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Electricity and energy

Appliances

• I save power by using a small fan forced bench top cooker instead of the big oven. I can cook a roast meal for 4 much more economically by not heating up that MASSIVE oven most of us have in our kitchens. The small bench top oven heats faster using less power too. Slow cookers also are a great way to cook a lot of food at once inexpensively. - Tex, Christchurch.
  
  
• Turn off appliances at the wall. Appliances with a memory still use quite a bit of power so don't use the remote to turn off the TV or stereo. Other appliances that draw current are ovens, microwaves, videos, washing machines and dryers. - O.R.
  
   
• My television corner is a jungle of appliances most of which have external transformers and/or standby options which gobble electricity whether I'm using them or not. I plug them all into a multi-socket power board which in turn plugs into a single wall socket. When I'm not viewing I just turn off the wall socket and the whole lot shuts down. Turn on the wall socket and all the appliances wake up again. The only useful thing I lose is the clock setting on my VCR, which only takes a minute to reset on the rare occasions I forward plan a recording. By the way, a power board with surge protection will also protect your equipment from power surges which may start to occur if power supplies become less reliable in the future. - Peter Cox, North Shore City.
  
  
• Calculate the energy cost of your household appliances. See Energywise >>> 

Battteries

• I have discovered a method of extracting the maximum amount of use from this little Penlite cell AA batteries which power small pocket radios, torches and TV remotes. In radios, when these batteries weaken reception becomes faint and distorted and it becomes necessary to replace them. Up until the tie of my discovery I simply threw hem out. Not any more! Even though they don’t have enough energy to provide decent radio reception they still have enough juice left to keep a battery-powered electric clock going for months and months. When the clock does eventually stop months later, the battery can then fairly be considered exhausted and of no further use! My only problem with this has been that I have more half-drained AA batteries presently in hand than I have clocks to put them in! – M.C.

Electricity costs

• A reader from Northland says, “I recently became aware of PowerSwitch.  It took me a couple of minutes to see that by switching to another suppliers I could cut my electricity bill by about $900 a year. It’s a big saving because we are big electricity users, but it’s better in our pocket than theirs!" The Powerswitch site can be found at www.powerswitch.co.nz. 

Freezers

• A freezer is most energy efficient at between -15 degrees celcius and -18 degrees.
  
• Freezers work best when full.

Fridges

• Keep your fridge between 2 degree celcius and 4 degrees. It is most energy efficient at that level.
  
• Check that the fridge seals are tight.
  
• Fridges work best well full.
  
• Thaw frozen food in the fride. It cools the fridge.

Firebricks

• To make firebricks tear up old newspapers, junk mail, etc. Soak in water until they become a pulp. Squeeze dry, either by hand or using a firebrick cradle. Leave in the sun or a warm place to dry. - O.R.
  
  
• My daughter and I, as well as making firebricks from soaked newspaper, also save toilet roll inners; cardboard rolls from different products and some small cereal boxes and stuff them full of squeezed out soaked paper for the fires in winter. Takes a little longer to dry but the kids are less reluctant to handle them and they make good fire starters. K.B., Kerikeri.

Firewood

• The local tip on the Concorse, you go in and can fill your car up with as much wood as you want and it's all free. - M.M, Waitakere City.
  
  

• We get free fire wood from our local mill (one might be able to barter for off-cuts). Ask & you should get. - Paul & Julie Funnell
  
  

• One tip that came up a couple of times in the book concerned me: free fire wood from building sites.  I think you need to include a warning about treated timber (health risk and will burn out your fire box quickly).  On most building sites there is very little suitable for burning. -  Tom (Thank you for that Tom, you make a very good point about burning treated timber,  - Oily Rag ed')

Fireplaces

• Prevent drafts by closing up fireplaces that are seldom or never used.
  

• Keep the backs of fireplaces clean to better project heat out into a room.

Heating

• Get a ceiling fan installed in the room where the fire is. This will increase the comfort level of the room. Most of the heat gets trapped up on the ceiling and the fan will circulate it and increase the room temperature at foot level quite considerably. – G.B.

