Tips to help you save electricity this winter

Some things are unavoidable, such as petrol price,tax, death and sometimes the most terrifying of them all is saving for electricity during winter.

Andrew Etzinger, Eskom integrated demand management senior manager, says keeping warm this winter doesn’t have to be costly if people are smarter on how they use electricity.

Here are some useful tips from Eizinger on how to save on electricity.

1. Dress warmly – wear a beanie and gloves at home.

Wrap yourself in a blanket, put a hot water bottle on your lap and drink your favourite hot drink when you watch television.

2. Close your curtains before it gets dark, as it improves thermal insulation by preventing heat from escaping your home.

3. Seal gaps around your windows.

4. Draught-proof wall cavities throughout your home and, if you have one, your chimney, caulking and weather-stripping are best for sealing cracks and holes.

5. Draught-proof your doors and make sure all door sweeps are in a good condition.

Most importantly, install fire retardant ceiling insulation before the onset of winter. During winter, approximately 40 percent of heat is lost through the roof, if your home is not insulated. Insulation makes a home up to five percent warmer in winter. Insulation reduces and postpones the need to switch on space heaters and climate control systems. Insulation contributes to lowering your electricity bill. An insulated and draught-proofed room requires 51 percent less energy to heat up and insulation allows you to help keeping the lights on this winter.

6. When considering insulating your home, talk to a specialist vendor; it is critical to choose the correct combination of materials and techniques to suit the location, positioning and design of your home.

7. A well-insulated home, together with smart space heating habits this winter, will save you money.

Saving in the office

Andrew suggests that dressing warmly for work is the best decision that a person can make.

1. Avoid switching on a space heater if your office is not equipped with a centralised climate control system.

2. In the office kitchen, open fridge doors only when necessary and boil just enough water for the number of cups of tea or coffee you are preparing.

3. In the washroom, wash your hands with cold water

Distances between electrical element geysers and hot water taps are usually so far apart in commercial buildings that a huge volume of cold water has run off and been wasted by the time it turns hot. Heating water accounts for up to 50 percent of commercial energy costs.

4. Use natural light wherever and whenever possible; avoid switching on overhead lights and desk lamps unnecessarily.

5. Switch off lights in all unoccupied offices, boardrooms and other communal areas.

6. Never leave computers, copiers, printers and fax machines on standby as they continue to use electricity; switch off all appliances at the power button when not in use.

7. Make ‘smart energy saving habits in the office part of your corporate culture. It will help to keep the lights on this winter.

Be smart about your space heater and save

1. First of all, make sure the space heater you use is thermostat-controlled, a built-in device or a device you can set to switch the heater on and off at a pre-selected temperature. Equally importantly, carefully decide the level of warmth you wish to experience at any given time –the human body functions well in a space where the temperature is controlled at plus or minus 2 decC.

2. If you want to quickly improve your level of warmth over a period of one hour in an average room of 3m x 3m x 2.5m, a fan heater controlled via a thermostat is the smartest choice. It spreads heat evenly and the thermostat switches it off when the room is cosy.

Gas heaters are also quick, but special care should be taken around the exposed flames ventilation and requirements should be adhered to.

3. For heating a room of 3m x 3m x 2.5m meter over a period of three hours, an oil heater with a thermostat and an output no bigger than 2 000W (watt) is your best option; it heats slowly and steadily and doesn’t cause a spike in your monthly energy costs.

4. And for eight hours or more in the same room? A heater with a thermostat and an output no bigger than 1 000 W (watt) will be the most energy efficient and cost effective option; it gradually raises the temperature and reaches the optimal level of thermal comfort over time without causing a huge increase in your electricity bill.

5. Only heat the room you are occupying. Heating unoccupied rooms – together with inappropriate heating choices – use unnecessary energy and cost you money without providing you with the warmth you need.