Wizard wrote
1) Those "econo" panel heaters run at 400w and eat electricity. We had 3 on all the time. :-[ 1.2kw of constant drain. Got those on timers now. Use blankets.
I figured that one out years ago. I used to run mine on a timer so that it would switch on about 45 min before my alarm went off and thus reduce my unwillingness to get out of bed.
2) 50w halogen downlighters eat electricity too. We have 50. :-[ Am swapping those out for 20w in the meantime. Getting too much conflicting advice on LED's. Will wait until the story matures a bit more on those.
You can get energy saver replacements for these. They consume about 11 watts per lamp, get plenty bright (though they do take a while to warm up in cold weather) and they're about 50 bucks a pop (I got mine at Spa) - a cost you should recover in savings.
City Power are offering free LED replacements where I live. I've filled in the form and am waiting.
In general don't burn lights in rooms you're not using, and get the little fluorescent energy savers in wherever possible. They will reduce your bill and they last longer than incandescent globes.
3) We were running 2 geysers fulltime. A 200l 3kw and a 100l 2kw. The latter for the guest shower and the kitchen sink. Have switched this off, but are now pondering what to do about hot water for the kitchen sink
The problem is you've got to spend money to save money. Geyser blankets can help, so can timers, so can getting your pipes clad. Solar heating makes a big difference, but you have to make the initial outlay (there is a rebate from Eskom). The geyser is the biggest single power draw in most houses.
I'm probably going to go for a heat pump.
Need to figure out what to do with 2 geysers though.
I've had a heat pump installed in my current house - too many shadows on the north-facing roof for solar to work well. You still get the Eskom rebate. The heat pump doesn't replace the geyser, it just provides a more efficient heating method. Or can. When I had mine installed the effect was exactly neutral. But it had it's own timer/control panel and once I got access to that and understood the device I started seeing savings. The guy who installed it just hid the panel away, but another guy from the company came and put it on a long lead and mounted it in my house. Now I make sure it doesn't run at night or during office hours when we don't need it and I am saving.
A lot of B&Bs in the UK use those devices which heat the water at the point at which it's used, so I presume they do make for a saving.
You can cut your water bill with flow restricting shower heads. If you shower a lot rather than bath. It sounds wrong, but it does work. I've got shower heads that restrict flow but also have some way of swirling the water around inside to energise the jet. They're a bit noisier (I presume this is the vortex being generated), but they do use less water even with the tap all the way open because they choke the flow, you can get a decent shower with the taps not all the way open. These also get used a lot in B&Bs and in hotels. They come with a special fitting tool so the guests can't pinch them! The brand name on them is RST. I'd use them anyway now that I've tried them because they give a better jet (IMO) than all these fancy schmancy pulsating thingies.
So... bills can be cut. But unless you're building a house (in which case you can start with all this stuff) you have to spend up front to get the long term saving. But the more electricity prices go up, the quicker you recover the outlay.
There was some device doing the rounds that promises to get you off the grid completely. You have to buy specially treated water and bung it in this thing and it makes electricity - they say - by breaking down the ions in the water (or something like that, I've lost the pamphlet). It's not cheap. I asked around and there's a lot of scepticism about it, and the pictures they showed me included a box that had a connection to the grid - two feeds, magic box and eskom, in, one feed out. They said it was for legality reasons. I asked for case studies, of houses in Jo'burg running this system with before and after billing figures etc etc. They couldn't show me (I was being given the privilege of an early shot at this system that everybody would soon want). Also the magic box ain't cheap, and you have to buy the water from one place and one place only.
Gas cooking is pretty good.
