Lower My Bills: High Electric Idle Load (Part 3 of 3)
This article is part of a collection of articles devoted to cutting utility bills, including cheaper electric and gas bills. We cover recommendations based on five ways to cut your energy bills. This is part 3 on handling a high electric idle load. Read part 1 and part 2 if you haven’t already.
We’ve talked about how timers are such great easy to use and affordable devices in handling high idle loads. If you are a Californian, all electricity companies are set to change electricity pricing to TOU (Time of Use) by the year 2020. If you care about cheaper electricity, timers become even more important in lowering electric bills to control when you use electricity.
For all these reasons, we will now talk about timers some more in reducing high idle loads.
Use Timers When You Can
Indoor or outdoor timers will turn devices on for specific amounts of time during the day. We shared a good video earlier explaining how timers work. Examples of opportunities:
- Battery chargers, especially the bigger ones used for handheld tools, have been measured at 40 watts continuously, even when the battery is fully charged
- Whole house audio system amplifier: 150 watts continuously
- Drinking water coolers that are only needed during the day
- Instant hot water dispensers found on kitchen sinks that are only needed during certain times (for hot tea, etc.)
- Entertainment systems can be put on a power strip attached to a timer so that everything is off except for hours that you are likely to use it.
Take a look around the house for devices that:
- you use most days,
- but never at certain times, and
- are annoying to unplug manually
Note: Timers usually have an override mode. This way you can still use these appliances when you want to but still keep everything configured for normal periodic use by switching back to timer mode.
There are many types of timers. Many allow for multiple on/off times during the day or even weekday/weekend distinction. We’ve mentioned this in other articles. Some recommendations include:
Because we really appreciate the value people can get out of timers, here are some more specific application of timers for stuff that we’ve seen with high idle loads.
Use Timer or Motion Sensor on Lights
In most situations, lights don’t need to be on during the day when natural daylight can suffice. It’s much better if the lights only turn on when it’s dark, or when someone enters the room or opens the closet door. Install a timer, motion sensor, or LED bulb for your lighting needs. Usually the payback period for installing a device is just a few weeks to months because of the energy savings.
Check SmartHome.com for light switches with timers, light sensors, closet door sensors, occupancy and motion sensors. Any handyman or DIY enthusiast can install most of these devices. Also, here are two excellent LED nightlights that work great fromSylvania and GreenLite.
Use Timer on Your Fountain
If you currently have a fountain on all the time, you can schedule a simple timer so that you only pay for electricity when you will enjoy it. Install an appropriate timer for your fountain:
Use Timer on Recirculation Pump
They are often a big power hog and invisible to you. We have devoted an article just talking about the cost of a recirculation pump. If you get hot water in your home fairly quickly, then you probably have one of these. They work nonstop to pump hot water throughout your pipes, so you don’t have to turn the hot water on for too long before it’s hot.
There’s no need to sacrifice the convenience of having accessible hot water. Again, a home can be wasting a lot of electricity having a water pump work nonstop when no one is about to use hot water. Water is heavy and takes a lot of energy to pump. Most people use hot water at only certain parts of the day. Timer to the rescue!
This is what a recirculation pump may look like:
They are normally found alongside the water heater, on one of the pipes leading from it. Sometimes they are hard to find, but they require electricity so there should be a plug or electric conduit going to it as well.
Search for an appropriate timer for your system, such as a timer like this one. Then you can try to DIY (do it yourself) or call an electrician to help you connect it.
Try to understand what schedule works for your home but one example schedule is to provide instant hot water for 2 hours in the morning for showers and 2 hours at night for dishes. Here is a helpful reference article.
You can install a timer on your recirc pump and not waste hot water and money at 4 am. The fewer hours you keep it running, the more you’ll save! These timers cost about $20 at any hardware store, and you’ll make your money back within less than a month.
If you really don’t want to be constrained by a schedule, then consider configuring a smart control for your recirc pump. The pump can turn itself on 15 minutes before use and automatically turn itself off.
Disable/Unplug Recirc Pump
We’ve worked with people who decide to just not have a recirc pump. If you didn’t install the pump yourself, are you certain that you even need the recirc pump at all? Try without it for a week and see if you really need it.
Replace with an On Demand Hot Water Device
If you feel you do need a boost to your hot water, particularly at locations far away from your water heater, you can look at getting something that can fit under the sink: www.chilipepperapp.com (costs around $200). Note: We get no commissions from any retailer; links are provided as examples only.
If you want more information, we reviewed the ChiliPepper and offered some alternatives and suggestions.
Reminder: This is just part 3 of a three-part series.Read part 1 and part 2 if you haven’t already.
