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Save Electricity and Avoid Black Outs
How to reduce your electricity account
At home
Hot water cylinder
When bathing, use as little water as possible, or
better still, have a shower.
Instruct all household members, particularly
domestic workers and children, in the economical use of hot water.
Do not wash one cup at a time under the hot tap.
Rather stack the dirty dishes and wash them in the sink at the same time.
Do not allow hot water taps to drip.
Have the hot water cylinder thermostat set as low
as the household's hot water demand will permit.
Switch off the cylinder when not in use, for
example at night, or, should the family go out to work during the day, the
cylinder could be switched off in the morning. More importantly, switch
off the cylinder when away for relatively long periods, such as when on
holiday.
Recommended temperature setting is 55°C.
Stove
When boiling water, turn the heat down as low as
possible so that the water just boils.
Do not cook food with the
controls set higher than absolutely necessary.
It is cheaper to heat water in a kettle than to
heat it in a pot on the stove.
Do not cook food for longer than necessary.
Make sure that the bottom of the pots are flat so
that good contact can be obtained between the stove plates and the bottom
of the pots.
For stoves that have heavy, solid plates that
retain heat, switch off the plate a few minutes before removing the pot.
Small pots should be heated on the stove's small
plates to avoid unnecessary heat loss.
A microwave oven is cheaper to operate than a
stove.
Refrigerators and deep freezers
Open the refrigerator or deep freeze door as little and for as
short a period as possible.
Do not place hot food in the refrigerator or deep freeze.
Allow it to cool externally first.
Ensure that door seals are in good condition.
Space heaters and air conditioners
Sit as close as practically possible to a heater to avoid the
need to have both elements switched on.
Switch off the heater when leaving the room for any length of
time
When using heaters or air conditioners, limit or restrict as
far as possible the opening of windows.
Curtains help to retain the heat in a room. Draw the
curtains early in the evening, especially during cold weather.
It is cheaper to use an electric blanket than to heat the
bedroom with a heater.
Other electrical appliances and lights
When using a kettle, do not fill it right to the
top if you only intend making one cup of tea.
Store excess hot water from the kettle in a vacuum
flask for the odd cup of coffee or for washing up later.
Dishwashers and washing machines should only be
used when one has a full load to wash and not just a few items.
Do not leave lights burning unnecessarily.
Survey
your incandescent lights for opportunities to replace them with compact
fluorescents. These new lamps can save three-quarters of the electricity
used by incandescents and have a much longer operating life. The best
targets are 60 - 100 W bulbs used several hours a day.
Swimming pools
Operate the filter pump for minimum periods.
During winter algae growth is restricted and the
use of the filter cleaning system can be limited to once every few days.
General
Consumers
charged at the Low Consumption Tariff who purchase 400 or fewer kWh per month
on average will continue to receive the free basic supply of 50 kWh.
NOTE: The
400 kWh was determined from the average monthly consumption over the 12 months
up to May 2007.
Before considering ways and means of reducing your
electricity account one should first consider the cost of operating the various
types of domestic appliances.
Due to the water heater having an
element of relatively high rating and this element being energised for long
periods each day, the water heater is the largest user of electricity of all
the equipment in a normal house.
The next largest users of
electricity are the stove and in some households, space heaters in
winter.
Therefore, by reducing the use of the hot water cylinder,
stove and space heaters, an appreciable reduction in total overall consumption
can be made.
At work
Turn off the photocopier
when you leave - a photocopier left on overnight wastes enough energy to
make about 1 600 copies!
Turn off your computer
monitor - a monitor left on overnight wastes enough energy to laser-print
about 800 A4 pages!
By turning off your monitor energy consumption can be
reduced by 50%.
Leaving the lights on in an
empty office overnight wastes enough energy to make about 1000 cups of
coffee!
Save 10% of an
air-conditioner electricity bill by turning the thermostat down 1º in
winter and up 1º in summer.
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