Energy Conservation at Home

Energy Audit is a precursor of energy conservation, carbon dioxide mitigation and consequent monetary savings.   Any well informed and responsible citizen can conduct a preliminary energy audit of his/her premises. Here responsible means those of us who pay our complete electricity dues on consumption basis. Generally in a household, one requires thermal energy for cooking and electrical energy for illumination, space conditioning and other sundry uses. In urban areas of Kashmir valley LPG is mostly used for cooking and space heating purposes and electricity for lighting, heating and other uses.  The audit of electrical energy can easily be done by observing closely the Electricity bill provided by our electrical utility company. The typical slab-wise tariff structure for domestic consumers in Kashmir valley is given in table.  It is pertinent to mention that it is one of the cheapest rates in the country. Restricting electricity consumption to less than 200 units per month will cost Rs. 214 excluding other charges such as meter rent. One unit of electricity means one kilo watt-hour (kWh) of energy. Thus if a hundred watt lamp remains on for 10 hours it will consume one unit of electricity. The moment one crosses 200 units per month, the electricity tariff goes a quantum jump of 26 %. Restricting one’s electricity consumption below 200 units per month, leads to substantial saving. By knowing the electrical rating of different appliances and gadgets such as lamps, tube-lights, fans, televisions, refrigerators, room heaters, geysers, washing machines, computers, mixers and grinders etc. and usage by hours per day we can easily calculate our monthly electricity consumption. After a sample study of one’s bill of a particular month, one can work out the break of power consumption and approximate monthly cost per device. All we have to do is to estimate the daily and consequently monthly hours of operation and then multiply it with the power rating of the appliance. A cumulative sum of all such products gives the monthly power consumption in kWh. Electricity bill can be generated using the tariff slab given in Table. Once we know how much energy we are using for different appliances, we can find out where much of the energy is going and for which application. In Kashmir during winter months large chunk of electricity is consumed for space and water heating purposes. It is followed by lighting and refrigerator. To minimize heating load, indigenous water heaters (matt in local parlance) should be replaced by efficient electric geysers. Replacing or supplementing conventional water heaters with solar water heaters is a much better option. A solar water heater of capacity 100 - litre per day comes in around Rs, 18,000. The capital may be obtained from designated banks Including Jammu and Kashmir Bank at 2 % interest rate and the EMI  may be paid from the savings in electricity bill. As the hot water requirement is round the year, I am of the opinion that an investment in solar water heater makes financial sense as the useful life of the device is much longer. As regarding non reliability of the solar water heaters during cloudy days my argument is that there is no system which is 100 % reliable. People resort to firewood in absence of electricity. Why can’t they resort to alternatives on cloudy days? However, I am also of the opinion that if we are supplied with hydroelectricity and if there is no shortage of electricity there is no harm in using electricity for heating purposes provided we pay our dues on consumption basis. But this is not the case, there is always a chronic shortage of power in the valley, especially during winter months when the demand is high and the flow of water is less. Most of the consumers pay fixed monthly tariffs and expect uninterrupted power supply. We consumers perhaps perceive that since water is free, hydroelectricity is also free. We fail to incorporate the cost of materials, machinery, human resources and fuel cost (for peak load) etc. Even if we are using hydroelectricity we should always use efficient appliances to ensure reliable supply. The ubiquitous 100 Watt inefficient incandescent lamps should be replaced with fluorescent tubes and lamps. The rating of lamps should be chosen according to task. The bathroom, toilet or gallery lamps should be replaced with efficient light emitting diode (LED) lamps.  With the introduction of Standards and labeling systems by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), we now have a choice of buying energy efficient products from market. A 165 -litre single door fridge bought 15 years ago, would have consumed 1,059 units per annum under test conditions, but a similar fridge bought these days consumes only 383 units per annum under the same test conditions thanks to increase in efficiency. In additions to refrigerators, BEE is also implementing Standards and Labeling systems for air conditioners, electric geysers, motors, agricultural pump sets, distribution transformers, air compressors, tube lights, ballasts and other systems. The BEE label on appliances shows expected power consumption per annum and the rating of device in terms of five stars. More stars mean more savings.

Most of us may not be aware of the fact that the LPG cylinder we buy for domestic cooking is heavily subsidized. It actually costs the government more than rupees 500 to procure a LPG cylinder, which available to us for Rs. 350. The LPG cook stove we use at home is about 50 % efficient. While buying a new cook stove we should ensure that it is more efficient. The maximum efficiency available in the market is around 65 % and the stove is rated with a green leaf. LPG can also be saved by using pressure cooker and keeping the output at minimum when the boiling is achieved. We can also supplement LPG cook stove with solar cooker. Rice, Rajmah, pulses, meat, Haak etc. are cooked nicely in a solar cooker.  This way we not only conserve energy but reduce our carbon footprint also.

Table: Domestic tariff rate

Units/month      Tariff (Rs/unit)

0-50                       0.85

51-200                   1.15

201-400                1.45

>401                      2.0