Most Nigerian households have switched to the use of prepaid meters and with this comes the responsibility of personally evaluating how you use energy.
Why leave appliances on when they are not in use when you can easily turn them off and save your energy bills? There are several ways you can reduce your daily energy use, ultimately reducing how much electricity bill you pay in a month.
Another effective way of reducing your energy use is by recognizing the appliances that consume a lot of electricity and use them minimally.
Leaving an appliance with high wattage plugged on for several hours will quickly run down your light credits thereby inflating how much you pay in a month.
Also note that these appliances consume power even on standby so it always best to switch off the socket whenever they are not in use.
Here are top 8 electrical appliances that consume the most light energy in Nigerian homes:
| Appliance Type | Energy/Wattage (Watts) | |
| 1 | Electric cooker | 2000 – 4500 |
| 2 | Water heater | 3000 |
| 3 | Electric Kettle | 2000 – 2500 |
| 4 | Washing Machine | 2000 – 2300 |
| 5 | Pressing iron | 1500 – 2000 |
| 6 | Air conditioner | 1200 – 1500 ( 1 to 2 HP) Inverter ACs consume way less power. |
| 7 | Water pumping machine | 1000 – 1500 |
| 8 | Toaster | 1000 – 1500 |
The basic unit of electricity is the KilowattHour (KWH).
In simple terms, 1 kWh (=1000wh) is the amount of energy used by an electrical appliance rated 1kw (=1000 watt, e.g. a 1000watt electric heater) used for 1 hour.
Ways you can reduce your electricity consumption in Nigeria
1. Buy new appliances instead of second-hand (Tokunbo) ones. Newer models of electrical appliances are mostly more energy-saving.
2. Turn off appliances you are not using, e.g., your water heater.
3. Use energy-saving bulbs instead of incandescent light bulbs. Bulbs stay on longer than most other appliances so can inflate your bills as much as any other appliance. Turn them off when not needed.
4. Adopt energy-saving domestic habits like pressing your clothes in bulk and under light temperature and turning off your refrigerator when everything in it has become frozen.
5. Use appliances like electric heaters and cookers and washing machines sparingly.
6. Always service your appliances. It’s been known that appliances like air conditioners consume more power when not regularly serviced.
