The
discovery
of
electricity
Efficient use of
electricity in the home
1
The discovery of electricity fact
sheets reviewed and updated with
the assistance of STAV Publishing
Victoria has enough natural resources to supply all of
its electricity needs well into this century. However, we
cannot relax and simply enjoy our good fortune. We know
that inefficient use of energy is expensive and damaging the
environment.
In spite of its good reserves of brown coal, the Victorian
community cannot afford to continue building power stations
as it did over the last few decades. The world cannot afford
the increasing pollution of carbon dioxide from the burning of
fossil fuels such as brown coal.
print
friendly
2
What can we do?
Use less electricity by using it more efficiently. You and your family can
do this in your home, simply and at little or no cost.
The golden rules are:
• Better manage when and how you use electrical appliances.
• Look for natural ways to keep the heat inside in winter and outside
in summer.
• Choose only the most energy efficient appliances when buying new
ones.
In Victoria, laws have been introduced requiring people to build more
energy efficient houses. Ceiling insulation alone can reduce heat loss
by up to one third.
Why should we be more efficient?
To protect the environment. If we use electricity more efficiently less
coal will be burnt, thus reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
To protect the resource. Use electricity more efficiently and the brown
coal will last longer.
To save money. Use electricity more efficiently and your family’s bills
will be lower. Victoria will also save money on building more power
stations, which will help to keep the cost of electricity down.
print
friendly
Making your home more electricity efficient
There are lots of good ways to be more electricity efficient. However,
some require the assistance of a trades person and can cost a lot of
money. In this sheet, we only tell you about things that can be done
simply, and at little or no cost.
In the Kitchen
• Your refrigerator works efficiently at a temperature of 3 degrees
Celsius. Each degree lower means that you are using five per cent
more electricity. Test the temperature by placing a thermometer on
one of the lower shelves inside the refrigerator and leaving it there
for at least 20 minutes with the door closed.
• Don’t make your refrigerator work too hard - regularly defrost older
models, leave a space of at least five cm between the back coils
and the wall, and make sure that it is not located near the stove or
sunny windows.
3
• If possible, turn the dishwasher off before the drying cycle starts.
Let the dishes dry in the stored heat of the dishwasher, or open the
dishwasher door and let them air dry.
• A microwave oven reduces the electricity used for cooking by up to
70 per cent. Use it to reheat food.
• If using a normal oven, place your food in the oven immediately after
it is turned on – the oven does not need to warm up unless you are
doing baking. As the oven temperature drops about 10 degrees
Celsius whenever you open the door, look through the oven door if
you need to check food.
print
friendly
In the bathroom
• Spend no longer than three minutes in the shower. A three-minute
shower uses less electricity than a bath.
• Tell your parents about any dripping taps. A new washer or a good
tightening may be all that is needed to stop the drips. A hot water
tap dripping once a second all day could provide enough hot water
for six five-minute showers!
In the living areas
4
• When your parents need to buy a new light bulb, suggest that they
buy a compact fluorescent lamp that fits straight into a normal light
socket. Using these energy efficient bulbs throughout your home will
reduce lighting energy by up to 80 per cent.
• Turn the lights off when you leave a room. If your lights are
fluorescent, only turn them off if you are going out for 10 minutes or
more because they use more electricity on starting up.
• Rather than switching on a heater, put on a jumper and warmer
socks if you are feeling cold.
• If you are the only person sitting in a room and you really need the
heater on, use a small heater instead of switching on the central
heating.
• If using the central heating, set the thermostat as low as is
comfortable, usually between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius. Each
degree higher means you use five per cent more electricity, so
turning the thermostat down from 22 to 18 means a saving of 20
per cent.
• Keep all doors closed to areas that you don’t want heated or cooled.
In the laundry
• Use cold or lukewarm water for washing clothes.
• Dry your jeans, t-shirts and other clothes in the sun, rather than
using the clothes dryer.
• If there’s no sun and you need to use the dryer, spin the clothes well
and use the medium instead of the high setting.
print
friendly
General hints
• Keep the heat out of your home on very hot days by closing
blinds and curtains and pulling down outside coverings on
the north and west facing windows. Allow cooler breezes in
during the night. Only use heat-producing appliances (ovens,
hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, etc) early or late in the day.
• Find ways to stop draught coming underneath or around doors.
• If you have any spare insulating material or batts, wrap them
around hot water pipes to prevent them losing heat.
Buying the most energy efficient appliances
Energy labeling was introduced in Victoria during the late 1980s for
refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dishwashers and dryers.
These appliances now use less electricity with no loss in
performance.
Each of these appliances has an Energy Rating Label which rates
its energy efficiency by a star system - the more stars, the more
efficient the appliance. Each star represents a saving of about one
tonne of carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the appliance.
The labels also tell you how many kilowatt-hours the appliance is
likely to use over a certain period. There are some big differences
between brands and even within brands, so it will pay to read the
label and to compare.
<My energy-efficient
home activity>
5
Further information
Choosing energy-efficient appliances
<http://www.energyrating.gov.au/>
<http://www.buyenergyefficient.org/>
print
friendly
Activity
My energy-efficient home
Make a poster or picture storybook based on the topic
“My energy-efficient home”.
6
Activity written by Michaela Patel
on behalf of STAV Publishing.
