Electrical engineer Anthony Murdoch said that, in order to effectively monitor and manage the daily consumption of electricity, it is prudent to have a prepaid meter installed.
“In most homes, the main electrical consumption culprits are the geyser and the kettle,” said Murdoch.
“In the winter months, space heating is a serious energy consumption contender.
“The kitchen is the area of the home where most of the heat-related appliances are used and the conservative use of these appliances will certainly reduce the electrical account at the end of the month.”
Murdoch said when boiling water in a kettle, you should heat only as much water as is required – but make sure the element is covered.
“In many cases, consumers fill the kettle to its limit, even though the need is for a small amount of boiled water,” he explained.
“This results in a significant wastage of electrical energy as the larger the volume of water to be boiled, the greater the consumption of electricity.”
Murdoch said another appliance that draws a significant amount of electricity is a four-plate electric hob (maximum capacity 6 000 watts) and oven (maximum capacity 3 400 watts).
“When using the oven, the entire oven has to heat up to the selected temperature,” he explained.
“Where possible, use an alternate facility, such as a microwave oven or convection oven.
“The power consumed by the microwave oven (600 watts) and convection oven (1 200 watts) is significantly less than that of the electric oven or stove.”
He said the convection oven has approximately a quarter of the oven volume and uses less energy to achieve the same result as an oven cooked meal.
Murdoch added that lighting can also create a significant load on the electrical account, particularly security lighting which operates throughout the night.
“We are fortunate to have energy efficient lighting available, especially LED light fittings,” he said.
“LED light fittings consume less than 10 per cent electricity, compared with the conventional lighting which was the only form of illumination available several years ago.”
Motion detector light fittings which use the PAR 38 lamps consume a considerable amount of energy.
Murdoch said these fittings should be replaced with weatherproof fittings using energy saving lamps which are controlled via a photo cell.
The photo cell is automatically activated at dusk and switches off at sunrise.
An 11 watt energy saver lamp uses less than one unit of electricity per week per fitting.
Murdoch said good quality energy saver lamps experience an extended lifespan when they are not subjected to repeat switching on and off.
From a security perspective, he said, energy saving lighting throughout the night is a far more effective deterrent than motion-triggered lighting.
What you need to know:
*Electrical consumption is measured in units of electricity.
*One unit of electricity is 1 000 Watts for one hour, i.e. one kilowatt hour.
*Each and every electrical appliance has a rating in watts and the total amount of watts that are connected in use for each hour determines the cost of electrical consumption in units per hour.
*Electrical consumption is directly affected by the wattage rating of each appliance.
*Heating appliances have higher wattage ratings and are the main items that drive up the monthly electricity account.
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