Hot water
 

• I found that if I turn on my hot water at night when I  go to bed, and turn it off in the morning when I get up (about 7am) I saved about $80.00 on my power bill each month! - frugalite from Hamilton
  
  

• Hot water accounts for at least a third of your power bill.  I bought a shower timer on Trade Me for $18 and have reduced our power bill by $100 a month. We no longer have an excessive $300+ bill per month!- Mackie, Auckland.
  
  

• Oily Rag has some very good tips on saving hot water costs which inspired me to check my hot water cylinder. I found it to be very well insulated but there's a one meter long copper pipe coming out of it which is always too hot to touch. The heat loss from this pipe must waste a lot of electricity over time. Anyway, I was just about to throw out two old pillows but instead I've tied them around this pipe with some old rope. It will be interesting to see if this rather crude insulation has any impact on my electricity bill. I'll let you know.  - Peter Cox, North Shore City.
  
  

• I'm a single person household. So I found out years ago I could save $20 per month, by only having the hot water cylinder on for 1 hour per day. This is not enough to heat the entire cylinder to the thermostat temperature, but say only half. Of course hot water rises from the bottom to the top where the outlet is, and the temperature is hot enough to shower with, wash hands etc (adjust the shower rose as they premix cold). The dishwasher and washing machine only use cold which they heat to the required temp, and the cylinder is thus not diminished. And if I use some hot water from the tap, the cylinder fills cold to the bottom where it stays as a cold layer, and without the heater on it doesn't mix  with the existing  water. This would only work with one to two persons households , who can discipline themselves to turn the cylinder on and off every evening (sometimes you need longer if ripple control is used in winter). Ideally a timer, would be best to turn at say at 3 to 4am for a hour so its hottest for morning. But I don't think domestic timers can handle the 3kW heaters, and need an electrician to install the timer. - SLC, Auckland.
  
  

• For Mr & Mrs Normal, hot water accounts for over 40% of their electricity bill. Make sure the thermostat on your hot water cylinder is not set too high. 60 degree Celsius (150 to 160 Fahrenheit) is sufficient but some can take it lower. If you hot water cylinder is losing heat (that is, it is warm to touch) look at adding insulation and ensure all hot water pipes are well lagged.
  
  

• A wetback in a fireplace or chip heater is an excellent way of heating your hot water while you are heating your home. Install a valve to avoid back cooling in summer.
  
  

• I take my children swimming once every week and we all wash our hair using the showers at the pools. Very rarely do we have to wash our hair at home and they never make a fuss of it like they do at home either. When I was working (before children) I always made use of the shower facilities at work and hardly ever had to shower at home! – M.M.
  
  
• For a saving on the electricity account I always fill a thermos flask with boiling water, and use it to rinse a few dishes or have handy in the bathroom for use in the hand basin. Saves the wastage of cold water waiting for the hot water to reach the basin. - D.K.
  
  
• For years I have used the hot water left in the jug to fill up my thermos flask and use it to rinse dishes, as I only do the dishes 2 or 3 times a week, now that I live by myself. – J.O. Christchurch
  
  
• A Whangarei reader says educate your family to use the cold tap for washing hands, the odd rinse etc. The hot water does not usually reach the tap before it is turned off and that wastes heat.
  

Heaters

• Use a timer on oil heaters. Have it turn the heater on a couple of hours before you get up in the morning. That will mean you can cut the cost in half. - O.R.
  
• Reflectors in heaters should be kept clean and bright.

Kitchen

• Match the size of your pan to the size of your element. Puddings can be steamed over boiling vegetables.
  

• Turn the oven off 10 to 15 minutes before serving the meal – the stored heated will complete the cooking.
  

• Some appliances are more efficient than others. A microwave and a pressure cooker, for example, save energy by cooking food quickly. Use them when you can.
  

• Use a thermos flask to cook. Fill the flask with boiling water; add diced vegetables and chopped meat pieces and leave to cook. This is a great way to prepare hot food for picnics.

