EER rating within your desired size and budget. EER is the Energy Efficiency Ratio. This is how well an air conditioner can convert electricity into cool air for your room. The higher the EER, the lesser electricity it will consume to cool a correct size room. Please note that it is also important to get the correct size of air conditioner for the room. If the air conditioner capacity is too small for the room, then it may not even be able to cool the room. If the airconditioner capacity is too big for the room, then their is wasteage of electricity, and the initial cost is more expensive. Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 8, 2005 Author Share Posted December 8, 2005 nice bos floppy! if I may add, MERALCO also charges industrial/large commercial customers in kW rating, that is the maximum demand of power for a given month, in addition to the other aforementioned charges as bos floppy has said, EER also works in refrigerators. the higher the EER rating, the better. as a rough guideline in choosing energy efficient refs:1. always single door instead of two door. mas efficient ang single door2. go for manual defrost. no-frost refs waste power. anyway manual defrosting is easy, push start -defrosting starts. push stop- defrosting stops. that easy. no need to remove items inside the ref (like in d olden days).tsaka kayo mamili ng preferred brands ninyo. as I recall, Abenson's have these EER stickers in their refs and aircons for buyers' reference. Quote Link to comment
jt2003 Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 (edited) Pareng Robbietan, I hope this makes sense. I just don't know many terms. My old microwave oven didn't need a grounding wire, because all it needed was this little horseshoe-type metal thing in the adaptor. I believe this served as a grounder. I chose this oven precisely because it didn't need a grounding wire. Unfortunately, that oven is now faltering. We have this other oven which we want to use, but there's a grounding wire. I'm not sure if we should use the adaptor of the old oven, because there's an unoccupied space (the adaptor is for making three into two, so the oven can be plugged in, a situation which isn't needed for the new oven). My questions are: (1) Can I use the old adaptor even if there's an open space? and (2) Can we use the new microwave even without the grounding wire? Edited December 8, 2005 by jt2003 Quote Link to comment
floppydrive Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 Pareng Robbietan, I hope this makes sense. I just don't know many terms. My old microwave oven didn't need a grounding wire, because all it needed was this little horseshoe-type metal thing in the adaptor. I believe this served as a grounder. I chose this oven precisely because it didn't need a grounding wire. Unfortunately, that oven is now faltering. We have this other oven which we want to use, but there's a grounding wire. I'm not sure if we should use the adaptor of the old oven, because there's an unoccupied space (the adaptor is for making three into two, so the oven can be plugged in, a situation which isn't needed for the new oven). My questions are: (1) Can I use the old adaptor even if there's an open space? and (2) Can we use the new microwave even without the grounding wire?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>If I understand correctly, the space you mentioned is for the ground line of the old plug, and this adaptor only has two metal prongs that stick out and plug into the wall. If this is so, then the adaptor doesn't really ground the microwave oven. The grounding wire is to protect the user from electric shock in case something goes wrong like there is a short circuit inside the machine. The microwave will still work even if you don't use the ground line. If you notice, the power cables that come with the computer all have a ground line (the third metal prong that is usually round while the other two are flat) , but most people use adaptors that bypass this. In case you want to play it safe and ground the microwave, all you have to do is to unscrew the screw that holds the wall electrical outlet cover and attach the ground line to this and screw it back in. You can then plug the microwave safely. Most refrigerators and washing machines, specially those made in the RP all have ground lines (the green wire tied somewhere in the back of the unit. But most people don't even know they are there, much less connect them properly. Anyway, the main purpose of the ground line is to protect the user when SOMETHING GOES WRONG. The unit will still work. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment
floppydrive Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 nice bos floppy! if I may add, MERALCO also charges industrial/large commercial customers in kW rating, that is the maximum demand of power for a given month, in addition to the other aforementioned charges as bos floppy has said, EER also works in refrigerators. the higher the EER rating, the better. as a rough guideline in choosing energy efficient refs:1. always single door instead of two door. mas efficient ang single door2. go for manual defrost. no-frost refs waste power. anyway manual defrosting is easy, push start -defrosting starts. push stop- defrosting stops. that easy. no need to remove items inside the ref (like in d olden days).tsaka kayo mamili ng preferred brands ninyo. as I recall, Abenson's have these EER stickers in their refs and aircons for buyers' reference.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Did you know that by law, all refs and air cons must post the EER and EFR ratings? This is a BPS regulation. These yellow cards will be able to save you a lot when comparing and choosing an appliance. Unfortunately, there are plenty of imported units being sold that don't have this. DTI has to do something about it. A local appliance can't leave the factory without it, but an imported unit can be sold sans yellow tag. Anyway, the No frost unit consumes more electricity because it has a small fan inside the ref and freezer that blows air around the unit. This movement of air keeps the ice from forming insde the freezer. This fan operates as long as the unit is on. Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 good day bos jt.bos floppy is right, gagana ang microwave even without the third wire attached.the third wire is the ground wire, onaks have a ground wire in their homes (alam ko sa MERALCO malapit nang maging compulsory ang third wire sa new homes) that is connected sa service entrance nila. pag ikinabit mo doon ang ground wire, any fault (short circuit, etc) would go to the breaker/fuse and trip the thing.bos floppy's suggestion is ok, since wala kayo grounding connection. it will dissipate some flux due to the operation of the machine. most of the time its good enough. pero in cases of faults, hindi mawawala ang risk of shock sa ganyang connection. (hirap nanakot pa, erferferf) the microwave will do just fine, ingat na lang on the power cables. make sure na walang damage bago gamitin ang oven. just to be on d safe side. me? I check ALL power cables before turning on the juice. mahirap na.... erferferf Quote Link to comment
hoodsy2004 Posted December 9, 2005 Share Posted December 9, 2005 mga boss! tanong ko lang kung may kilala kayo na nabiktima nung mga meralco posers or kahit muntik na mabiktima? my friend is doing an ivestigative report about this so any info would be greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment
robbietan Posted December 9, 2005 Author Share Posted December 9, 2005 bos hoodsy, the warning on the fake meralco men was forwarded to me by e-mail. I believe meralco itself is doing an investigation on the matter. Quote Link to comment
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