Here’s Watt to do to save electricity
THE current rolling electricity blackouts (load shedding in Eskom speak) are not only a nuisance in our daily lives, but constitute a serious threat to the South African economy, more specifically a risk to everybody’s jobs and incomes.
While it is important to hold Eskom managers and unscrupulous politicians to account, we cannot wait for government to act on corrupt officials and managers, or the courts to recover our money.
We need to take our economic existence into our own hands by using precious electricity as sparingly as possible. This is in our interest. And we can learn from best practices around the world. “The biggest energy source is energy-savings”. This was a popular slogan promoted during the energy crisis in Germany during the 1970s oil crunch. It was meant to say that additional nuclear and/or coal power stations are not the solution. Considering Eskom’s R400 billion debt, it will prevent SA to go that route anyway.
Instead, energy savings in all aspects of life, applied by everyone on a daily basis can protect us from Eskom’s recurrent load shedding schedules and the resulting economic meltdown.
Hardware adjustments or replacements
If you are in for a new appliance, buy only energy efficient models: fridge-freezers, washing machines, dishwashers, water geysers and other appliances should all have an energy-efficiency rating (A+++ is best). Even if you don’t have the money to buy the latest eco-friendly devices, you can save enormously by retrofitting low-cost add-ons. See the list below:
Hot water geysers: The single biggest energy consumers in the average SA household. They often consume 2 000-3 500W per hour to keep 150 litres of hot water on stand-by. However, substantial electricity savings can be made by:
Reducing water temperature on the thermostat to 50-60°C.
Fitting a geyser blanket for insulation and keeping your hot water warm for longer.
Connecting a timer at the plug or switch to restrict water heating to a maximum duration of 30-45 minutes for the morning shower; the remaining hot water should then be sufficient for the rest of the day.
Funds permitting, installing a solar water system to make use of the sun, and reducing your dependence on Eskom.
Avoid electric heaters: Shun inefficient heating elements because they consume 1 000-2 000W) compared to the mediocre heat output provided. Use efficient gas heaters instead.
Switch all your lighting to LED lamps: Replace old-fashioned incandescent light bulbs (e.g. 60W) with new 3-5 W LED lamps.
Stoves: Avoid electric stoves. Install a faster ceramic cooktop or a gas cooking range.
Behaviour change
While innovative hardware can be part of the solution, there is even more potential in everybody making smart adjustments to their energy-using behaviour:
Heating:
Insulate doors and windows with rubber seals to exclude the cold draught coming in from outside the house.
In winter, limit heating to one (living) room in the house.
In the bedroom, use an energy-saving electric blanket on the bed mattress for a few minutes to drive the chill away, rather than heating the whole bedroom air.
When using kettles (2 000W), warm up only the amount of water that you will actually use, i.e. don’t heat up a litre of water for a 200ml cup of tea. Switch kettle off early before water is reaching the boiling point. Nobody can drink tea/coffee at 100°C, 85°C is just fine.
Washing machine: Use short washing cycles for freshening up lightly soiled or soaked clothes: 30-45 minutes are sufficient for most household situations.
Reduce washing temperatures from 95°C (or 60°C) to a maximum of 30-40°C only.
Dishwasher:
Pre-rinse crockery and cutlery immediately after use, then run a short washing cycle at low temperature (5560°C).
Only run the dishwasher when fully loaded.
Fridge/Freezer: Reduce cooling to minimum level by turning the temperature selector to a lesser number.
Microwave (800-1 500W): Avoid if possible. Iron (1 000W): Avoid ironing of bed linen, towels and other non-essential materials.
Garden power tools (1 000-3 000W): Reduce electric lawn mowers, trimmers, blower vacs for clearing gardens from leaves and branches, use hand tools instead.
Avoid energy wastage
Switch off lighting and heating when leaving rooms.
Don’t keep TVs, music systems and computers in standby mode, but switch them off when not in use.
UWE STURMANN | Hout Bay, Cape Town