Pay as you go electricity plans allow consumers to pay for their electricity in advance. The plan, which uses prepayment meters, helps consumers to monitor and control the way they use electricity. This saves on energy costs.

Keypad based prepaid meters: This meter has a keypad to input the electricity token number. Consumers purchase the credit using a variety of methods. These include visiting the agent, paying through banks or mobile payments in some countries.

Key meter: Consumer uses an electronic key loaded with the tariff information and credit.

One way card system: Uses a disposable card. The user purchases power with a reloadable debit card. The loaded card is then passed near the meter, which has an in-built card reader.

Two-way card systems: Uses a smart card and the meters have a real-time, two-way communication capability. It is one of the most secure, but more complex and expensive methods to implement.

These allow consumers to interact with their meters and query balances using their mobile phones by sending an SMS to a monitoring system. In addition, the user is able to track electricity use by the hour, day, month or annually using the phone or online access.

These smart prepaid meters offer easier top up options. They include online payments or by text, as well as scheduled and auto top-ups.

When using a prepaid meter, the customer must keep track of the remaining credits and replenish to avoid disconnection.

Ensure there is enough credit when going away for long periods. The meter will continue collecting the standing charges even when on no load. Consumers should ensure they have enough credit to last until they return.

Some crooks will take advantage of the consumer’s lack of knowledge and offer them cheaper credits than those bought directly from the utility company. For example, they will sell their credits at half price. This is more common with Key Prepaid Meters and the crooks will usually have master Keys, which they use to top off the consumer’s meter.

If the energy company finds out, the consumer ends up paying twice for their electricity; first to the crook, and then to the energy company.

To avoid falling victim:

This month, everyone is taking the leap to be more green by pledging to take the bike rather than drive, or turning off the lights for longer periods of time to reduce heat waste. Those of us in the lighting industry are taking on the challenge of beautifying the environment with new energy-efficient and sustainable lighting designs.

Leading lighting vendors have showered the market with Energy Smart and Energy Star-rated indoor and outdoor light fixtures that are infused with designer style.

Check out the latest light fixture fashions: From classic traditional and urban rustic to sleek, modern and art-deco, these designs receive top grades in energy-efficiency.

The electrical installations in our home are something we take for granted, until the time some problem arises; that’s when we realise exactly how dependent we are on electricity on a daily basis. And when something goes wrong, you start looking for an electrical company that will respond promptly and solve the problem quickly.

You will find a multitude of electrical companies listed online. However, identifying one that is credible and provides quick, efficient and cost-effective services can pose a challenge. It’s important that you be prudent while hiring an electrical contractor.

The one way to be sure you are dealing with expert professionals is to do a bit of groundwork. This means you won’t have to struggle to look for a reliable electrician in case an electrical emergency arises. Here are a few tips that will help you choose a trusted and professional electrician:

This is a very important aspect you should be taking into account. The company you hire should be local to your area. You can never predict when an electrical emergency would arise, and you need to be sure that the electrician will be able to reach your location as quickly as possible.

There are a number one-man electrical businesses in Sydney and many of these electricians are experienced and highly-skilled too. However, if they are already handling some job when you call, they won’t be able to attend to your requirement quickly. The one way to avoid this kind of a situation is to hire the services of a larger company. These companies deploy their vehicles to different locations within their service area.

When you call them, they promptly contact one of their electricians that are in the vicinity of your location and send them over to attend to your request. Even as you look for a contractor, keep in view that a very large company may not be able to provide you personalised services and customised solutions. It’s important to choose a company that would be able to cater to your specific needs.

There are a number of different electrical services you may need, ranging from something as simple as getting a fan installed to more complex jobs like complete rewiring upgrades on your property. Only experienced and well-trained professionals would be able to handle all these jobs with expertise. The company you contact should have experienced electricians on their team and should invest in upgrade training for them; that’s the one way the electricians would be able to keep their skills sharp.

Look for a company that’s professional and efficient. Electrical problems have a way of throwing things out of gear. The electrician that comes to fix it should be able to quickly identify what the problem is and fix it expertly and quickly. They should work in an unobtrusive manner and focus on reducing the downtime caused by the electrical issue.

