At home
There is a golden rule that applies to saving electricity in the
home: If you are not using it, switch it off.
By partnering with Eskom and changing the way we use
energy every day, you can make a difference to the electricity
supply shortage in our country.
Geyser – it uses up to 39% of your monthly energy. Switch
it off to reduce your energy demand. Don’t forget to insulate
the geyser and water pipes.
Shower – it uses less water than bathing, and using less hot
water means less work for the geyser. Use an aerated shower
head since it uses less water.
Lighting – replace all your incandescent bulbs with energysaving
compact fluorescent lamps (Cfl) and switch off the
lights in unoccupied rooms.
Standby electricity – don’t leave your TV, DVD player, etc. on
stand-by mode. They still use up to 50% of their operating
power. Rather switch them off at the power button and don’t
forget to unplug your cell phone charger after your phone has
been charged or it will continue to draw power.
Refrigeration – close your fridge door quickly so it doesn’t
use extra power to get back to its optimal cooling level.
Temperature control – keep the room temperature between
18°C – 22 °C – this is known as the ‘’ golden zone’’. Use extra
clothes, blankets and hot water bottles to keep warm without
using extra heaters.
Commercial tips
- ask an energy services company to perform an
electricity audit
- install a building management system to
automatically connect the lighting, and the heating,
ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC)
- keep doors closed between conditioned and
unconditioned spaces – use automatic doors, selfclosing
doors or air curtains etc
- install efficient lighting systems
- many companies and industries leave their lights
on unnecessarily during the day/night. Lighting
controls in buildings can make sure that energy is
conserved during periods of low occupancy
- make use of the services of lighting specialists when
making choices on lighting system design
- switch off equipment that is not used. They waste
electricity and generate heat that has to be
overcome by the HVAC system when cooling
- enabling power save mode on computers can
reduce their electricity consumption by around
40%
- check insulation of cooling systems
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