Being Smart With Electricity

We’ve all seen the EnergyWise ads on tv and I’ve seen some facebook memes along the lines of “Here’s a tip: I’m an annoying twit who doesn’t tell you anything you don’t already know.”

Well, if this is the case and we all already know these things, why is there a need for these ads?

I’ve been researching pelton wheels and solar panels and the new photovoltaic paint.  I also made the comment to a number of friends that most of the energywise things are about insulation and having the right settings on your electrical appliances.  We have a coal range in our kitchen.  The tiny firebox - and I mean tiny, it’s about 6 inches wide, 4 inches high and 12 inches deep - will heat my kitchen, my hot water to boiling and I can cook on it and in it too.  How is using electricity for all of these things smarter?  That would be at least three different appliances to do the same job that my little range can do all at the same time.

I was also talking to a lady last week who made me think about it in a new way.  She suggested that instead of finding new ways to generate our electricity, why not think about how we use it?  Her ideas went beyond the energywise stuff, she said “Do we really need heated towel rails?  Do we really need to have our houses lit up brighter than sunlight at night?  It’s night-time, it’s supposed to be dark.”

She’s right.  I have stopped and thought about some of this a bit more.  Hubby was complaining about how lousy the light was in the lounge but do we need it brighter when we’re only watching tv at night.  I have a small lamp for knitting etc but otherwise there is no need for bright lighting.  Over the sink in the kitchen is the only place I would say that this is different.

I saw a discussion this week about the end of the world on December 21st this year.  One woman was ranting on about how “they” have created this mess and we need to have a serious look at our politicians and make the right choices for saving the planet.  I always love the use of the omnipotent and usually evil “they” in conversations like this.  Who is “they”?  Do the leaders create the need for nuclear power plants overseas?  No, it’s the consumer who can’t or won’t go without all of the electrical gadgets they can afford.  I visited a house that had 5 laptops sitting open and clearly in use on the kitchen table - there were only three people there!  Air conditioning in houses is one that gets me - does no one know how to open a window anymore? Electric air fresheners strike me as one of the ultimates in wasted electricity.  People have heatpumps set to have their homes at 25 deg Celsius (or more) - what’s wrong with putting on a sweatshirt?  My parents found that putting rugs over their tiled and lino areas in winter made a huge difference to the warmth of their house.

I’m trying to go back to basics.  This means that I’m trying to be more conscious of so many of these things that I do.  I only use a hairdryer when I’m on my way out (which isn’t often) or I’m sick and leaving my long hair wet will only make me worse.  In winter, I keep a kettle on the coal range and cook my veges on it too. 

We had a blizzard last year that kept us housebound for four days.  For some of that, our electricity kept going on and off at roughly 30 second to 1 minute intervals.  I worried that it all going on and off all the time was risking serious damage to some of our appliances, especially the tv, so we turned everything off for the night.  It meant we had to be creative about what we did - the kids certainly struggled with no tv for the night but it wasn’t really that bad.  The kids really loved doing everything by candlelight.

Taking a fresh look at where we use electricity can make a huge difference.  It’s not going to stop the research into generating our own, but it may mean that we don’t need as much when we do get to that point.