Is Turning Off the AC to Save Electricity Actually a Loss? / Friendly Economy

[Anchor]

It is Thursday, and time for Friendly Economy with reporter Han Jiyeon. Han, it is really hard not to run the air conditioner at home these days, and many people must be worried about their electricity bills.

[Reporter]

Electricity bills have what is called a dangerous zone.

When you cross this progressive pricing tier, the unit price for usage beyond that point jumps sharply.

So I calculated just how much that amounts to myself.

With shocking heat severe enough for a heavy heatwave alert to be issued in Seoul, we often hear stories like, "I look for bank ATM booths on the weekends," or "Airports have become a hot spot for seniors these days."

This is all because people want to save even a little bit on electricity bills by going to places with strong air conditioning.

So I looked into just how high electricity bills actually turn out.

Electricity bills use a progressive pricing structure where the rates jump significantly by tier.

Normally, 200 and 400 kilowatt-hours are the baseline thresholds where the tiers change, but only for the two months of July and August, these thresholds are relaxed generously to 300 and 450 kilowatt-hours, respectively.

Therefore, if a four-person household used an average of 419 kilowatt-hours last summer, it costs 77,000 won for the month, but if you blast the air conditioner and exceed 1,000 kilowatt-hours, it can come out to as much as 370,000 won.

So just how much can you run it while staying within the threshold? There are many sites that calculate this these days, so I tried entering the data and calculating it myself.

According to the calculator, for an average home, the first tier is already filled even before turning on the air conditioner.

Based on a 15-pyeong stand-up air conditioner, you can defend against the middle tier up to 5 hours a day, but at 6 hours, you immediately cross over into the highest tier.

However, these numbers can vary depending on the type and size of the air conditioner and your previous electricity usage.

[Anchor]

So you prepared some ways to save on electricity bills.

[Reporter]

I also had some bad habits; some people turn off the air conditioner when going out briefly, but turning it off and on repeatedly can actually result in a loss.

There is a so-called "90-minute rule."

Researchers at a major corporation actually conducted an experiment.

Turning off an inverter air conditioner for just 30 minutes and turning it back on used 5% more power than leaving it running continuously, and turning it off for 60 minutes used 2% more.

However, once you exceed exactly 90 minutes, turning it off when you go out used less power.

Why does this happen? Inverter air conditioners run the compressor gently to maintain minimum power once the desired temperature is reached.

However, if you turn it off in the middle, the compressor has to run heavily to drop the temperature back down when you turn it back on.

For reference, it is the exact opposite for constant-speed air conditioners.

Constant-speed units do not have the feature to adjust power gently like inverters, so it is more advantageous to turn them off after lowering the temperature sufficiently.

You might wonder what kind of air conditioner you have at home, but if you replaced it within the last 15 years, almost all of them are inverter types, so constant-speed models are rare these days.

In addition, raising the set temperature by just 1 to 2 degrees can reduce power consumption from 10% to 20% range.

Filters also consume 3% to 5% more power if neglected, so it is best to clean them once every two weeks.

Electricity saved this way also comes back as money.

Originally, you had to save 3% or more to receive cash back, but in the second half of this year, saving just 1% makes you eligible.

You can get back up to 120 won per kilowatt-hour for what you save.

You can apply on KEPCO's representative energy platform, Wise Electricity Life.

[Anchor]

This time, you organized the parts changing into life-closely-related aspects from the tax code revision, right?

[Reporter]

The practice of giving tax breaks when a child is born is now shifting to a direct budget support method.

Until now, 300,000 won for the first child, 500,000 won for the second, and 700,000 won from the third onward were deducted during year-end tax settlement, but this structure meant households paying less income tax could not fully receive the benefits.

Therefore, the government is changing it to provide direct support at the time a child is born.

Specific amounts are scheduled to come out in next year's budget proposal.

There are also changes related to cars.

The individual consumption tax benefits given when purchasing hybrid cars end at the end of this year.

The government's stance is to concentrate support on electric vehicles and hydrogen cars rather than hybrids, which already sell well.

There are also changes for those who use public transportation.

Public transportation expenses paid with cards previously received a separate preferential deduction of 40%, but since other supports like the K-pass have been increased, this preference will disappear starting next year, applying only 15% to 30%, the same as general consumption.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.