Meralco rates are near record levels, so guessing what an appliance costs is an expensive habit. Here is the arithmetic for a shower-type water heater at the current rate, with every assumption written down so you can change it.
A shower-type water heater draws about 3,500 W. At the current Meralco rate of [hed_ph_rate] per kWh that is [hed_ph_cost appliance=”water-heater-shower” period=”hour”] per hour. Used 0.5 hours a day it costs [hed_ph_cost appliance=”water-heater-shower” period=”day”] daily and about [hed_ph_cost appliance=”water-heater-shower” period=”month”] a month.
What drives the number
[hed_ph_note appliance=”water-heater-shower”]
Only three things decide the cost: the wattage, the hours, and the rate. Wattage is fixed by the unit you own and is printed on the nameplate. The rate is fixed by Meralco and changes monthly. Hours is the only one under your control, which is why the table below is the useful one.
Cost by hours used per day
[hed_ph_hours appliance=”water-heater-shower”]Why shower heaters look so expensive per hour
An instant shower heater draws a very large load because it has to raise water temperature as the water passes through, with no tank to work ahead of time. There is no way around that physics: heating water quickly takes a lot of power.
The saving grace is duration. Ten minutes is a sixth of an hour, so the per-shower cost stays manageable. It is when several people each take long showers daily that this becomes one of the larger lines on a Meralco bill.
How to spend less on it
- Shorten showers before anything else. Cost scales directly with minutes.
- Use the lower heat setting. Most units have two, and the lower one is often enough in Philippine weather.
- Switch it off at the wall when not in use, since some units draw standby power.
Reading this against your actual Meralco bill
Your bill shows total kWh consumed and the amount charged. Divide the total by the kWh and you get your real effective rate, which will differ from the headline figure because of lifeline discounts, senior citizen discounts and the refunds Meralco is currently passing back.
Households consuming 100 kWh or less qualify automatically for the lifeline rate, which is substantially cheaper and applied without registration. If that is you, every figure on this page is an overestimate. Put your own effective rate into the calculator above and the numbers will correct themselves.
How the Meralco rate has moved this year
The same shower-type water heater cost noticeably less in January than it does now, with nobody changing how they use it. The generation charge is repriced every month against fuel costs, the peso-dollar rate and the wholesale spot market, so these figures move with it.
[hed_ph_rate_history]Running a shower-type water heater on solar
The Philippines averages roughly 4.8 peak sun hours a day, well above most of Europe or the northern United States. That, plus a grid rate near fifteen pesos, is why rooftop solar pays back faster here than international figures suggest, often in three to five years in Meralco territory.
[hed_ph_solar appliance=”water-heater-shower”]Panels only produce in daylight. If the shower-type water heater runs at night, that energy has to come from a battery, and batteries remain the expensive part of a Philippine solar quote. Net metering credits exports at the generation charge rather than the full retail rate, so using your own production during the day is worth considerably more than selling it back. Financing options including the SSS Energy Sustainability Loan are worth reading before you commit.
Questions people actually ask
[hed_faq]Magkano ang kuryente ng shower-type water heater kada buwan?Humigit-kumulang [hed_ph_cost appliance=”water-heater-shower” period=”month”] kada buwan kung gagamitin ng 0.5 oras araw-araw, sa kasalukuyang Meralco rate na [hed_ph_rate] kada kWh. Kung mas kaunti ang oras, mas mababa rin ang bayad.
How many watts does a shower-type water heater use?About 3,500 W while running. Check the nameplate on your own unit, because models vary and the label figure is the one that applies to you.
How much does it cost per hour?[hed_ph_cost appliance=”water-heater-shower” period=”hour”] per hour at the current Meralco rate of [hed_ph_rate] per kWh.
Will it cost the same outside Meralco territory?No. Electric cooperatives in the Visayas and Mindanao charge different rates, some higher and some lower. Take the cost per kWh from your own bill and enter it in the calculator on this page, and every figure will recalculate for your area.
Does the lifeline rate change these figures?Yes. Households consuming 100 kWh or less per month qualify automatically for a subsidised rate that is substantially below the standard residential rate, so the figures here would be an overestimate for those households.[/hed_faq]