KCE staff help find the waste

Ruapehu Bulletin, 1 September 1992, Page 8

KCE staff help find the waste

A positive thing to come out of the recent electricity crisis is an increased awareness of the need to conserve energy. King Country Energy, rather than encourage people to now use more power, are promoting continued energy conservation. "We no longer count our success in terms of the number of units sold," said marketing supervisor Bruce Clow. "We are increasingly looking for other measures of better performance." He said KCE now keeps a tally of the number of minutes supply is cut to customers around the board's area, with the aim being to keep it to a minimum. "If we can continuously supply energy to our consumers - that is going to be one of the yardsticks by which we measure our performance." He said it could be likened to suppling water to a domestic consumer. A good supply is seen as one that doesn't falter and provides quality product - the amount used isn't usually relevant. KCE offers an advisory service to cus-

tomers to help find ways to save energy. The service is free to both domestic consumers and most commercial users. Hot water heating accounts fbr around 45 per cent of power used in most homes, so savings there can add up to a much lower power bill for many people. Cylinder wraps are being promoted throughout the country. They cost about $75 and can save $70 to $100 per year. The advantage is greater with older cylinders, but even newer A grade cylinders, there are savings to be had, said Bruce. "We ran two new cylinders side by side, one wrapped and one unwrapped, with the same hot water drawoff and the wrapped cylinder still used 25 per cent less electricity." "If every hot water cylinder in the board's area had a cylinder wrap that would amount to a saving of $250,000 worth of electricity per year." One argument against wraps is that people loose their airing cupboard, but Bruce said there are more efficient ways to

air clothing. He said a very small heater, drawing a small amount of power, works well. A reduced flow shower rose is another easy way to save hot water electricity. They are very easy to fit and ! cost from about $30 upwards. Lagging hot water pipes is important to avoid heat loss too, especially in the cold Ruapehu climate. Unless you use a large amount of hot water each day, another way to save both power and dollars is to have your cylinder hooked up to a nightrate circuit. This can provide good savings for commercial users, as KCE adviser Dennis Malloy pointed out to Bulletin staff. The newspaper office uses very little hot water so putting the cylinder onto the night rate, costing about four cents a unit instead of about 11 cents, makes good financial sense. Dennis and Bruce identified heating as the next big area were savings could be made in the Bulletin office. Electric fan heaters, costing about 30 cents and hour to run, heat the building - which

Bruce said was a costly use of the power. They suggested nightstore heating or air conditioning units to heat the office. Nightstore heaters switch on during off peak power rates and off for two periods during the day when power use is at its peak. Because they store heat and release it when switched off, the temperature alters very little. 'The idea behind off-peak rates is to make use of power generation which is otherwise going to waste. If you've got a hydro dam there' s water running through the turbines or over the spillway all the time. You can't turn a dam off at night." He said contrary to what many may think, storage heaters were not turned off during the power crisis. Insulating your building is the next big heat saving area, and there are advantages with doing more than the standard, said Bruce. The colder the climate the more costeffective (energy saving) insulation can be. The main thing is to install the insulation properly. Just like a

blanket on a bed, gaps and holes let the heat out. So putting in the maximum insulation, installed properly, saves heaps. Double glazing is expensive but does save energy. Here too, the colder the climate, the more savings in energy can be made. For example, many ski lodges on Whakapapa are double glazed to insulate against blizzards outside. Energy efficient lighting is another area for saving. New bulbs which cost more ini-

tially, but burn less power and last longer are now available. Bruce said these are best where the lights are turned on for long periods, such as in living - dining and kitchen areas. Turning the compact fluorescent on and off shortens their life, so the cost effectiveness is lost. Bruce said the energy crisis has brought home the importance of energy conservation to many people. He said there have been cases where staff have

identified huge potential savings for people, but they haven't taken the advice. He said there was one case where a commercial operator could have saved $2500 over 18 months by installing energy efficient light bulbs. "There's a lot of inertia - especially when there is a large capital outlay to be made. But people are taking those decisions more and more - now that they see all the advantages of energy conservation."