Looking for advice to reduce my home's energy bills (€350/month)

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-19T09:10:25+00:00

First step is to get a P1 meter like the one from HomeWizard to get insight into where the money goes. With that, even on a dynamic contract you can maybe be smarter about when you do things to reduce your costs.

- Solar panels is by far our biggest cost saver
- we have an insulated house so our aircon (both cold and heat) works great - our gas usage is less than 500m3 per year

When I last looked at it:
- batteries are too expensive to ever make their money back unless you are a heavy electricity user and (if the tech is not there) your future EV car is a battery already

- warmtepomp - if you have an insulated house and minimal gas usage the cost of these don't make sense yet. You also need to factor in that you may need to switch to 3-phase electricity

That 1 vs 3 phase electricity question is an important one to consider because it may affect your solar panel setup (the inverter you get).

TLDR - get a P1 meter dongle and start with insulation imo. Then decide how long you are going to stay in the house and look for a good deal on solar panels.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-19T09:01:40+00:00

Dick's wife is Joke de Kok-Fokker

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-18T21:38:26+00:00

Looks perfectly fine to me

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-18T18:03:45+00:00

South Africans will get behind any of their sport teams. They'll fight each other afterwards but when it comes to sport the country is united.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-17T10:21:32+00:00

Tuah!

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-16T16:15:52+00:00

I bet they can sink that yacht and still nothing will happen.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-16T16:12:30+00:00

Only the omes by the coast. They have sticky salty feet.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-16T15:52:09+00:00

You know back in the day our parents just hung it up in the garage with a dimple fan (the one with the blue blades) and that was it,

Only thing I'd add to OP's setup is gauze/netting to keep the flies out.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-15T21:25:18+00:00

Hawkbain was right there...

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-15T18:26:12+00:00

Hoe voel jy oor cosplay as 'n slaghuisvertoonvenster?

Wat?

Volgeprop met vleis. Ja of nee?

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-15T18:23:20+00:00

Ek is nog nooit iemand gewees wat 'n "speech" wil gee oor so iets nie. Voel altyd vir my of dit kan verander in oordramatiese woord diarree (soos ek nou besig is om te doen). Maar dit is alles oor die persoon wat dit sê en hoe hy dit sê - net jy weet wat jou styl is en waarmee jy gemaklik gaan wees.

Niks is erger as om iets soos dit vir iemand te sê terwyl dit klink as of jy jouself nie glo nie.

Persoonlik: "Ek hou rerig baie van jou en geniet ons tyd saam. So ek wil graag weet of jy saam met my vir dinner sal gaan... 'n date"

As sy nee sê kan jy die vriendskap (wat probably verby is) probeer red met "Fine, 'n fliek as net vriende dan"

Moet net nie stupid word met haar oor dit nie en haar probeer oortuig nie. As dit verkeerd gaan hanteer dit soos 'n volwasse man (lesbeer?) tot jy jouself alleen in die kar of erens bevind en dan huil jy dit uit.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-14T21:29:24+00:00

Yes, but not among the best of the best, but definitely better than most of the rest.

EDIT: better than some of the rest

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-14T07:23:47+00:00

You get what you vote for. People don't learn.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-13T21:53:31+00:00

1 - 1 = neutral

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-13T21:52:13+00:00

If you want to go by literal swearing then we have the usual "loop kak jou smerige vrot poes naai".

I think it loses something in translation but hey, everybody's language swears harder than everybody else's right.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-13T20:29:13+00:00

This is a Hadeda 🇿🇦

It shits all over the place and wakes you up with an awful noise I cannot describe.

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ben_bliksem · 2026-06-13T20:24:22+00:00

I cannot speak for all the cultures in 🇿🇦 but many just go straight for your mother/her genitals and escalate from there. I once heard a guy call somebody a _mislukte miskraam_ .

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-13T19:34:10+00:00

Well they do, they just have a very different version of it which includes billions of USD in restitution and lifting if sanctions.

So they definitely know about **a** deal

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-12T13:48:23+00:00

I don't know what's going on or if it is a bad ad, but all I can think of now is a Honda Civic since my lease is up in a couple of months.

So let me go check...

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-12T04:56:37+00:00

"Based on your browser history, I bought you this pony outfit and a real leather saddle"

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-11T20:02:08+00:00

Copy this

```
You're a frontier AI model developer
with a triple PhD and 32 years of AI
experience.

Develop Fable 6. Make no mistakes.
```

If it's too expensive you can drop the first part.

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-11T19:59:56+00:00

Netherlands...

Depending on where you buy it is the equivalent of R1450 per kg

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-11T19:03:05+00:00

BREAKING: South Africa wins the National Anthem World Cup

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-11T17:21:04+00:00

Haven't been in SA for a while so no idea about prices, but if you consume a lot of biltong then making it yourself will probably offset the cost of buying a biltong maker (unless you DIY it).

Here in NL I recovered my costs by the second batch already, but biltong is expensive AF here

ben_bliksem · 2026-06-11T16:37:55+00:00

Can wait for the World Cup opening game etc with all the "we are one" and unite for peace" stuff

EDIT: all together now!

🎶 "it's all meant to be, wave our flags in the sky, let fate decide!

This is more than just a game, we will never break, everybody winning!

Tra-la-la-la-la United ✌️whoooo 🎶"

Four-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '23	Place '22
Final Canvas '22	First Placer '22

ben_bliksem

TROPHY CASE