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Hints and tips on saving
Electricity
Saving Tips - Residential Users
Where to save electricity
- Efficient lighting
- Improved insulation
- Efficient cooking methods
- Choice of efficient appliances
- Improved residential load management
- Geyser and other load control. (Example - swimming
pool pump).
- Insulate the geyser
Tips
Every household in South Africa can save electricity and
money through the efficient use of energy electricity by implementing the
following practices in the home:
- Hot water system (geyser)
- Lighting
- Electric stove
- Refrigerator
- Heaters
- Space heating
- Dishwasher
- Freezers
- Microwave ovens
- Small appliances
- Automatic washing
machine
- Tumble dryers
- Ironing
- Insulation
- Kettle
1. Hot water system (geyser):
Did you know?
- It takes a 3kW, 150l hot water cylinder (HWC), or
geyser, element to heat the water from 20 ???C to 65 ???C in the order of 2
hours 40 minutes and consumes about 7.838kWh and at an average cost of
35c/kWh which amounts to R 2.74.
- It does not make a difference if the increase of
temperature is from 1 ???C to 2 ???C or from 60 ???C to 61 ???C, the necessary
energy and the length of time will stay the same.
- To heat 150l of water by 45 ???C (from 20 ???C to 65 ???C)
with a 9kW HWC element will cost the same as with a 3kW HWC element. The 9kW
element will just take a third of the time the 3kW element would take.
- With a normal HWC and 4 metre of hot water pipe, the
losses are R40.12 (at 35c/kWh) per 30-day month. This is the cost to have
hot water on standby. Each type of HWC and type of pipe will have different
losses. The horizontal HWC has more losses than the same volume vertical HWC.
- The average losses, in the hot water cylinder and 4
metre of hot water pipe, for a thermostat setting of 70???C is 3.821kWh per
day and that of a thermostat setting of 60???C is 3.058kWh per day. The
homeowner, lowering the thermostat setting, can achieve the difference in
losses of 0.763kWh per day, or R8.01 per 30-day month. To put this saving
value in perspective, we use a family consuming 1,200 kWh per month. The
saving on the monthly account is then only 1.9%. The higher the monthly
consumption, the lower the percentage saving will be. On average, the HWC
consumes 40% of the total home's consumption. The lowering of the
temperature, from 70???C to 60???C reduces the cost of supplying hot water with
4.8%. CAUTION: You may run out of hot water if you lower the temperature,
because you will use more water from the HWC to achieve the same task. If
you install additional insulation, you will save more AND keep the HWC
temperature higher, without experiencing cold water.
- If you install an additional layer of insulation
(50mm insulation for example) around the cylinder and pipes, the losses can
be reduced by 51.2%, without reducing the thermostat temperature. This is R
18.08, or 4.9%, per month of the sample family's account of 1,200kWh per
month. Again, this reduces the cost of supplying hot water (40% of total
consumption) to only 12.2%.
- NO gadget, or additional control or anything else can
save more than additional insulation. The only exception is if the homeowner
pays for electricity on a time of use tariff or if the homeowner installs a
solar water heater.
- To reduce hot water consumption one can make use of
water conserving showerheads, self-closing hot water taps or mixing valves
and flow restrictors and aerators in sink taps.
Top
Saving Tips:
- install a geyser blanket,
- turn down the thermostat to 60 degrees C,
- insulate at least the first 1,5m of hot water outlet
pipes and 1 meter of the cold water pipes,
- use less hot water,
- water heating accounts for 30% - 50% of the
electricity consumed by an average household. One option for a household is
to install a solar water heater which can reduce that number by at least
70%, depending on the system selected.
Top
Solar Water Heating
Did you know?
Solar water heating also benefits the environment significantly. A 150l solar
water heater will replace in the order of 4.5kWh/day of electricity which can
save an estimated 2 tons of carbon emissions per year.
- To optimize energy savings and hot water from your
solar water heater, install aerated shower heads to minimize hot water
consumption.
- Insulation to hot water piping will minimize heat
losses and reduce the requirement for electrical back up power.
- Savings can further be maximized by using hot water
in the evening rather than the morning as far as possible. This includes
showering/bathing at night rather than the morning.
- In general, showering uses far less water than
bathing.
Top
2. Lighting:
- use compact fluorescent lights lamps (CFL) instead of
ordinary bulbs,
- switch lights off,
- use low-energy lamps for exterior lighting and
- do not install multiple lights on a single switch
Top
3. Electric stove:
- use a pressure cooker when preparing foods that take
a long time to cook,
- buy a stove with a convection oven,
- keep oven doors closed until food is cooked,
- bring foods to the boil on ''high'' setting but turn
down to simmer until cooked,
- clean stove plate reflectors and
- make sure that pots and pans completely cover the
stove plates
Top
4. Refrigerator:
- Don't open the door unnecessarily,
- make sure the seal is intact,
- turn off empty refrigerator when going on holiday,
- let hot food cool down before placing them in the
refrigerator,
- defrost your refrigerator regularly,
- store foods apart on refrigerator shelves
Top
5. Heaters:
- infrared heaters electricity are more efficient,
- An oil filled heater is the safest type of heater,
- use electric blankets, but turn them off when in bed
Top
6. Space heating:
- use the correct heaters,
- insulate the ceiling and seal air gaps in the home
Top
7. Dishwasher:
- fill dishwasher completely before operating,
- turn off before drying cycle and wipe dishes clean
with a dry cloth,
- connect dishwasher to cold water supply,
- clean filters
Top
8. Freezers:
- freezers work harder to remove heat and have to use
more power.
- Only one-tenth of a freezer's capacity should be used
for freezing.
- Defrost regularly
Top
9. Microwave ovens:
- defrost food in the refrigerator instead of the
microwave oven-it is more economical,
- Use a microwave oven to cook small to medium
quantities of food
- To cook larger portions of meat, it is better to use
a conventional oven;
- Compare cooking times (keep pressure cooker in mind)
Top
10. Small appliances:
use toasters, electric grills and skillets, slow
cookers, electric pots and bottle warmers which usually require less energy
than the stove, use an electric kettle to boil water, not a saucepan or
microwave oven Top
11. Automatic washing
machine:
- a front loading washing machine uses less water and
costs less to operate,
- use the warm water setting to cut down on energy
needed to heat the water,
- make sure your load is full before washing
Top
12. Tumble dryers:
- those with an electronic humidity control are the
most efficient.
- They automatically shut off the drying cycle when
clothes are dry,
- compact dryers are economical.,
- Use correct temperature settings to minimise the
amount of electricity used,
- remove water before putting clothes into the tumble
dryer,
- utilise sunny days for drying clothes outside
Top
13. Ironing:
- Use a thermostatically controlled iron.
- switch the iron off once it has reached the correct
temperature and complete the ironing on stored energy,
- use distilled water in steam irons,
- turn the iron off when you are not using it,
- by removing clothing promptly from the dryer and
folding them carefully, many items will require no ironing,
- iron low temperature fabrics first to reduce warm-up
time
Top
14. Insulation:
- insulate the ceiling,
- seal air gaps in the home,
- make use of the home's material (such as concrete,
brick and tiles) to adjust temperatures instead of using a heater or cooling
appliances (for example: a concrete floor absorbs more heat than a floor
covered by carpeting).
- make use of thermal insulation, the invisible energy
saver.
Top
15. Kettle:
- Don't fill the kettle
- boil enough according to your need.
Top
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