NATIONAL NEWS - Load shedding is becoming a daily reality for South Africans. Accompanying International Earth Day, celebrated on 22 April and complementing Earth Hour on 28 March, Pinnacle Conservation would like to share some energy saving tips to curb electricity consumption and therefore, try lessen the probability of load shedding this winter.
Load shedding is a last resort prevention measure to avoid a total collapse of the power grid. When electricity demand exceeds the current supply, the system becomes unbalanced, which may cause a national blackout. To mitigate this, Eskom can either increase supply or decrease demand to restore balance. Load shedding is therefore a protective measure to guard against total power system failure.
On the other hand, reducing energy consumption (saving electricity) is beneficial to the consumer. Natural resources (coal, water and fuel) are used more sustainably resulting in less pollution (combating global warming), local power stations are under much less pressure and ultimately it reduces costs.
Tips on how to save electricity
- Use a kettle to boil water for cooking rather than a pot - it's quicker and use less energy.
- Fill the kettle only with the amount needed - more water takes more energy.
- Use a microwave where possible - the use of an oven is equivalent to 18 microwaves.
- Cut food into smaller pieces to speed up the cooking process.
- Do not open the refrigerator or oven door unnecessarily - heat loss from the oven and cold air from the fridge is energy wasted.
- Match the size of your pan to the stove plate to prevent heat loss.
- Always put a full load of washing in the washing machine. The same applies to dishwashers.
- Lighting accounts roughly for 17% of electricity usage in the average South African household, try to invest in energy saving lights. LED lights last up to 10 times as long as compact fluorescent lights and far longer than typical incandescent lighting. Compact fluorescent lighting contains mercury - a toxic pollutant.
- Switch off lights not in use.
- Switch off TV if not in use, standby mode can use up to 50% of original electricity usage. The same applies to computers, stereos, battery and phone chargers, DVDs, decoders, et cetera.
- Heating:
- Curtains retain heat, be sure to close them early in the evening to retain heat from the sun that may have penetrated.
- If possible, invest in a gas heater for space heating and turn off the heater if you're not in the room.
- Bathroom:
- Shower instead of running a bath. Install a low flow shower head and keep showers to less than 10 minutes.
- Fix dripping or leaking taps.
- Geyser blankets will insulate geysers, not allowing heat to escape.
- To save even further turn the thermostat to 60°C and insulate the water pipes. The geyser can also be turned off during the day and turned on at night.
- The swimming pool filter pump is one of the largest consumers of electricity. Try to use the pump only when necessary. There are numerous timers that can be fitted to the pump.
- During winter you can use the pool filter even less, as algae growth is limited, so the cleaning filter can be reduced to once every few days.
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