Here’s how to lighten the load on your electricity bill

As we are enjoying the holidays we tend to forget about saving electricity, no-one has the time or effect to worry about saving anything especially water and lights. Well, there is no reason to overindulge on your electricity consumption.

We asked AbaQulusi Municipality’s Thinus Franzsen for some festive tips to save on your electricity bill these holidays and here’s what he had to share with us:

• Keen for a cuppa? Think twice before you boil your kettle too frequently. According to Franzsen, your kettle, believe it or not, is one of the largest consumers of power among household appliances. “At over 2kW, your kettle draws hugely from your electricity,” he explained. “I would recommend switching to gas or get one of those whistling kettles that you can boil on a gas stove or open flame. Gas stoves are definitely the way to go. Otherwise, be sure not to overfill your kettle when you boil it.”
• Switch off your geyser before taking a bath. Franzsen explained that it’s all about timing. Switching your geyser off after you’ve already had a bath is merely a waste of power. Once you have run the hot water from the geyser to run your bath, the water that refills the geyser does not need to be heated – until your next bath, that is. But the geyser will automatically heat it up, drawing unnecessary power to do so, unless you switch it off. He adds that, once heated, the water in your geyser can stay hot for two to three days.
• Unplug chargers and other household gadgets that draw power. “If it’s plugged into the wall socket and you’re not using it, it’s still drawing power,” he explained, pointing out, “While it may not be drawing large amounts of electricity, in the bigger picture, it does all add up at the end of the day.”
• Santa may be accustomed to below-freezing temperatures, but your refrigerator doesn’t have to be… “Don’t set your fridge’s temperature too low,” advised ThinusFranzsen. “Keep your fridge clean and check the rubber seals frequently. Don’t open the fridge or the freezer unnecessarily. Every time you open it and the cold air escapes, it has to draw electricity to reregulate the temperature. If your freezer ices up too often, that’s also a problem. Check the seals and get them replaced, if necessary…”
• Christmas lights are a wonderful way to brighten up your home or even just your Christmas tree, but Franzsen advises that you replace your old-fashioned string of colourful bulbs for LED lights to save on electricity.

“For example,” he explained, “a 100-count string of incandescent mini lights runs at 40 watts, while a 70-count of 5mm wide angle LEDs is approximately 4.8 watts total. In fact, because incandescent wattage is 80-90% more than LED wattage, the cost to power an incandescent can be up to 90 times greater than powering an LED.”