Find out which appliances are increasing your electricity bill.
You look at your electricity bill, don't recognize the amount, and don't know where to begin looking. It's the most common situation of the month in Brazilian homes—and the explanation is almost never found in the appliance you remember turning on.
It is in three or four pieces of equipment that operate silently, Some of them never switched off. And there's a two-minute calculation, based on the appliance's power and the kWh price printed on your bill, which identifies the responsible party by name.
The shower has the highest power.
Between 4,000 and 8,000 watts, no other appliance in the house comes close. In many homes, it alone accounts for a huge chunk of the bill.
Air conditioning dominates the summer.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 watts when switched on. Eight hours a day during the heat translates to hundreds of kilowatt-hours by the end of the month.
Consumption that happens while standing still
Even when the device is switched off, it continues to draw power. Added together, those little red dots in the house cost more than they seem.
The formula that ends the discussion.
Power consumption times hours of use times 30, divided by 1000, times the tariff. It's that simple — and it works for any device.
Why does the bill go up without you changing anything?
Because it's not just about consumption: it's about price. The regulatory agency projected an average increase of around 8% in tariffs for 2026, and the price per kWh still varies according to the tariff flag of the month and the distributor in your region — between the most expensive and the cheapest in the country, the difference exceeds twenty cents per kilowatt-hour.
Two households with identical consumption, in different states, pay very different bills. Therefore, the only bill that matters is the one calculated using the number that appears on your invoice.
What can be resolved today?
Adjustments that will appear on your next bill.
Adding two degrees to the air conditioning and cutting your shower for five minutes already changes the number.
Compare before you buy.
An efficient device costs more in the store and less each month. It's especially worthwhile for devices that are left on all the time.
Find your villain.
Every household has one. With the bill in hand, you can identify yours in less than ten minutes.
Common questions
The shower has much higher power, but it only stays on for a few minutes. The refrigerator has low power and never turns off. In typical bills, the two compete for the top spot.
It's on your electricity bill itself, in the section detailing your consumption. That's the number that goes into the calculation, not an average from the internet.
It speeds up the process on devices that are in standby mode. It's not the most economical option, but it's the easiest to start using today.
It usually pays off when the model is quite old, because the difference in consumption is significant and repeats itself every month. The guide shows how to do this calculation.
The guide to the side provides a table for each appliance, with power rating, estimated monthly consumption, and cost in reais (Brazilian currency), plus step-by-step instructions for calculating using the numbers from your bill.
Open the full consumption table