With temperatures soaring into the 30s this week, many people are already turning on their air conditioners or fans to save a little bit of money, especially with the news of electricity price hikes. Power-saving products such as multi-taps with switches are also popular.

Reporter Kim Jiyoon.

[Reporter]

The home appliance section of a supermarket in Seoul.

It’s crowded with people looking at electric fans.

They feel the cool breeze with their hands and faces.

Some even try pressing the button to see if it works.

Soon, they’re loading boxes of fans into their carts, ready to take them home안전놀이터.

In the month and a half since April, Ebay’s fan sales are up 34.3% over the same period last year.

That’s because forecasts are predicting higher-than-normal temperatures this summer.

The Korea Meteorological Administration has predicted a 40 percent chance of higher-than-normal temperatures in June and July.

[Hwang Sun-jung/Seoul’s Yeokchon-dong: It seems to have gotten hotter faster than usual, so I came to see the fan quickly].

Soaring inflation and thinning consumer wallets are also driving consumers to seek out relatively inexpensive fans.

[Fixed table/Imart employee: Due to the impact of inflation, there are a lot of sales of own-brand fans with high cost-effectiveness].

In addition, the news of the electricity price hike announced on the 15th is also increasing the sales of fans with relatively low electricity bills.

In the three days following the electricity price hike, sales of electric fans increased by 313.5%, while sales of air conditioners decreased by only 7.4%.

Reach for power-saving items has also increased.

Sales of power-saving multi-taps increased by 7.9% in the three days following the price hike.