If you’ve ever wondered whether charging your phone is pushing up your electricity bill, you’re not alone. DJ Wes Reddy recently tackled the topic.
Let’s break it down.
The cost of charging your phone
According to Reddy, if you use a 30W fast charger for one hour per day over 30 days, that comes out to around 0.9 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity used per month.
At an average cost of R4 per kWh in South Africa, this adds up to R3.60.
Yes, that’s it. Just R3.60 a month.
Even if you’re using a 65W or 100W charger and plugging in for longer, the total cost stays under R10 per month for most people.
Do these numbers check out?
They do.
A 30W charger draws 0.03 kW. Multiply that by one hour per day and you get 0.03 kWh per day. It’s 0.9 kWh over 30 days. Multiply by R4 and it comes to R3.60.
You’d pay more running a kettle for 5 minutes a day!
How phone charging compares to other devices
Phone charging barely moves the needle on your electricity bill. Here’s a rough comparison of how other everyday appliances stack up:
- Kettle: Around R1.50 every time you boil water
- Fridge: About R150 to R300 per month
- Electric heater: R5 to R15 per hour
- TV: R50 to R100 per month (depending on size and usage)
Phone charging, in comparison, is almost negligible.
Can you make it even cheaper?
If you charge overnight during off-peak hours or use a solar-powered battery bank, you could cut this cost even further.
Some smart plugs also let you monitor exact usage so you can track it more precisely. Or hey, charge it from your car?
But honestly, unless you’re charging ten phones a day, there’s no real need to stress about the cost.
So should you stop charging your phone at night?
There’s been debate about whether charging overnight wastes electricity or harms battery life.
From a cost perspective, it won’t make much of a difference. But to protect your battery health, it’s better to unplug once full.
Some phones have a setting in the Battery menu where you can cap the charging to 80 or 85%.
But hey, at under R4 a month, charging your phone is one of the cheapest things you can do with electricity.
If you’re looking to cut back on your bill, start with your geyser or heater….
