We can save quite a lot of money in the electricity bill of our second residence if we put into practice some considerations. Since the emergence of the coronavirus health crisis, second residences have gained a lot of prominence. The possibility of teleworking as well as the need for relaxation that many Spanish people have experienced during the pandemic has made second residences be used much more. Thus, this has caused a considerable increase in the price of electricity bills. It stands to reason that if we spend more time in a house the electricity bill will increase. However, have we asked ourselves if we are managing well the resources of the property in order to make electricity consumption more reasonable? During the confinement, many families got an unpleasant surprise when the electricity bill of the second residence arrived. What can be done to avoid this? According to experts, there are two fundamental factors that must be taken into account. The first one is to adjust the light power that was hired and, secondly, to compare prices per kilowatt hour so as to hire the most convenient company for us. It is very usual that many families do not bear in mind these two aspects as they are not used to spending a long time in their second residence. Logically, when a property is only used occasionally this does not seem an important issue. Nonetheless, this changes when the property is used during a longer period. Let us take a look at this.

ADJUSTING THE LIGHT POWER AND MEASURING SPENDING

Experts generally recommend to adjust and reduce light power in our second residence to the minimum; hence, the fixed expense that has to be paid, apart from our consumption, will be as low as possible. In order to do this, it is important to take into account the number of domestic appliances we have, because the light power we hire is decisive for the functioning of them all at the same time. We must take into consideration that if we lower the contracted power we will, currently, save around eleven euros. If later on we wish to increase the light power we must pay again (in this case it would be a higher amount of money than when we lowered it), and this is why it is convenient to study carefully the light power we need before lowering the contracted power. Once we have hired the light power that most suits our needs, we must measure our spending and ask ourselves which is the most convenient time to use our domestic appliances. Some people opt for terminating the light power contract when the second residence is not used. However, this practice is generally discouraged as it is very costly to formalize once more the light power contract as we would have to bear the costs. We can say that if the house is not going to be used during a long period of time (for instance, more than a year), then it can be worth it. Nevertheless, if this is not the case it is not convenient to do it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY CERTIFICATE

Some time ago, we wrote an article in this blog about the Energy Efficiency Certificate. This is a mandatory document for all Spanish houses. In that article we explained how this certificate measures the energy efficiency of a house as well as providing information about the characteristics of the property in relation to electricity costs among other matters. Therefore, it is very important to take into account this certificate in order to ascertain whether the energy efficiency of our property can be improved. Probably, the first thing we must ourselves is what our heating, air conditioning and lighting systems are like, and if we are making good use of them. If the answer is negative, then we must assess and improve them by installing more efficient ones. Furthermore, we must not forget that even though at first it is an investment, this will be made profitable in the short or medium term because energy consumption as well as the electricity bill will be considerably reduced. On the other hand, if it is not possible to install new equipments, then we must optimize the maximum their

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