How to Save Electricity in Singapore: 12 Practical Tips

Key Takeaways:
SP Group's Q2 2026 tariff sits at 29.72¢/kWh, the highest since Q4 2023. Most quick-win tips save S$5–30/month, and doing all 12 can trim S$40-80/month from your bill. Solar operates in a different category, savings S$100–300/month and holding that saving for 25 years.

SP Group raised household electricity tariffs by 2.1% for Q2 2026. The new rate sits at 29.72¢/kWh including GST, making it the sharpest single-quarter jump since Q4 2023. EMA has signalled that further tariff reviews are likely.

If your bill is already above S$250 a month, the usual advice to switch off standby appliances just won’t cut it.

Below, we rank 12 electricity-saving actions by how much they actually save, give you real SGD estimates at the current tariff rate, and explain why solar sits in a different category from everything else on the list.

Why Your SP Group Bill Keeps Rising

Singapore generates around 95% of its electricity from imported natural gas. SP Group sets tariffs quarterly, and those tariffs track global LNG prices. When gas prices rose in early 2026, the tariff followed.

Switching to an Open Electricity Market retailer gives you a small discount off the regulated rate, but it doesn't change the underlying exposure. The only way to genuinely decouple from quarterly tariff movements is to generate your own electricity.

That said, you should still do the quick wins first. Here are 12, ranked by impact.

Tips 1–3: High-Impact Appliance Changes (Save S$20–80/month)

Air conditioning is the single biggest electricity load in most Singapore homes, approximately 30–50% of a typical household bill.

1. Set your aircon to a higher temperature
‍Each degree lower increases energy use by around 10%. Raising your default from 22°C to 25°C cuts consumption by roughly 25–30%.

2. Service your aircon every three months
‍A dirty filter makes the unit work harder. An unmaintained unit can use 15–20% more electricity. For a home with three AC units, that's easily S$20–30/month wasted.

3. Switch off aircon when you leave the room
‍Leaving a 1.5kW unit running in an empty room for two hours a day costs around S$26/month at current tariff. A smart plug with scheduling or a timer on the remote can automate this.

Tips 4-6: Upgrade the Right Appliances (Save S$10–40/month)

Not every upgrade pays off quickly. Water heating and lighting are the exceptions.

4. Replace an old storage water heater with an instant heater
‍Storage water heaters keep water hot continuously — even at 3am when no one showers. An instant heater heats only on demand. The switch saves around S$15–30/month depending on household size.

5. Switch to LED bulbs
‍If you’re still running halogen or fluorescent lighting, replacing 10 bulbs saves around S$5–10/month. The bulbs cost S$3–8 each and last 15,000+ hours.

6. Wash laundry in cold water
‍Around 90% of washing machine energy goes to heating water. Switching to cold cycles costs you nothing and saves around S$5–8/month on a typical wash schedule.

Tips 7-9: Smart Home Tools That Actually Help (Save S$10–30/month)

Smart plugs and energy monitors don't save electricity on their own. They surface waste so you can act on it.

7. Use smart plugs with energy monitoring
‍Devices like the TP-Link Kasa or Tapo range (S$15–30 each) show you exactly what each appliance draws. Most homeowners find at least one high-draw appliance they'd forgotten about.

8. Set timers on water heaters and other intermittent loads
‍A storage water heater on a one-hour morning and one-hour evening schedule uses 60–70% less than one running all day. Combined saving with Tip 4, the saving is S$20–35/month.

9. Check your SP Utilities app for monthly consumption trends
‍SP Group's app shows your kWh by month. If one month is anomalously high, something has changed — a new appliance, a unit left running, a leak in the hot water system. Catching this early stops one bad month becoming twelve.

Tips 10-12: Reduce Standby Loads and Tariff Drag (Save S$5–25/month)

10. Eliminate phantom loads from standby appliancesTVs, set-top boxes, game consoles, and desktop PCs in standby collectively draw 30-80W in a typical home around S$7-17/month at current tariff rates. A single power strip with an on/off switch for your entertainment setup makes this effortless to cut.11. Switch to an Open Electricity Market retailerFixed-rate plans typically run 3–8% below the SP regulated tariff. On a S$300/month bill, that's S$9–24/month. It's not transformative, but it's genuinely free money — compare current plans here.

12. Shift high-draw appliances away from peak hours where possibleSingapore doesn't have residential time-of-use tariffs by default, so this matters less than in some markets. But if you switch to an OEM plan with peak/off-peak pricing, shifting your dishwasher and washing machine to run after 11pm saves S$5–15/month.

What the Numbers Actually Look Like

Here's a realistic monthly saving summary for a landed home implementing all 12 tips:

Savings estimates based on Q2 2026 SP Group tariff of 29.72¢/kWh incl. GST. Actual results vary by household size, appliance age, and usage patterns.

S$40–80/month is worth having. But on a S$350/month bill, it gets you to S$270–310. You're still paying over S$3,000 a year for electricity — and Q3 tariffs increase may push that higher.

Why Solar Is in a Different Category

Everything above reduces how much grid electricity you use. Solar changes where your electricity comes from.

A well-sized rooftop system on a Singapore landed home — typically 8–15 kWp — generates 800–1,500 kWh/month in Singapore's year-round sun. At 29.72¢/kWh, that's S$238–446/month worth of electricity your home produces itself. Surplus goes back to the grid under SP Group's Simplified Credit Treatment (SCT) scheme, a buyback arrangement that credits you at the prevailing quarterly tariff rate. For more on how SCT works, see our complete guide to solar savings in Singapore.

The net result for most landed homeowners: a monthly SP Group bill of S$30–80, down from S$250–450.

Estimates based on Q2 2026 tariff and average Singapore solar irradiance of 4.0–4.5 peak sun hours/day. Source: GetSolar, EMA.

That saving compounds. Every future tariff increase widens the gap between what grid electricity costs and what solar costs you — which is close to nothing once your system is paid off or zero upfront under Rent-to-Own.

GetSolar's Approach: Audit, Install, Monitor

GetSolar works with landed homeowners across Singapore. The process is straightforward:

• Solar Calculator. Enter your address and average monthly bill. The tool uses satellite roof data to estimate your system size, output, and projected savings. Takes under 2 minutes.
• Site assessment. A GetSolar advisor reviews your roof, electrical setup, and usage pattern. You get a full quote — upfront purchase or Rent-to-Own at zero upfront cost.
• Installation and EMA approval. GetSolar handles all paperwork with EMA and SP Group, including grid connection and SCT registration.
• Monitoring app. After installation, you track daily generation, consumption, and grid export in real time.

For a deeper look at how solar economics work in Singapore, see our complete guide to solar energy in Singapore.

The Bills Aren't Getting Smaller. But Your Options Are Clear.

Implement the 12 tips above and you'll trim at least S$40–80/month. The savings are real, and the effort is low so worth doing regardless.

But if your bill is over S$250 a month and you own a landed property, solar changes the picture entirely. A 10 kWp system saves S$180-280/month more than three times what all 12 tips on this list deliver combined, and it holds that saving for 25 years.

Use our free solar calculator for a personalised estimate, or chat with our solar advisors for a no-obligation assessment.