Save electricity

Keep the door closed. Ever time you open it the temperature drop about 20 degrees (c) 2 Cook several dishes at the one time. If you are cooking small items use the frypan. 3 When cooking small quantities use one sauce pan with dividers. 4 Keepfoodwarm at 70-80 deg(c) Higher temperatures waste electricity and over cook food. 5 Use oven heat for plate warming.

6 Use utensils with flat bottoms and well fitting lids. Make sure they cover hotplates. To cook vegetables the water doesn’t need to be boiling furiously – a gentle simmer is enough. 8 Fan type ovens reduce cooking costs. 9 Use bright clean hotplate reflectors to send the heat upwards where it is wanted. 10 Pressure cookers can save up to 25% of power. 11 Use small appliances eg.

griller, crockpot, wok, etc for appropriate foods. 12 Thaw frozen foods before cooking – this saves about 15 minutes cooking per 450 grams (one pound). 13 A microwave is very economical for suitable functions -it is excellent for reconstituting food. 14 Don’t use grill-boiler plate on top of range for utensils not large enough to cover t. 15 Don’t boil water on a hotplate – use an electric kettle. 16 Make sure your oven door seals properly. HEATING AND COOLING.

17 Have the ceiling insulated with at least 50mm of fibrous or foam insulation. 18 In timber framed or brick homes the walls should also be insulated. Block off any chimneys not being used – A lot of heat is lost there. 19 Unless you have full home conditioning close the doors of the room/s being heated or cooled. Doors and windows should fit well because draughts can waste a lot of energy. Close curtains to stop heat escaping. 20 See that air- conditioner filters and condenser coils are kept clean.

1 Reverse cycle air-conditioners provide 2 to 2. 5 times as much heat as an element type heater for the same electricity consumption. 22 Zoning of a house conditioned by a ducted system can cut energy consumption to a half or even third. 23 Shade windows during summer to keep sun of the glass. 24 Don’t leave heating or cooling appliances on when rooms are unoccupied. 25 Use personal fans and ceiling fans for relief from hot weather. Fans cost much less to run than air conditioners.

26 Many air- conditioning systems operate at 22 deg (c). You will still be comfortable if you set the control for 24-25 deg (c) in summer and 18-19 deg (c) in inter and you will use a lot less electricity. 27 Leave room conditioner ” fresh air ” and ” exhaust air ” controls in the closed positions unless you want to freshen thew room air. 28 Set fan at high speed for a room conditioner to work most efficiently. 29 Evaporative coolers are very effective when installed correctly. The operating cost of an evaporative cooler is only a fraction of that of a refrigerated unit. 30 A student can be kept warm with a 150 watt infra red lamp fitted under the desk.

31 Localised under carpet heating gives economical armchair comfort. 32 People heating is more economical than space heating. use radiators multi-heat radiant heaters, wall strip heaters , fan heaters. 33 Electric blankets are the cheapest form of bedroom heating. REFRIGERATION 34 Select a fridge that uses waste heat for defrosting etc. These fridges are usually cheaper to operate. 35 Buy the size you need extra capacity uses extra power.

36 If you already have a chest or upright freezer buy an ” all though ” refrigerator instead of a fridge freezer combination. 37 Defrost before the ice build up is 1 cm thick. 38 Open the door only when necessary. 39 Make sure the door seals well. If a piece of paper will slide easily between the abinet and the door seal is not good enough. 40 Keep dust and fluff brushed off the coils on the back or bottom of the fridge. 41 Put the fridge in a well ventilated position.

42 Place your fridge away from direct sunlight or any source of heat. Don’t put hot food into a fridge or freezer. CLOTHES AND WASHING 43 Don’t buy a large machine if you don’t need it. For the occasional big wash an extra cycle or two is cheaper than under using a large washer. 44 Adjust the water level to economically wash a partial load. Otherwise it is better to wait until you have a full load. But don’t overload your machine.

5 Your washer may have features than can save yourmoney. Soak cycles remove stubborn stains in wash cycle. Suds savers allow you to re use hot water. 46 Use correct type of detergent and cold or tepid water will wash clothes effectively. LIGHTING 47 Good lighting means avoiding glare and gloom by using the right amount of light in the right way. 48 Use light translucent shades- opaque or dark shades require bigger lamps. 49 Use a good local light near the task.

It is more effective and more efficient than a large central light. 50 Use fluorescent tubes . they use about a quarter of electricity used by ordinary lobes and they last about eight times as long. They CAN be switched on and off as often as you need without affecting operating cost. CLOTHES DRYING 51 Use solar energy to dry your clothes -it costs nothing. 52 Operate your dryer using the fan alone. Only switch the heater on if it is really necessary.

Vent the dryer outside the house and don’t let lint block the vent. 53 never overload or underload the dryer – you get most economical operation with the correct load. 54 Switch off when the clothes are dry enough – over drying makes them feel harsh and waste electricity. 5 Tumble dryers are more effective than cabinet dryers. WATER HEATING 56 Off peak low pressure storage heaters are generally the cheapest overall. 57 Don’t allow dripping taps . Sixty drips a minutes means about 1200 litres a month drown the drain.

And you have paid for it to be heated. 58 Water restrictors and low flow shower nozzles will help to save water. 59 Insulate hot water pipes from storage heaters for at least a metre from the heater as heat can be conducted along these pipes and lost to the atmosphere. 60 Install a storage heater of 125 litres or more to run off peak tariff – which is bout half the normal rate. 61 Normally you will use less water for shower than bath. 62 Fill your electric kettle or jug from the cold tap. Running off a lot of cold water from the hot pipes is wasteful and expensive.

63 Don’t have you hot water set too 70 deg (c) is usually hot enough . Otherwise it costs more to heat the water and it loses more heat while being stored. ACCESSORIES 64 Dimmers save power and enable you to obtain pleasant changes of mood in your lighting. 65 Use plug-in timers to control such things as fryingpans, crockpots, riadiators. lights and air conditioners.