Advocacy
(1)
This is part of a four part series on Energy Basics. If you haven’t already read Part one, you can view the post here.
Original from finder.com.au – taken from https://www.news.com.au/news/the-top-eight-power-guzzlers-in-your-home-and-how-to-stop-them-sending-your-household-bills-through-the-roof/news-story/
My focus this week is on Demand Management. That is, looking at what you can do to lower your demand, your use of electricity (and still live well).
Reduce your use and you will reduce your cost.
Whether or not you have solar panels or solar hot water systems, there are things you can do to reduce your energy bill.
Where you can get the most savings with the least disruption to your life is a good place to start.
I’ve begun this article in a dozen different ways and I’ve finally chosen to list a couple of major home electricity gobblers for you to think about in your own situation and let you make your adjustments as you see fit.
Do you have a second (likely old) fridge in the garage or shed that you use occasionally? Consider this…
“A 1986-era 18 c.f. fridge uses 1400 kWh a year, while a modern energy-efficient model uses only 350 kWh — a whopping 75% reduction.” (http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/refrigerators.html)
At an average rate of $.25/kwh that older second fridge is costing you around $350 per year in electricity. If that’s your functional, only fridge that may be the price you are willing to pay. If it’s your ‘sometimes’ fridge in the shed, you might get rid of it and find other uses for that $350 saving.
For your main fridge, whatever its age, the electricity cost of depends on its location, size and what’s inside.
“Once foods are cooled down, they require less energy to keep cool than empty space in the fridge, so it makes sense to have your fridge stocked.”
This is very likely your primary user of electricity.
I think I mentioned in a previous article that heating our water was nearly 50% of our electricity bill. Our solution, though it need not be yours, was to get an evacuated tube solar water heating system and now it is extremely rare that our electric boost is used at all. If you can’t do that you still have options to reduce your electricity costs here.
Check, or have someone else check, the thermostat on your hot water heater and, if it is set above 60 degrees C reduce it to the minimum requirement of 60 degrees needed to kill legionella bacteria. There is no reason to have it higher. In fact, the government’s information below says that
“to prevent scalding, this must then be reduced to a temperature not exceeding 50 degrees at the water outlets of the … basin, bath and shower.” http://www.vba.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/21267/Hot-water-safety.pdf
So, watch your meter for a few days, noting your daily use, then check and change your thermostat and watch your meter for a few days. You will immediately notice a real difference in your electricity use.
Next, the cost of heating your home really depends on how you do it but we are talking electricity here so let’s focus on electric heating, whatever electric system you use.
In addition to reducing your cost the way you are likely doing already (slippers or thick socks when you are inside, a cozy jumper while you are moving around, a blanket over your legs when sitting and maybe even a thin pair of gloves if your fingers are always cold), there are a couple of other things I can suggest that might work for you.
Remember to turn down the heat several degrees when you are out for more than an hour or two (or you could try turning them off altogether when you leave and then on again immediately you get home). You could try the same thing overnight.
These are other major users of electricity and this is where we end back where we started. See the Part one post here.
Now that you know what your peak and off-peak hours are, think about doing as much of your laundry (washing and electric drying) during off-peak hours and only the minimum number of loads during peak times.
You will notice a real difference not in your use this time but in your electricity bill as you will be paying about ½ what you were previously paying if you did your washing during weekday daytime hours. Remember, this is different if you who have solar panels and wish to use the electricity you produce ‘behind the meter’ during the day.
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We are now at the end of my last article for now.
Thank you for listening over the last four weeks. I’ve enjoyed trying to bring you some useful tidbits of information in this crazily complex and complicated area that affects us all.
Tricia
