Energy Efficiency At Home

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Your Electricity bill may cramp your style, but don’t fret. It is easier than you think to reduce your energy costs. By saving energy, we can also help save the environment – excessive use of energy is damaging much of our Mother Nature and depleting her natural resources.

Home Electricity Usage

There is no place like home to start cutting down our energy consumption. There are many energy gobblers in the home.

Lighting: 11%

Appliances: 9%

Computer & Electronics: 9%

Water Heating 8%

Refrigerator & Freezer: 8%

Lighting

• Replace all your light bulbs with compact fluorescent lights (CFL) and you would save 70% from your energy usage. CFL may be more expensive than ordinary bulbs but they are worth the investment as they last over 10 times longer and use up to four times less energy.
• Turn off the lights every time you leave a room.
• During the day, use as much natural lighting as you can by drawing open the blinds or curtains.
• You can even install a skylight to get ore light in.

 Refrigerator

 The refrigerator is used throughout the year and is considered as the most expensive item to run in the kitchen. Therefore, energy saving potential is high for these appliances.

The lower energy costs of the more efficient, newer refrigerator can often justify replacement even if existing ones are still in good service. Look for Energy Labelling for the refrigerator. In Malaysia, there are energy labels in the form of inverted tree. Soon, energy labels will be formally introduced to the market and willl assist in the purchase decision.

• The refrigerator should not be placed in very warm place e.g area exposed to direct sunlight, or near a cooker. There has to adequate space above, behind, and if possible, around the sides of the refrigerator for free air circulation.
• Check that the door gasket is in good condition by closing the door on a sheet of paper. Replace door gasket or adjust the alignment of the refrigerator/freezer if the sheet of paper is easily removed.
• If the refrigerator is not a frost-free model, check for frost in the freezer compartment. Do not let the frost exceed 6 mm thickness. Switch off to defrost, and remove excess water before restarting. Check the condenser coils are clean to maintain efficiency of refrigerator.
• The compartments should be kept full to avoid unnecessary cold air loss on door opening. Arrange foods in the refrigerator slightly apart to allow free air circulation. Always cool hot food before storing it in the refrigerator. Avoid frequent opening of the refrigerator, or leaving the door open unnecessarily.
• When going away for an extended holiday, empty and clean the refrigerator, switch it off, and leave its door open.

 Freezer

An upright freezer uses more energy compared to a chest freezer. On average, a chest freezer will cost about RM10.00 per month to run compared to an upright freezer which costs RM14.00 per month.

Refrigerators/freezers give off heat when they operate to cool their contents. This heat must be removed, otherwise the refrigerator/freezer compressor may have to work longer, or become overheated, and shorten its life. It will thereby consume more electricity and wear out quicker. 

• Check temperature of the freezer. Place thermometer in freezer for 5 minutes. Ideal operating temperature is -18 degrees C. Adjust control thermostat accordingly. Check temperature of the refrigerator compartment. Ideal refrigerator temperatue is 5 degrees C at the coldest part. Adjust the thermostat accordingly.
• Freezer should be kept as full as possible to prevent icing. Use vapour proof air tight wraps and containers when packaging the food for freezing to ensure that food is not dehydrated.
• Decide on what you need before opening the door. Repeated opening of the door wastes energy. Defrost the freezer when there is a 6 mm (1/4 inch) frost build up.

Electric Oven

The traditional oven is a heavy energy consumer, so it has to be utilized in the best possible way.

• Preheating of oven is normally not necessary and the oven can be switched off  5 to 10 minutes before the normal cooking time limit to use the retained heat of the oven.. This can save 10-25% electricity required for cooking.
• The oven door should be kept closed. If inspection is required, peek through the oven window.
• Thaw frozen food begore cooking. This will save energy which otherwise would be needed to thaw food in the oven ( and may not cook evenly).
• Plan oven meals and cook several dishes at one time, then approximately 60% electricity can be saved. (However do not position the pans and containers to touch each other or the sides of the oven.)
• Inspect regularly the door gasket for signs of wear and tear. Check for defects in the hinges of the oven door. If any fault on gasket and hinges is detected then call a service person to repair/replace.

Microwave Oven

Consider a microwave oven instead if it can cover your cooking requirements. It saves up to 75% of energy for cooking compared to conventional electric oven because of its lower power demand and quicker cooking time.

• Avoid operating the oven when empty. This can damage the magetron.
• Avoid using metallic containers in the mocroiwave oven.
• Food in a microwave oven continues to cook, or heat up, even after the oven is switched off.

Electric Kettle

Electric kettle is a real piece of cost-saving equipment. It uses less electricity compared with boiling water ia a traditional kettle on an electric hotplate. In the electrical kettle the heating element is placed directly in the water, which is to be boiled, Heat loss is thereby avoided.

Choose the correct size of electrical kettle that is required. For a typical electrical kettle of 2400 W, it will cost about 2 sen of electricity.

Cooker Hoods

Cooker hoods don’t cost much to run, but they will pull heated or cooled air out of your house quickly. Turn them off as soon as the job is done.

Washing Machine

• Select a washing machine with capacity to suit the family needs.
• Top loading automatic washing machine consumes less energy than the front loading automatic machine.
• Wash only with full loads. The washing machine uses the same amount of energy for full load as for a part load.
• Do not overload the washing machine.
• Choose the correct wash cycle.
• Forget about the pre-wash programme.
• Use optimum temperature setting; avoid hot washing cycle, if possible.

Iron

An electric iron can be an “energy guzzler” if it is not used optimally as it usually has a demand load of 1000 watts. Steam iron consumes more energy than dry iron. A lighter iron will heat up quicker, and not hold too much heat after being switched off.

• Iron low temperature fabrics first to reduce the warm-up time and switch the off before finishing the last garment.
• Iron large batches of clothing at the same time to avoid wasting energy in reheating, Remember, an iron takes energy to heat up, and this energy is wasted if the iron is used for frequent ironing of a few item at a time.
• Turn the iron off if interrupted.
• Fold washed items carefully to avoid the need for ironing, where possible.

 Air Conditioners

• Set the air conditioner at the highest temperatures that you are comfortable with to preserve as much power as you can.
• Get a timer and set it to turn off about the time when you leave for the day and to turn back on when you get home.
• Ensure all doors and windows are closed when the AC is on.
• Do not block the air vent and condenser.
• Install shades, awning and drapes, awning and drapes to keep your room and house cool.
• Better still, use ceiling fans instead of airconditioning to keep cool.

 Other Electrical Devices

• Do not leave your electrical devices on standby when not using them. This is actually a waste of energy. Appliance left on standby use up to 85% of the energy they would use if fully switched on.
• Always unplug and switch off the main power when not using your electrical devices. 

 (Sources: FOMCA, Electricity Guide, UK; Greenpeace)