Only a credible and well-established company will make efforts to maintain complete transparency in their dealings with their clients. They should provide a detailed quote and look to provide you value for money. Only a company that’s confident of their workmanship and quality of services will provide guarantees for their work.

We are a reputed and experienced company that is focused on providing high-quality solutions at competitive pricing. For any information about our services, feel free to call Allround Electrical at 1300 169 263. You can also write to us at this email address.

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It used to be that the moon and the stars were the brightest bulbs in the sky. But as anyone who’s flown across a city at night knows, these days, there are an awful lot of outdoor lights shining up from the ground.

Many people assume that an orange nighttime sky is just ugly, not harmful. But recently scientific studies have suggested that light pollution is more than an annoyance; it’s destroying wildlife, damaging human health and costing us a lot of extra money.

That’s why a growing number of cities and towns across the United States are drafting ordinances to try to bring the night sky back. They’re requiring that all new outdoor lighting fixtures that are installed – both commercial and residential – only shine light down onto the place that needs to be lit, not up into the atmosphere.

Known as the Dark Sky movement, these ordinances vary from town to town, but often the requirements are similar. No outdoor lighting fixtures can shine any light above a horizontal line. Instead, everything must shine down.

“We’re not saying you can’t have that aesthetic value, you just light it from the top down,” explains Johanna Duffek, Sections Coordinator with the International Dark Sky Association, a Tucson, AZ-based non-profit group that’s at the forefront of the movement.

Although the original purpose of The International Dark Sky Association was to keep the night sky pristine for astronomers, today the Dark Sky movement is gaining ground because more consumers are interested in reducing their energy usage, and when you’re not wasting light that’s going up into the sky, you can use a lower wattage bulb to achieve the same level of exterior lighting.

For example, if a homeowner used an outdoor sconce that had openings on the top and the bottom, he’d have to use a 100-watt bulb. But if he switches to a Dark Sky fixture that only allows light to shine from the bottom of the fixture, the homeowner could use a 40-watt bulb.

“It’s a more efficient use of light,” explains Tom Patterson, Director of Product Development at Hinkley Lighting, which already offers some Dark Sky light fixtures. “You can use a third of the wattage or half of the wattage and get the same amount of lumens.”

Patterson says consumer awareness of the Dark Sky movement is still very low, but he said awareness has been growing among local government leaders, and that is forcing the manufacturers to come out with more and more Dark Sky-friendly outdoor fixtures.

“Now in Arizona, in all the new construction, you’re going to have to meet the dark sky qualifications,” Patterson says. “It’s catching a little bit more momentum.” Hinkley, for example, advertises that it can make about 25 percent of its outdoor lighting fixtures Dark Sky compliant. Retailers are charged about $15 to $20 to change a regular fixture to a Dark Sky fixture.

Currently, there is no official government standard for a Dark Sky fixture, but the International Dark Sky Association has been in talks with the Department of Energy to incorporate the Dark Sky philosophy into the Energy Star program.

The International Dark Sky Association also independently evaluates fixtures from manufacturers and awards a seal of approval to all of those that meet its requirements.

So far, Duffek says the International Dark Sky Association has awarded Fixture Seals of Approval to 75 different lighting manufacturers, and while many of those have been commercial applications, Duffek says the organization is hoping to increase participation among residential lighting manufacturers.

Hubbardton Forge, for example, makes a sconce that has received the Dark Sky Fixture Seal of Approval that features a slate-colored ceramic shield around the light bulb that forces the light down. And the Minka Group has several outdoor lights with metal crowns that block the upward light.

Both Patterson and Duffek say the biggest resistance to Dark Sky fixtures isn’t coming from manufacturers but from homeowners who are afraid that less exterior lighting around their house will make them less safe.

But Duffek said homeowners need to understand that blocking light from going into the sky doesn’t mean blocking all exterior lighting. Duffek says the Dark Sky movement suggests homeowners buy outdoor lights with movement sensors that will go on if someone enters your yard, which can help alert you to danger and keep your energy usage down at the same time.

“When you keep the lighting on all the time, all you’re doing is lighting for the bad guys,” Duffek says.

Duffek says the biggest challenge now is to educate the public about the benefits of reducing light pollution and encouraging manufacturers to continue to design compliant fixtures.

“We always try to present it as a win, win, win solution,” she says.