The Electricity Saving Thread

**pup2** · January 28th, 2008 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by userfriendly

Any idea how many watts ang LED equivalent ng 36 watt FL? How long kaya ang payback period?

You can also lower your AC thermostat to save electricity.
Insulate your roof.
Put your PC into standby when you wont use it for a short time.
If you have good ventilation, evaporative coolers can replace your AC.
Use timers on security or perimeter lightings.

Itong roof/insulation parang maganda i-try. Napansin ko hindi uso sa Pinas ito pero di ba it's just as applicable for heat as it is for cold? Ano bang material ginagamit dito? Sa kisame lang ba ito o sa windows/doors/walls din? Hindi ba very flammable yung material?

**userfriendly** · January 28th, 2008 09:54 PM

Originally Posted by pup2

Itong roof/insulation parang maganda i-try. Napansin ko hindi uso sa Pinas ito pero di ba it's just as applicable for heat as it is for cold? Ano bang material ginagamit dito? Sa kisame lang ba ito o sa windows/doors/walls din? Hindi ba very flammable yung material?

Polyethalyne foam insulation (spelling?). Comes in single sided aluminum and double side aluminum. Double side more effective. 10mm should be sufficent. Lagay mo sa roof/yero not ceiling. Fire resistant material ito. Dont use fiberglass insulation, sobrang kati.

Easily found in MC Home Depot. Price is around P70/square meter.

**pup2** · January 31st, 2008 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by userfriendly

Polyethalyne foam insulation (spelling?). Comes in single sided aluminum and double side aluminum. Double side more effective. 10mm should be sufficent. Lagay mo sa roof/yero not ceiling. Fire resistant material ito. Dont use fiberglass insulation, sobrang kati.

Easily found in MC Home Depot. Price is around P70/square meter.

OOh. Cool! I'll try it! Another occasion for the use of my friendly spare electric meter!

**theveed** · January 31st, 2008 08:09 PM

Yes, im really surprised that so many houses in Phil still don't insulate their roofs... It's a friggin convection oven on top of your house if you don't insulate...

**ghosthunter** · February 1st, 2008 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by theveed

Yes, im really surprised that so many houses in Phil still don't insulate their roofs... It's a friggin convection oven on top of your house if you don't insulate...

It depends on the budget of the home builder. My parents' house has two layers of insulation sheets in the roof.

**ghosthunter** · February 1st, 2008 05:11 PM

Here's one for the books.

Replace your 40 watt fluorescent tube lights with a single Philips 23 watt Tornado CFL bulb. It provides the equivalent illumination of a 125 watt incandescent bulb with almost half the energy consumption of the 40 watt fluorescent tube.

http://www.lamptech.co.uk/Spec%20She...%20Tornado.htm

**dx8976** · February 4th, 2008 01:10 PM

i have some questions on this topic that hopefully someone can shed some light on (pun intended)

if you switch the light on and the bulb is busted does it still consume power? if it does, does it consume as much as if when the bulb is still working? if you switch the light on and there is no bulb attached to it?

if an appliance is plugged in does it still consume power even if it is turned off and it does not have a standby mode? (electric fan as opposed to tv)

does turning on an a/c consume a lot of power so that it is more energy efficient to leave it on overnight than to have it switch on and off (on 2 hours / off 30 mins, repeat)?

TIA for any advice on the subject.

**theveed** · February 4th, 2008 02:26 PM

Shopped around yesterday, di naman pala sobrang mahal yung LED bulbs eh, each 1W round or tear-drop shaped bulb costs around S$9 or about P260... Not that far off from CFL.

**ghosthunter** · February 4th, 2008 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by theveed

Shopped around yesterday, di naman pala sobrang mahal yung LED bulbs eh, each 1W round or tear-drop shaped bulb costs around S$9 or about P260... Not that far off from CFL.

At the moment, the lighting applications of LED bulbs are a bit limited due to the brightness limits of LED but I do hope in the near future, they would be much much brighter.

BTW, those Philips LED being sold at ACE hardware is basically useless for lighting purposes and not to mention too expensive as well.

I'll try to find some LED bulbs when I go to singapore next month.

**ghosthunter** · February 4th, 2008 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by dx8976

i have some questions on this topic that hopefully someone can shed some light on (pun intended)

if you switch the light on and the bulb is busted does it still consume power? if it does, does it consume as much as if when the bulb is still working? if you switch the light on and there is no bulb attached to it?

nope. Generally the circuit is broken when the bulb goes bust or is not screwed into the socket.

if an appliance is plugged in does it still consume power even if it is turned off and it does not have a standby mode? (electric fan as opposed to tv)

Nope. If your device has no stand-by mode, then it doesn't consume any power if off. But if your device has even a tiny LED light to show "power" then it consumes power (just a little bit).

does turning on an a/c consume a lot of power so that it is more energy efficient to leave it on overnight than to have it switch on and off (on 2 hours / off 30 mins, repeat)?

Nope, the act of turning on your A/C only consumes a small spike of power. The problem is you might be stressing the A/C's mechanical parts than you should be. Normally simply adjusting the A/C's thermostat to a comfortable level and turning it off for the last 30 to 60 mins before leaving the room would be enough to save you a lot of watts.

Some A/Cs already have a "double" plug where you can plug in an electric fan so the A/C's built-in timer will turn off the A/C and automatically turn on the electric fan to keep the cool longer with less power.