Save energy, save resources.
LIGHT
Change your lighting into low energy LEDs. This will reduce power consumption by 20%, and – as the bulbs cost the same – a LED bulb lasts 10 years, while the usual light bulbs (Neon types), only last 2 years. Thus in a typical house with say 25 bulbs, you will have a one-time investment of Ksh 250 per lamp, or,Ksh6,250, and then you will keep these lamps for 10 years, thereby spend Ksh 625 per year on lamps. In comparison you would spend Ksh 3,125 per year on fluorescent bulbs.
POWER
Switch off unnecessary loads in your house. Engage room automation systems to ensure lights and HVAC is switched off depending on the prevailing environment.
AIR CONDITIONING
Put solar-reflecting film on the OUTSIDE of the windows. If you put it on the inside and the glass contains IRON, then the window glass itself will absorb heat from the sun, thereby heat up the room anyway. Nevertheless during cold seasons this can come handy and you would now reverse the process.
Remove fridges from inside the house, as they heat up the house when running.
KITCHEN
Always cover the pots every time you are cooking (boiling, heating up). Whether you use electrical cooker or gas cooker. As a result you can boil a huge pot of beans, rice, or anything else on the smallest cooker, at the smallest level of fire. Always cover your frying pan with a lid, and reduce the consumption of fire.
USE pressure cooker if you can. Most foods can boil under pressure. Say, brown rice boils at 120 degrees, at 2 atm pressure in 12 minutes instead of boiling at 100 degrees at 1 atm pressure in 45 minutes. Green grams boils in 20 minutes under pressure, compared to sometimes hours in a normal pot. This ends up saving enormous amounts of energy. Cook for more than one day at a time. Say If you boil 2 kilo of beans, then split it after boiling into small portions of 500 gram each. The result of this is, that instead of 13 kg of gas lasting 2 to 3 months, for a normal family with 3 to 5 persons, it lasts 5 to 6 months. Use the freezer to store for a day later same week, such that you don’t eat the same food every day while still you do not boil beans every time.
Use a thermos to keep already boiled water hot, (and never fill anything except boiling water into it – never milk – never porridge, never tea, never coffee) This will save some 10% on the electricity budget..
WATER
Now that we live in the equator zone you have no excuse for not setting up a solar heated water tank. You can get used to showering in the evening, at sunset, and avoid any consumption of energy to heat water for shower – this can save as much as 10 to 50% of your electricity budget, and if you use other means for water heating – even more. Also consider using heat pump for heating purposes.
Bathe in cold water. It is healthy, and saves maybe up to 50% of your electricity budget.
FRIDGE
The fridge works in that it moves heat from inside to outside, while keeping an insulating temperature barrier between inside and outside. Therefore, if you are in position to do so, let it run in the night time, and keep a door or window open, thereby you save energy while it runs. Avoid direct sunlight on your fridge. Often the kitchen is heated up due to cooking. Therefore, keep the fridge outside of the kitchen.
If possible have the heating element of the fridge be outside of the house, in the open. Thereby letting the heating element have access to the open outside. If possible you can also connect the heating element to incoming water to the water heater, as the heat from the fridge will then pre-heat the water inlet to the hot water tank, thereby save water heating. The same incoming water, will cool the heating element much more efficiently thereby reduce the running time of the fridge compressor.