Lighting

• Lighting accounts for about 5% of the electricity bill, but turn off lights when not needed. We know of on person who goes a little further. To cut costs he uses 40wt bulbs. When he wants to read the newspaper he changes the bulb to 100wt, then changes it back once he has finished reading!
  

• Clean your light bulbs, and use florescent bulbs – although they cost a little more, they use less energy. Use low wattage bulbs in non-work areas.

Space heating

• It costs plenty to heat the air in your home, so don’t waste it. In colder climates the winter heating bill can be horrendous. Just under half (42% on average to be exact) of all household heat is lost through the ceiling, so insulate this first. Many older homes have no insulation at all. In others, the insulation is inadequate – either because earlier building requirements specified only a thin layer, or because the insulation material may have shrunk of shifted. Ceiling insulation material needs to be 100mm to 150mm thick to be effective. It also needs to be airtight, so there are no sneaky leaks.
  

• Walls account for 24% of lost heat, but there are more difficult to insulate unless you are building a new home or extensively renovating. One way to insulate is to use gib board to reline the interior walls.
  

• Raised wooden floors can also be a problem. It is estimated that 12% of heat loss is through the floor. Wood fiber insulation board and floor coverings are an effective way of minimizing heat loss through the floor. Another alternative is to fit insulation below the floor – cardboard can be stapled between floor joists, creating an insulated layer of air.
  

• Eliminate draughts around windows and floors. Well-made, full-length curtains or thermal drapes are a simple answer to heat loss through windows. Thick, heavy fabrics are the most efficient. Light materials should be lined. Because a lot of air is lost around the edges, the curtains should extend 150mm on each side, and below the base of the window. A full pelmet is recommended. Heavy drapes are more heat efficient than blinds. About 12% of the heat of a household is lost through windows. Scout around for a cheap material that could save on your heating costs.
  

• Making your own “stop draught sausages” can eliminate door draughts. This is a fabric sausage filled with sand or sawdust. These sneaky heat hounds develop a personality of their own by adding buttons as eyes (an excellent family project).
  

• Leaky window and door joinery can be sealed with sealants or a self-adhesive foam strip.
  

• Close up rooms that are not use din wintertime. Close up fireplaces that are seldom or never used.
  

• In really cold climates, consider double-glazing windows and glass doors. The investment will pay for itself by reducing heating costs (and for those situated in noisy environments it will deal to that problem as well).
  

• A wood burning coal range or potbelly stove is a cheap way to heat your home and a great way to save on cooking costs.
  

• Warm a bed rather than a bedroom. Electric blankets are very cheap to run and hot water bottles even cheaper.
  

• A think layer of newspaper under mats keeps the room warmer in winter and makes the carpet last longer.
  
  
• I have a heat pump but it does not cost me much to run as I also have a DVS which blows the warm air from the roof space down to dry and warm my home. I also have a solar panel to heat the water. My bill averages $80 over the year, last one was $57. For a 3 bedroom house with 2 adults. I have calculated a saving of approx $500 a year from the DVS and solar so it does not take long to pay for itself, especially the way power prices are going. Each time they increase the rates I figure how to use less. - Canny Scot, Christchurch
  
  
• Saving fuel costs. For those with a wood burner or pellet heater: Install a small swivelling fan high up in a corner of the room. It will drive warm air down to where you need it most and, if you like, into adjoining rooms. - Thirties depression baby, Auckland.

Washing

• A cold water wash in the washing machine costs about 10% of the cost of a hot water wash. - O.R.
  

• Don’t use a washing machine or dryer unnecessarily. Wait until you have a full load to wash. Whenever possible, let Mother Nature do your drying. If you do use a dryer, don’t over fill it.
  

• When buying a washing machine consider a suds saver. They wash many loads and reuse water and soap powder. Use washing water to kill aphids and garden bugs on roses and other outdoor plants.

Towel rails

• Turn off towel rails when the towels are dry. This will cut down the power usage by about half. - O.R.