How much electricity is being used by old inefficient or faulty appliances?

[AndyD]

I'll try not to get bogged down with the lighting side of things but I agree it makes definate financial sense to replace and incandescent or halogen (including dichroic low voltage down lights) with CFL's and it might make sense in certain circumstances to use LED's. This would be at the forefront of any domestic, or commercial for that matter, energy saving plan being relatively low cost, no specialist contractors required and savings that should easily cover the financial outlay in 6 months-1 year.

So assuming the lighting phase of the plan is complete, where to now? Appliances or hot water cylinder maybe?

The hot water cylinder would be a regular consumer and of a high consumption with it heating for several hours per day. Appliances such as fridges are also regular consumers but at much lower amounts of energy. Then you get appliances such as the microwave, kettle, stove and oven that are more occasional consumers but at a high amount and appliances such as IT equipment and TV's that might be 24hr per day consumers even when on standby but at a very low amount. Throw in the complexities of IT and general electronic equipment having notoriously poor power factor courtesy of the cheaply manufactured SM power supplies and suddenly they're back in the running.

It's also about the sacrifices you're willing to make. For example I tried a low-consumption shower head and 3 months later I got rid of it because it maent my shower was no longer a pleasurable experience. I've also reinstalled my airconditioning which was removed a few years ago during renovations because once a month when it's hot and humid as hell and I want to watch TV or have an afternoon nap I missed not having it. In both these cases the saving was relatively small and I decided it wasn't worth the sacrifice.

[Justloadit]

Hi Smitty,

Osram and Phillips which have a decent range in quality don't sell for R15, but consumers still go for the cheap and nasty CFLs that do sell for R12 and R15, especially at Checkers and Spar shops.

[smitty]

Hi Smitty,

Osram and Phillips which have a decent range in quality don't sell for R15, but consumers still go for the cheap and nasty CFLs that do sell for R12 and R15, especially at Checkers and Spar shops.

Good point, I tend to buy in bulk when they are on sale at Makro (hint in case anyone needs any) because "goed koop is duur koop".

[smitty]

I suspect you know all this but it doesn't hurt to put it down for other people to read. :-)

I'll try not to get bogged down with the lighting side of things but I agree it makes definate financial sense to replace and incandescent or halogen (including dichroic low voltage down lights) with CFL's and it might make sense in certain circumstances to use LED's. This would be at the forefront of any domestic, or commercial for that matter, energy saving plan being relatively low cost, no specialist contractors required and savings that should easily cover the financial outlay in 6 months-1 year.

100% agree. Low voltage but high wattage down lights. I dislike spotlights more than down lights but those are a close second. I tend to catch a glimpse of a badly positioned spotlight (and fairly often a down light) and just about get blinded because they're such a bright direct light. That's probably just me though.

So assuming the lighting phase of the plan is complete, where to now? Appliances or hot water cylinder maybe?

The hot water cylinder would be a regular consumer and of a high consumption with it heating for several hours per day. Appliances such as fridges are also regular consumers but at much lower amounts of energy. Then you get appliances such as the microwave, kettle, stove and oven that are more occasional consumers but at a high amount and appliances such as IT equipment and TV's that might be 24hr per day consumers even when on standby but at a very low amount. Throw in the complexities of IT and general electronic equipment having notoriously poor power factor courtesy of the cheaply manufactured SM power supplies and suddenly they're back in the running.

As with all lighting and appliances the consumption of hot water cylinders depends very much on usage. The less water is used the less is heated and if the standing losses are low (temp lowered to match your needs, geyser blanket [check the ends of HWC the insulation does not seem so good there] and pipe lagging fitted) that is where the big saving will come from reducing usage. The plumber who replaced a HWC under warranty became upset when I continued to call him back for leaks at the connections to the pipes but those are wasteful and cost money.

Before looking to replace anything you should know how much it uses as well as what the replacement will use. Once you know (measured is better than product specifications in my opinion) then you can compare the savings per day / month / year to the replacement cost and you can work out the pay back period. Once you have that kind information you can make an informed decision and weigh up the alternatives.

Sometimes it will be marginal savings and you might want to wait until the replacement prices drops (e.g. LEDs), Eskom introduces a subsidy (tends to push up the price), the price of electricity increases or the existing product dies and would have to be replaced because these all change the numbers in a favourable way.

A lot of electronic equipment should probably just be turned off when not in use.

I'm interested in alternative water heating e.g. solar or heat pump because that HWC really can chew power. I'm keeping an eye on the City of Cape Towns initiative around solar water heating because they are expensive.

It's also about the sacrifices you're willing to make. For example I tried a low-consumption shower head and 3 months later I got rid of it because it maent my shower was no longer a pleasurable experience. I've also reinstalled my airconditioning which was removed a few years ago during renovations because once a month when it's hot and humid as hell and I want to watch TV or have an afternoon nap I missed not having it. In both these cases the saving was relatively small and I decided it wasn't worth the sacrifice.

That is another very important point that you raise. Sitting in the dark, eating cold food and having cold showers is no fun... I find the climate in Cape Town very mild and only struggle with the heat on the handful of hot days in January and February and on days like those I put on the fan (if you want hot you should try the Kalahari in summer). I also tend to find that only July and August are actually cold (it's still way colder in Europe / North America) - use a gas heater (and add a fan). However comfort is still important and good ceiling insulation makes a huge difference for both of these (you've also mentioned this in an older post of yours) as do heavy curtains and draft proofing.

You mentioned the size of the saving and I think that is key point - there is no point in spending R5000 to save R300 a year nor is there any point in suffering for a saving of that amount.

Of course not all methods of saving cost you comfort or large sums of money relative to the saving and those are the ones you should make. If your TV, fridge, geyser, washing machine, etc dies and you need to replace it then buying a 32inch LED TV will use less than a third of the watts that an LCD version of the same size will cost you. If you watch a lot of TV (or have kids / family who do) then it may very well be worth your while to pay 10% more for the more efficient TV. A little homework will save you money in the slightly longer term and you won't have to suffer for it.