Also consider installing a thermostatic radiator valve on the kitchen radiator it will allow the heat output to be varied with demand given the number of hot appliances in the kitchen such as your cooker and clothes dryer.
Try using the 30 minute rule by setting the heating to switch off 30 minutes before bedtime and to turn on 30 minutes before you get up in the morning, so that the heating is only on when you actually need it to be on. Make sure you turn off your heating when you know you?re not going to be there with a timer, or if you?re going to be away for a few days. Also keep the external doors and windows closed to keep more heat inside your home.
When it come to your immersion heater consider using a timer, this should supply you with enough hot water as and when you need it. Also when buying electric heaters, make sure they are the right size for the rooms they are to heat, but bear in mind that electric heaters consume electricity at the most expensive charge rate so use the heater sparingly and wisely.
Appliance OptionsDon?t leave your TV or Video on stand-by; turn it off at the power button. We all do it without thinking, however when we leave our appliances on stand-by instead of turning them off when we are not in using them, they continue to use electricity.
Did you know that on average in Irish households, leaving appliances on standby costs the Irish economy ?41 million each year? Wasted energy is costing us millions of extra euros on our bills every year, and at the same time unnecessarily damaging the environment. The other important factor to consider when using your appliances is to make the most of ESB Customer Supply's Nightsaver Tariff with your electrical appliances that can be used at night.
Over 5% of Ireland?s residential electricity usage is used by appliances on standby, which equates to over a quarter of a million tonnes of CO2 (the main greenhouse gas). This could be easily eliminated by simply switching off appliances when they are not in use. Check your house for appliances left on standby. They will most likely be: TVs, Video Recorders, DVD players, Video Games systems, Satellite Decoders, Sound Systems, PCs, and Monitors.
It is important that the next time you are buying an appliance for your household to check the label for its energy consumption rating. The higher the rating, the more money it can save you on your energy bill, and help the environment. These energy efficient appliances often cost no more than their less efficient competitors and there is a wide selection available. The energy labelling of appliances helps you to make a more informed decision when purchasing appliances, so that you can easily compare the energy consumption level of each of the different models. The appliance labelling is easy to understand - it starts from A and goes to G for most efficient to least efficient respectively. ?A? rated appliances can often save their replacement cost over their lifetime and whilst benefiting the environment with efficiency. There are also other factors to consider when purchasing a new appliance such as functionality, aesthetics and the available budget.
Timing OptionsWith everybody coming home from a long hard day at work in the evening and switching on their lights, TV, cooker, microwaves and the rest, all around the same time, we?ve developed an electricity 'rush hour' between 5pm and 7pm. So what is the electricity rush hour? Well, it?s a bit like a traffic jam where fuel is wasted and emissions rise - the same applies during the electricity 'rush hour' use. It means your electricity is not being used efficiently, especially during the winter months when the electricity demand goes up by about 20% between 5pm and 7pm rush hour in the evening. This extra pressure on the national electricity supply grid means that there are unnecessary energy costs and energy wastage. So, do your bit for helping the environment by only switching on those appliances that you actually need during 5pm and 7pm to try to reduce demand during these peak times.
So why should you try not to use some of your appliances between 5pm and 7pm? Well, quite simply the more we can do to help reduce the cost of generating electricity by reducing the amount of peak demand pressure on the national electricity grid, the lower the amount of electricity that needs to be generated by the older more expensive power stations. It helps to protect the environment by avoiding unnecessary CO2 emissions that are caused by these older generators that are totally reliant on burning fossil fuels.
Cutting back on your energy usage during rush hour peak times will have little or no impact on your daily lifestyle routine but it will have a massive impact on something that affects the whole environment by avoiding unnecessary national CO2 emissions. Not only will it help you save money on your energy bills, but it will also help to reduce the amount of imported fossil fuels which are used in large quantities to meet unnecessary demand at peak times. It will also help to reduce the more expensive form of electricity that adds considerably to the overall cost of your energy bills. Demand for power in Ireland has grown dramatically in recent times with our usage increasing on average by 4 per cent each year and continuing to grow. Peak demand reached 4,828 MW 2006 and could top 5,000 MW this winter in 2007.
The things you can do to play your part are quite simple really - switch off lights in unoccupied rooms or delay switching on dishwashers and washing machines 'til after 7 o'clock. Better yet try using ESB Customer Supply's Nightsaver Tariff with your electrical appliances that can be used at night to save you even more money. You can also switch off the TV or computer which has been left on in the back bedroom while everyone is downstairs.
For more information on our national energy usage go to www.eirgrid.com, For more information on the different types of lamps and what they could mean to you or for more information on the efficient use of your appliances go to:
www.sei.ie