Your poster or picture storybook should have:
•
a minimum of five key scientific facts or
concepts about energy-efficiency
•
a clear explanation of the scientific and
technical principles involved
•
at least four annotated pictures or
diagrams that summarises the scientific
concepts and principles involved
•
a maximum of 500 words
•
a list of references used.
Efficient use of electricity in the home
Victoria has enough natural resources
to supply all of its electricity needs
well into this century. However, we
cannot relax and simply enjoy our good
fortune. We know that inefficient use of
energy is expensive and damaging the
environment.
In spite of its good reserves of brown
coal, the Victorian community cannot
afford to continue building power stations
as it did over the last few decades.
The world cannot afford the increasing
pollution of carbon dioxide from the
burning of fossil fuels such as brown coal.
What can we do?
Use less electricity by using it more
efficiently. You and your family can do this in
your home, simply and at little or no cost.
The golden rules are:
• Better manage when and how you use
electrical appliances.
• Look for natural ways to keep the heat
inside in winter and outside in summer.
• Choose only the most energy efficient
appliances when buying new ones.
In Victoria, laws have been introduced
requiring people to build more energy
efficient houses. Ceiling insulation alone can
reduce heat loss by up to one third.
Why should we be more
efficient?
To protect the environment. If we use
electricity more efficiently less coal will
be burnt, thus reducing carbon dioxide
emissions.
To protect the resource. Use electricity more
efficiently and the brown coal will last longer.
To save money. Use electricity more
efficiently and your family’s bills will be lower.
Victoria will also save money on building
more power stations, which will help to keep
the cost of electricity down.
Making your home more
electricity efficient
There are lots of good ways to be more
electricity efficient. However, some require
the assistance of a trades person and can
cost a lot of money. In this sheet, we only
tell you about things that can be done
simply, and at little or no cost.
In the Kitchen
• Your refrigerator works efficiently at a
temperature of 3 degrees Celsius. Each
degree lower means that you are using
five per cent more electricity. Test the
temperature by placing a thermometer
on one of the lower shelves inside the
refrigerator and leaving it there for at least
20 minutes with the door closed.
• Don’t make your refrigerator work too
hard - regularly defrost older models,
leave a space of at least five cm between
the back coils and the wall, and make
sure that it is not located near the stove
or sunny windows.
• If possible, turn the dishwasher off before
the drying cycle starts. Let the dishes dry
in the stored heat of the dishwasher, or
open the dishwasher door and let them
air dry.
• A microwave oven reduces the electricity
used for cooking by up to
70 per cent. Use it to reheat food.
• If using a normal oven, place your food
in the oven immediately after it is turned
on – the oven does not need to warm up
unless you are doing baking. As the oven
temperature drops about 10 degrees
Celsius whenever you open the door,
look through the oven door if you need to
check food.
In the bathroom
• Spend no longer than three minutes in
the shower. A three-minute shower uses
less electricity than a bath.
• Tell your parents about any dripping taps.
A new washer or a good tightening may
be all that is needed to stop the drips. A
hot water tap dripping once a second all
day could provide enough hot water for
six five-minute showers!
In the living areas
• When your parents need to buy a
new light bulb, suggest that they buy
a compact fluorescent lamp that fits
straight into a normal light socket. Using
these energy efficient bulbs throughout
your home will reduce lighting energy by
up to 80 per cent.
• Turn the lights off when you leave a
room. If your lights are fluorescent, only
turn them off if you are going out for 10
minutes or more because they use more
electricity on starting up.
• Rather than switching on a heater, put
on a jumper and warmer socks if you are
feeling cold.
• If you are the only person sitting in a room
and you really need the heater on, use a
small heater instead of switching on the
central heating.
• If using the central heating, set the
thermostat as low as is comfortable,
usually between 18 and 22 degrees
Celsius. Each degree higher means you
use five per cent more electricity, so
turning the thermostat down from 22 to
18 means a saving of 20 per cent.
• Keep all doors closed to areas that you
don’t want heated or cooled.
The discovery of electricity
fact sheets reviewed and
updated with the assistance
of STAV Publishing
In the laundry
• Use cold or lukewarm water for washing
clothes.
• Dry your jeans, t-shirts and other clothes
in the sun, rather than using the clothes
dryer.
• If there’s no sun and you need to use the
dryer, spin the clothes well and use the
medium instead of the high setting.
General hints
• Keep the heat out of your home on very
hot days by closing blinds and curtains
and pulling down outside coverings on
the north and west facing windows. Allow
cooler breezes in during the night. Only
use heat-producing appliances (ovens,
hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, etc) early or
late in the day.
• Find ways to stop draught coming
underneath or around doors.
• If you have any spare insulating material
or batts, wrap them around hot water
pipes to prevent them losing heat.
Buying the most energy
efficient appliances
Energy labeling was introduced in Victoria
during the late 1980s for refrigerators,
freezers, washing machines, dishwashers
and dryers.
These appliances now use less electricity
with no loss in performance.
Each of these appliances has an Energy
Rating Label which rates its energy
efficiency by a star system - the more stars,
the more efficient the appliance. Each star
represents a saving of about one tonne of
carbon dioxide emissions over the life of the
appliance. The labels also tell you how many
kilowatt-hours the appliance is likely to use
over a certain period. There are some big
differences between brands and even within
brands, so it will pay to read the label and to
compare.
Further information
Choosing energy-efficient appliances
<http://www.energyrating.gov.au/>
<http://www.buyenergyefficient.org/>