Save a Watt
The goal is to Save a Watt and Save a $$ to all households. Reducing your household electricity consumption by 10% may seem a bit overwhelming at first. But if you follow the steps in this brochure, you’ll find out just how easy it is to save electricity with very little effort.
Lighting and Geysers are the major electrical consumers, other appliance also contribute.
Small changes make a big impact
Being ‘energy conscious’ means being more aware when it comes to using energy and saving money. Did you know, for example, that a small drip from the hot water tap costs about N$ 460 a year if it isn’t fixed?
Being aware of the small things, like dripping taps, which make a difference to what you eventually spend on electricity. When everyone starts being a little more aware then their actions will start making a real difference to the electricity shortage in the country. We have a challenge to achieve national energy saving target of 10% per household. It’s projected that realizing this percentage per household will save you enough energy in the long run.
Reducing your household’s energy use means that every home needs to be more aware of how much energy each of the appliances in your home is actually consuming. Please remember that the consumption levels outlined in here may vary, as all appliance perform slightly differently according to factors such as climate, thermostat setting, the size of your family and the age of the appliance.
What appliance do you have?
First is to have an energy saving plan.
Have a good idea of the households current energy consumption.
The graph below illustrates the breakdown of an average household’s energy usage across most common appliances in a month.
Customers may contact Tesla Energy Solutions for detailed on 064 - 271750.
Calculating Energy Costs:
Calculating your energy costs means that you need to sit down with your utility bill and calculate the monthly energy consumption of your home and weigh it against the total that you currently pay for energy in a month.
As a benchmark for comparison, the average household energy consumption is 1100kWh units per month. In our cities and towns, the RED’s or your local municipality supplies electricity to homes and businesses. Your tariff can be found on your monthly utility bill or on your prepaid electricity slip.
Working out the energy consumption of individual appliances is not difficult, all you’ll need is the wattage of the appliance that you want to track.
The wattage is usually printed on the actual appliance or on its packaging. The wattage then needs to be multiplied by the number of hours that the appliance is switched on for in a given month. The result is the amount of energy that the appliance uses in a month. Subtract this number from the total on your utility bill to find the portion of your monthly energy that specific appliances uses.
Example:
A 200W TV is used for only 60 hours per month. The total electricity used is 200 x 60 = 12000Wh or 12kWh.
If 1Wh cost 0,1c then 1000Wh or 1kWh will cost N$1, therefore 12kWh will equal N$12 per month.
Energy saving made easy
We have separated the route to effective household energy savings into three distinct categories.
Save A watt: Category A
Make savings of 10% on your energy bill without spending a cent.
Save A watt: Category B
Learn how to achieve ongoing savings of up to 30%, for an outlay of less than N$ 1 000.
Save A watt: Category C
Invest in energy efficient equipment and you will be saving up to 50% of your spending on a permanent basis.
Geysers
The geyser is the most energy hungry appliance in your home. It is responsible for approximately 39% of your monthly electricity costs. Here’s how you can start to optimise the savings:
Save A watt: Category A
Turn your geyser down to 60 ˚C or even 50 ˚C and be sure to switch it off before you leave for work. You only need to turn it back on again when you go to bed. This simple action will decrease the load on the power grid and help reduce power outages.
Shower instead of taking a bath, you will use less hot water and hence electricity. When using small quantities of water, like for washing your hands; use cold water if hot water is not necessary.
Try not to let hot water run unnecessarily. Get into the habit of using basin plugs when washing.
Save A watt: Category B
Insulate your water pipes and wrap your geyser in a geyser blanket. You can reduce your hot water use even further by installing energy and water saving shower heads. Be sure to fix any leaking hot water taps, they are tremendously wasteful, dripping away up to 18ℓ of water a day!
Save A watt: Category C
Install a Solar Water Heater (SWH). It can be plumbed to add volume to your existing geyser or even replace them altogether. SWH uses the sum’s energy to heat water. SWHs can retain heat for prolonged periods of time without sunlight. Your savings of approximately 200kWh per month will cover the entire investment in seven years.
Optimise electricity efficiency even further by fitting your geysers as close as possible to the points where the hot water is actually being used.
Lighting Smart
Traditional round, incandescent light bulbs are not at all energy efficient. Incandescent bulbs waste most of their energy producing heat and only produce light as a by-product (you’ll know this is you’ve ever touched one that has been on for a while!). The incandescent bulbs are and replaced with energy saving Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs).
Save A watt: Category A
CFLs are already available in Namibia. Try them out and see the effect on your electricity bill. Remember that simply switching off lights in unoccupied areas is one of the simplest ways of reducing your monthly electricity costs.
Save A watt: Category B
Switch the lighting in your home to CFLs. These lamps will help you to consume about 80% less electricity and, as a bonus, will last up to six to eight times longer than traditional light bulbs.
Save A watt: Category C
Install movement sensors on your security lights instead of leaving a light burning all night. Use solar powered lights in your garden. They’re easy to install, make attractive features and rely completely on energy from the sun.Stand by electricity
There are appliances in your home that use electricity even while they’re remotely turned off! We call them ‘vampire appliances’. These appliances have a standby, a non operational mode. Sitting in standby mode still uses up to 50% of the electricity that the appliance would normally use. Appliances such as TVs VCRs, home entertainment systems and computers all consume power while not performing their primary function.
Save A watt: Category A
You need to switch these appliances off at the power button.
