Dubai: Despite the climbing temperatures, your utility and water bills don’t need to rise, too. The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority’s (DEWA) Smart Living initiative has a host of smart tools to help you manage your electricity and water consumption more efficiently in warmer months.

To help you pocket savings this summer, we’ve curated a list of the tools below, with guidance on how to use them.

What is the Smart Living initiative?

On June 16, DEWA launched its annual summer awareness campaign, under the theme ‘Enjoy Sustainable Vibes This Summer’. The campaign focuses on promoting the responsible use of resources, and a culture of sustainable living, with a series of lectures, competitions, social media posts and smart services.

As part of its summer campaign, DEWA has also brought back its Smart Living initiative, which offers residents an interactive dashboard on its website and smart app, with real-time data that helps customers make more informed, sustainable decisions.

You can use the dashboard to view your billing details, tariff segments, and to track your electricity and water use daily, weekly and monthly. There are also a number of smart tools that can help you keep your electricity and water consumption in check.

How to access your DEWA dashboard

In order to access the dashboard, follow these steps:

Visit DEWA’s website, dewa.gov.ae, or download the DEWA Smart App from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store. Sign in with your UAE PASS.
Right away, you will see a snapshot of your consumption details for electricity and water, along with the carbon footprint your household has generated.
Scroll down to compare your consumptions for a specific month or year with another period of time. If you have a smart meter, you can see your daily consumption patterns.
Click on ‘Similar homes comparison’ to see how your home’s consumptions patterns compare to similar homes in the area.
If you would like to access DEWA’s smart tools, click on the ‘Consumption Management’ section. Here, you will find the tools listed below.

Smart Living tools

From letting DEWA know you are away for the holidays, to analysing why a sudden spike in electricity consumption occurred, DEWA’s smart tools help you take control of how efficiently you use your utilities.

Here are three tools that you can use this summer:

1. Consumption Assessment Tool

Make sense of unexpected spikes in your electricity consumption by using DEWA’s Consumption Assessment tool. This tool assesses how your household uses electricity, gives you a detailed report on your consumption breakdown, and generates tailored recommendations on how to reduce energy usage.

Here’s how to access the tool:

Visit dewa.gov.ae/en/about-us/strategic-initiatives/consumption-assessment-tool or click on Consumption Assessment tool on the DEWA Smart App. Click on ‘Start Now’. Log in with your UAE PASS and click on ‘Start the Assessment’.
Next, answer the questionnaire, which asks you questions regarding your residential unit, such as, how many bedrooms you have, and whether you live in an apartment or villa. You will need to input which appliances you have in each room, and answer questions about your energy consumption patterns.
On completing the questionnaire, you will receive a breakdown of your energy consumption, and which activity is the culprit, in terms of most energy used.
Based on your survey responses, the tool will generate customised tips you can use to reduce your energy consumption. For instance, if you mentioned you use outdated lightbulbs in your living room, the app will suggest energy-efficient lighting options that can save you both energy and money

2. Away Mode

If you’ve ever received a shockingly large electricity bill after returning from vacation, this is the tool you’ve been missing out on. DEWA’s Away Mode helps you track your home’s electricity and water usage while you are away from home, or out of the country.

This useful tool offers regular updates on consumption trends and alerts you to any unusual spikes. Ensure you have a smart electricity and water meter installed in your home, to use this feature.

Here’s how you can access Away Mode:

Visit dewa.gov.ae/en/consumer/my-account/away-mode/anonymous-create or click on Away Mode on the DEWA Smart App.
Enter your DEWA account number. Once you do so, you will receive a six-digit one-time password (OTP) via SMS on your registered mobile number with DEWA. Enter this code.
Key in the start and end date, in order to confirm the Away Mode activation period.
Choose whether you would like daily or weekly reports, under the ‘Consumption Details Report Frequency’ section.
Enter your email address, and click ‘Submit’.

You will receive a SMS and email from DEWA, confirming that you have registered for the service.

3. High Water Usage Alert

A broken pipe, a continuously running toilet, or an internal leak are all ways your water bill could experience a sudden spike. Use DEWA’s High Water Usage Alert system to detect such issues as soon as they happen. This handy tool alerts consumers of any abnormalities in water usage, by automatically sending email or SMS notifications to you.

The tool activates when your water meter records consistently high water consumption over a 48-hour duration, in comparison with your average daily usage over the past three months. If the potential leak is not fixed, and the increased water usage continues, DEWA will continue to alert you every 15 days, for a period of up to three months.

If no action is taken, the higher level of water consumption will be considered your new average, and the alerts will stop.

You don’t need to subscribe for this service – DEWA has made it available to all premises with smart meters installed.

'Jazbaa', and Aishwarya Rai is back on the beat