Saving on electricity

Just want to find out how and if you guys have tricks and tips for saving electricity. Especially if you have a couple of tanks running

 

I keep tanks unheated where possible and use 6-8 hour light cycles depending on tank. Keeping the tops on and insulating the tank sides will also reduce heating needs

 

I run heaters in all my tanks, but they are all set at about 26°C, and only come one to regulate the temperature.
Lights are all on a timer, and run for a max of 8 hours a day.
All lights apart from 1 are LED.

 

what i did at one point was heat the room and insulated the room rather than each tank. Short term saved on electricity long term cost me way more from all damp damage done to room, had to re plaster all wall and redo cupboards that where in the room.
have thought of covering all sides except front panel with polystyrene but at price and what electricity cost per tank think it will take 18 months to actually save my money with only having 2 tanks these days

 

In Summer i have found that alhough my heaters are always on for safety sake they hardly ever actually switch on
In winter, polystyrene at back and sides as well as glass slidders on top help to maintain temperature and save on heating.
On very, very cold winter nights i often throw a geyser or first aid blanket over the tank, these work wonders

We have also found that the big tanks, contrary to what many might think, use less electricity to keep warm than our smaller tanks as, due to the large volume of water it retains temperature better.

 

As a ROF (Retired Ol' Fart) I have wrestled with the problem of saving on my electricity bill.

I'm down to one tank now, but for a for a long time I suffered from MTS and had 10 tanks going.
I really, really didn't find that all those tanks made a marked difference in my electricity consumption.

The biggest consumer of electricity is the geyser. Forget about "Geyser Blankets" They don't work effectively enough to justify the cost.

Put a timer on your Geyser, or simply switch it on and off manually.

Seriously Guys, For the last couple of years I've been switching my geyser on for only 2 hours in the early morning, and the water stays hot enough for normal usage the whole day... And I'm still able able to enjoy a nice hot shower at bedtime.

This has effectively Halved my electricity consumption.

 

you are very right @Noodle.... if we look around the house there are in fact many things that consume more electricity than the tanks!!

I changed to a heat pump about 5 years ago and that brought mine down i would say about 35%

 

In some cases is costs more to turn your geyser on / off due to the power needed to reheat the water instead of keeping it at a constant temp. So if your geyser isnt providing for a large family and the pipes don't run too far to reach the taps then yes. Otherwise just be a tad careful

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

Geysers use soooo much electricity . I went over to pre-paid about a year ago . I have savings of about 60% . Put my geyser on a timer its on for only 1,5 hours a day . Have hot water when needed throughout the day . Obviously dont take long hot baths . I calculated that to date I have saved R12000 since going pre-paid . Unless @HeinrichvH you are already on pre-paid.

 

Not on prepaid yet. Planning on going that route soon

 

Going pre- paid is what will save you money

 

Redid my whole house with LED lights, installed 2 solar geysers, took out the electric stove and replace with gas hob. Is saving R2000 a month. Gas come in at R280 per 6-9 months
Yes i know that cost a big amount of capital. But I took it like a car instalment.
Will pay back the capital in 4 years time and will then just save. If electricity cost go up, which it will, then it will be faster.
After that will go totally off the grid with solar panels.
Oh yes and went off the grid with water. Drilled borehole and collect about 60% of roof water.
They say it takes money to make money, but it also takes money to save money which makes it difficult unfortunately.

 

@Wilhelm . What's the price for drilling a borehole ?

 

Paid R380 per meter, casing included.
Got water on 26m and drilled a sump to 50m

 

Who did you use to install the pre paid meter?

 

I went to my local civic center. The forms are available there . Filled them out got a reference number. They contact you when they they can come and remove the current meter and replace with prepaid. Don't go with those que for you scammers. They always have a story why they need to go back , and you will be charged everytime they do . Get the documents fill it out at home and go back.

 

When looking at saving electricity from a house hold point of view geysers and fridges/freezers are your main consumers by far. Fridge and freezers you cant do much about until you replace them, then look for types that are energy efficient. As for the geyeser this is a very hot topic even at my work (we do energy efficiency assessments). In 99% of the cases we have found switching the geyser on and off saves on electricty also make sure temp on geyser is set to around 65C. I would not recomend a lower temp as bacteria would start to grow etc.

From an aquarium point of view. The main consumers of electricity will be lights, heaters and circulation pump/s. From a lighting point LED will be the most efficient on a lux per wattage basis. Cutting down on heater energy consumption comes down to insulation. This can be done in various ways, extra polystyrene or even cover your tank at night with a blanket. It all depends on you and your needs. Also when doing water changes its cheaper to use geyser water thats already heated than pooring in cold water and heating it in the aquarium. Circulation pumps is a bit more tricky like the fridges previously mentioned. When buying them make shure you get the required flow rate and head for the least amount of wattage. Also note that variable speed pumps like dc pumps will consume less energy when you slow them down. Non adjustable pump's speed can be adjusted by meens of valves but this will not reduce energy consumption.

Hope this helps. Excuse my spelling and grammar I am a boer seuntjie at hart.

 

Hi aha,

Just to guide you on the right direction, bacteria can only start to grow in 50degC and less. 60degC is the average temp you should have on your geyser as going over this is bad for the element and thermostat as they wont last long

Geyser blankets do work but not a lot, but you need a decent one, not a cheapie

Geyser timers is very debatable....some say it works some say they dont as if you turn your geyser on once a day for 2 hours, it heats up the geyser for 2 hours, as this is the average time to heat up a 150L geyser to 60degC.
Now if you keep it on or dont have a timer it only turns on for 5 minutes every half hour or so, to regulate the 60degC, depending on outside temp or area where installed

We have installed lots and lots of geyser timers and some customers say they see a decrease in elec bills and some say they dont

 

I agree 100%. I only said 65C seeing as geyser thermostats arent 100% correct and you will have heat loss in your pipe system thats why I would say go with 65C just to be safe. But at the end of the day its your geyeser and your choice.

As for the timers like i mentioned some are for it and some are against it. Personally at home I can see a difference but thats just me there are so many variables to take in consideration with regards to this argument. My advice would be to try it out for a month and see what happens to your bill and go from there.