Ten Things You Can Do To Save Electricity at Home
Practical energy saving tips to reduce your monthly electricity bill at home. They are listed roughly in order of the most benefit to you at the least up-front cost.
|
Benefits |
Capital Cost |
|
| Set your pool pump to run for a shorter period each day | Pool pumps consume a lot of electricity. A 10% reduction in the time they run per day, will translate directly into a corresponding saving. Also set it to run at non peak times of the day (eg. noon and midnight) to reduce the load on Eskom during peak times. | Zero |
| Don’t use the tumble dryer unless absolutely necessary. | Tumble dryers use huge amounts of electricity. Don’t get into the habit of using them unnecessarily. | Zero |
| Spend the time to understand how you consume electricity | The key to managing anything is understanding it! Few people have a good understanding of how electricity is consumed in their home. Use a consumption modelling tool like PowerProphet to build a model of your daily/weekly/monthly electricity consumption behaviour. The problem areas will soon become evident, as well as the relative costs that can be saved. The benefit gained from an hour or so of effort will yield large results in most cases. | Low |
| Install efficient shower nozzles | These devices reduce the amount of water used during a shower. The better ones do this without impacting on the shower experience. The result is you use up to 50% less hot water without it feeling any different. | Low |
| Install a geyser blanket, and insulate hot water pipes. |
Hot water in the geyser will stay hot longer, and you will use less electricity heating it up. | Low |
| Install ceiling insulation. | It will cost less to keep your house warm, and it will warm up quicker. | Medium |
| Use a slow combustion wood/coal heater in winter. | Wood and coal are relatively cheap forms of fuel. Slow combustion stoves are designed to burn those fuels slower and more completely than normal, while still giving off lots of heat. | Medium |
| Get the latest efficient fridge, washing machine and/or dishwasher. | Your fridge is normally switched on 24/7. You can save a fair amount of electricity by upgrading to the latest technologies which are far more efficient. The same is true to lessor extent with regards to washing machines and dishwashers. | Medium |
| Get rid of the 50W halogen down-lighters. | These little lights don’t light up a room very well, and are thus usually used in large numbers. Lights are typically switched on for long periods each day. This can mean that these lights become a very large part of your daily electricity bill! Consider either replacing them with LED or CFL equivalents, or even using completely different light fittings which will enable more light from fewer bulbs. | Medium/High |
| Install a solar water heater or a heat pump to heat water. | Reduce your water heating bill substantially. | High |