Kitchen
The easiest way to save electricity in the kitchen is to use specialized appliances for the appropriate tasks. So, far example, always make toast in a toaster instead of using the oven.
Save A watt: Category A
When you cook in the oven, always ensure that the oven door is kept closed until the food is done. Constantly opening and closing the oven door dissipates heat and energy is wasted in reheating the oven. Make sure that all the plates and reflectors on your stove are clean and that the pot or pan you’re using completely covers the stove plate. That way all the energy is being used to cook the food. It won’t affect your food, only your electricity bill.
Get the most out of your microwave oven by defrosting food in the fridge before cooking it in the microwave. Use the microwave for small to medium amounts of food and leave the large meals to a conventional oven. A pressure cooker is underrated energy saver. Use one if you want to conserve energy when cooking foods that take a long time, such as pot roasts, stews and steamed puddings.
When you use the kettle, remember to boil only as much water as you need. Getting value for money from your fridge is even easier, don’t open the door unnecessarily and you won’t use extra energy keeping the fridge cool.
Let the food cool down before putting it in the fridge, defrost your freezer regularly and don’t make it work too hard by filling it to the brim and you will save energy.
Don’t forget to empty your fridge and switch it off when you go on holiday!
Only use the dishwasher when it’s full, turn off before the drying cycle and dry the dishes with a cloth. Connect the dishwasher to the cold water supply when you clean the filters.
Save A watt: Category B
Have the seals in your fridge replaced to keep the cold air in.
Space Heating
During colder months of the year, your heater is going to step up as a power guzzler in your home. A study was conducted to calculate the energy and the costs involved in heating an average-size room to 18 ˚C and keeping the temperature constant for one month. The study showed that the cost of heating the room from 11˚C to 18 ˚C was significantly more than maintaining a constant temperature.
Save A watt: Category A
Dress for the weather. Get cozy under a blanket and pull on a sweater instead of using space heating. In summer, use air conditioners economically – set them to maintain the temperature at the “Golden Zone,” between 18˚C and 22 ˚C.
Save A watt: Category B
Be smart about heating your home. We recommend that you only buy heaters with a short warm-up time and a built in thermostat, and only heat the rooms that you and your family are going to spend time in. The types of heating which are available and comparable are as follows: Underfloor heating, wall mounted heating, gas heaters, infrared heaters, oil heaters and fan heaters. Ensure that you select the correct heater for your specific need.
Electric blankets use very little electricity. Make yours even more energy efficient by turning it to its highest setting a few minutes before getting into bed, and then turn it off for the night.
Save A watt: Category C
Insulate your ceiling. It has been proven to reduce the amount of energy needed to heat or cool rooms. In uninsulated homes, approximately 40% of heat loss takes place through the roof. Insulation slows heat transfer and makes your home up to 10˚C cooler in summer and 5 ˚C warmer in winter.
Because the sun’s position in the sky changes with the seasons, roof awnings and overhangs can help to shade windows from the hot sun in summer while still allowing the warm winter sun in.
Laundry
Appliances in the laundry room can cost you dear. Simply reducing the time that your tumble dryer runs, will keep money in your pocket.
Save A watt: Category B
An automatic washing machine uses the same amount of electricity for a full load as it consumes for a single item. Save dirty clothes until a full load has accumulated. Use the warm water setting and reduce the temperature from 90˚C to 60˚C when washing bed linen to cut on the amount of electricity you can use. You can say skip the pre-wash cycle for the clothes that aren’t particularly dirty. This can cut down hot water usage to 20%.
Hang your washing outside to dry instead of using a tumble dryer, it costs you nothing. Dry multiple loads of clothes consecutively whenever you can, your dryer will be warm already so you’ll save energy. Make sure the lint filter in your tumble dryer cleaned.
An iron consumes as much energy as ten 100 watt light bulbs. So let some of that stored energy work for you by completing the last your ironing with the iron switched off. By ironing large batches of clothing at one time, you can avoid wasting the energy it takes to reheat the iron.
Save A watt: Category C
Buy a front-loading washing instead of a top loader. It uses less water and cots less to operate. If you’re going to buy a new tumble dryer, make sure you buy one with Electronic Humidity Control (EHC). It shuts the machine off automatically when clothes are dry, unlike older dryers which rely on timers.
Pool pumps
Like anything worth having, a crystal clear pool has a cost attached to it. A swimming pool with a 750W filter pump uses at least 232kWh of electricity per month on average. Reducing the running time of a pump by four hours per day for a month, will save you a total of 93kWh ( a 40% saving.
Save A watt: Category A
Reduce the operating time of your pool pump from 10 hours to 6 hours and remember to keep it outside the morning and evening peaks (6-9am and 7-20Pm).
Save A watt: Category B
Clean your pool pump filters to keep the system functioning efficiently.
Save A watt: Category C
Invest in a pool cover. It will keep you pool cleaner for longer (meaning even less work for your pool pump) and it will take the chill out of the water over the winter months.
General appliance information
Remember that saving energy is good for all. You can save money at home, reduce the national demand on power and, at the same time, do your bit to save the planet. Become part of the national drive to reduce electricity use and keep the power!
Check the electricity consumption of any new appliances before you buy it; it will pay future dividends. Check the international energy rating labels and always try to buy an ‘energy smart’ model .
Save A Watt, Save a $$.
Contact us for more information and to provide you our services to save you a $$ today.
