Monday 11 January 2016

Saving energy

Sometime last year (maybe around July), I joined a queue of people awaiting a LED bulb giveaway sponsored by the Department of Energy and our Light & Power Company.
Each householder was entitled to the giveaway provided you had a current electricity bill and your National ID card.

  
The bulbs are manufactured here on the island by Caribbean LED Lighting Inc.
Five LED bulbs were given to each patron in the giveaway.
After installing and using the bulbs for a few months, I realised that the claim of  "Up to 90% on lighting savings" was indeed true....I was so elated.
It was then that I decided to change all the bulbs both upstairs and downstairs to all LED bulbs.
As luck would have it, another energy initiative was introduced and I received bulbs for my daughter and my second home as well.
The only thing was that the bulbs in the giveaway were the individual screw in type, but I also needed the LED tube bulb for the kitchens. 
I had to" pull my pocket" this time around.
I trekked off to my favourite hardware store and purchased the LED tube for the light fixture in the kitchen upstairs.
 My friend Charles came by and with his re-wiring expertise, the new LED bulb was installed.
 
 This kitchen light is the one that is used most of the time, and I can tell you that the bill does not reflect this habit at all.
My electricity bill looks better every day as I seek out new ways to reduce my energy consumption.
I have placed my electrical gadgets on power strips which I only flip to the "on" switch when I am actually using the item.
All lights are kept off except when in use.
If only I can find a cheap way to reduce the energy consumption of my fridge without the use of solar panels, I would be the happiest woman alive!
This year I'll be looking into a "noiseless wind turbine/windmill system"...I've seen them being built by novices like myself on the internet...wish me luck.

5 comments:

  1. We put all LED lights in our new house. We also have solar hot water and power generating roof panels. Our bill is much less but electricity is still expensive. Good luck with your wind turbine. That would be fantastic.

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    Replies
    1. I'm a bit wary about placing the solar water equipment on my roof but lots of folks do enjoy hot water from their solar heaters installed by the two companies on the island.
      The sun warms my pipes so nicely, that there is no need for the solar heater in my opinion. I like tepid water not extra hot so I'm good.
      The LED lights have led to significant savings on electricity costs.

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  2. We are terribly wasteful of energy so any tips on siple ways to reduce our usage are always welcome. LED lights here we come...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CJ you will be surprised at the savings from the LED bulbs.
      Try to find good power strips to plug your electrical gadgets into....when you go to bed at night or leaving the house for long periods of time you just flip them to off.
      I don't think many people realise that most appliances and electronics are in stand by mode which also pulls electricity.
      My house used to full of little dots of lights from every electrical gadget, some red, some blue, some green, now they're only on if I allow them to be on.

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  3. Great Initiative Virginia, every individual should take some major steps for energy saving as it is very important resource. Same initiative was taken by Government of India under Energy Efficiency Program. They have distributed over 21 Cr LED bulbs. I have heard of one amazing power saving gadget i.e Ohm Assistant Power Monitor Device which monitors real time energy consumption of each and every individual appliance via smartphone or computer thereby resulting in energy saving or money saving on electric bills. It can also detect power leakages if any and can offer you day wise graphical representation of power consumption.
    https://ohmassistant.com/

    ReplyDelete

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