Want to save energy and money as the chill sets in? Of course you do. The power is in your hands, says Adam Oxford
When it comes to reducing your energy use and electricity costs at home, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by what’s on offer.
For example, the first thing any decent consultant will tell you about reducing your reliance on the national grid, is to look at your hot water system. Chances are high that your geyser consumes more electricity than anything else in your house: probably in the region of 20% of your bill.
But as soon as you look at reducing the cost of a hot shower, the array of options becomes bewildering. Should you fit a timer? Go solar? Look at heatpumps? Insulate your current boiler? Replace it? Boil a kettle instead?
Too many choices might mean you end up not doing anything at all.
The problem with trying to be more energy efficient at home or at work, is that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution.
As the old engineering adage says, “that which is not measured cannot be improved”. Given that this column is about saving money by being more energy efficient, it might seem like madness to encourage you to spend just under R800 on an energy usage monitor like The Owl, but I’d definitely recommend it.
The Owl plugs into a wall socket and relays your current and historical household consumption to a smartphone app. Despite the upfront cost, you can make serious savings quickly. It cut my electricity bill by around R200 a month, so it paid for itself in four months.
How does it help you reduce your bills and use less energy? Simply by letting you see, in real-time, how much energy you’re using, in kilowatt hours and in Rand value. We all know that old TVs consume almost as much power on standby as they do when they’re being watched, and that phone chargers guzzle electricity if they’re left plugged in without the phone attached.
We know leaving lights on is a bad thing. But by drawing attention to those facts, and warning you when energy use looks higher than it should be, The Owl can encourage you do something about it.
What does this have to do with water heating? One of the hottest debates online is whether you should put your geyser on a timer or leave it on all day. Eskom ran a campaign claiming that if geysers were turned off during peak hours, we’d save enough energy to power most of our major cities outside Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Sceptics argue that it takes more energy to raise the temperature of water by a degree than it does to maintain it at a set number of degrees, so you save more energy by leaving your geyser on 24 hours a day.
There’s truth to both sides, but every home heating system is subtly different in terms of the type of boiler and its age, and how well insulated it is. Monitors like The Owl give you the chance to work out whether your geyser is better left on, or periodically powered down. Once you know that, you can change your habits, or work out the most cost effective and energy saving upgrade.
An engineer friend discovered that putting his geyser on a timer was costing him more than leaving it on. Your experience may differ. A timer works best for me.
Make yourself aware of your energy using habits. If you’re thinking of installing solar panels on your roof, staggering the use of household appliances means you’ll never use more energy than you’re producing.
Even if you aren’t planning on becoming your own electricity supplier, it’s vital to get on top of your energy usage. Eskom and the City of Johannesburg are keen to introduce variable tariffs, which will see electricity costs go up during peak hours, and down when demand is less.
Understanding what you can afford to run at night, when prices are lower, could save you a fortune. So measure, understand, and change.
* Adam also had some interesting thoughts to share during our recent Iris Session, which can be viewed below:
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