Christian Peregin
Ten ways to save energy
New Year's Resolutions are easily forgotten but if you are already feeling the pinch of rising water and electricity costs, maybe you should set some energy-saving rules which you will actually follow. Here are 10 tips that you could adopt for 2009.
1) If you are going to buy new appliances this year, choose eco-friendly ones. They tend to be more expensive, but they will save you money in the long run. Look out for the guarantees though, to make sure the appliances will survive long enough to get your money's worth.
2) As an alternative to energy-guzzling appliances do this: only heat up rooms you are using, warm up with more clothes and blankets instead of electric heaters, wash your clothes in cold instead of hot water and use a clothes line or a laundry rack instead of a tumble dryer. If you have an electric hob and oven consider buying an alternative gas hob to use for things that take long to cook, and use a microwave oven instead of the electric one.
3) If your fridge was built more than eight years ago, the chances are that a substantial part of your electricity bill is being spent on its inefficiency. Changing it now, while the running cost is increasing, will be an investment worth making. If you don't think it's worth replacing just yet, check the condition of the door's seal and replace it if it is damaged.
4) If you use air-conditioning, try installing ceiling fans instead. They are incredibly more efficient, even when compared to standing fans. And if you must switch on your AC, make sure the doors and windows are closed, switch on the timer, and set the temperature at a steady comfortable level. Also note that if you want to heat a room, air-conditioning is more efficient that electric heating, but gas heaters are a better idea.
5) If you have not done so yet, make the switch to energy-saving light bulbs. No need to wait for the government to give out the free bulbs it promised - those can be made use of later. Traditional bulbs use up more electricity on producing heat than giving off light - they are just not worth having anymore. Also, switch off lights and appliances whenever you do not need them on. The impression that switching on and off electrical appliances and light bulbs means more consumption than leaving them on is a myth.
6) You cannot save much from computers, but simple things can make a difference. Keep your computer on sleep instead of on screensaver. And if you still use the old CRT (curved) screens, replace them with newer LCD flat-screens. The latter are far more efficient.
7) Buy a timer for your water heater (geyser) so that it only switches on an hour before you actually need the hot water. They do not cost much, but if you are ready to time your shower schedule accordingly, you can make big savings. Also, set the temperature to around 55 degrees Celsius, not more. You can also choose to replace your electric with a more efficient gas water heater or better still a solar water heater. When offset against the recurring cost of the new bills, the money spent on replacing your old electric unit can be recouped in a short span of time.
8) Be bathroom-efficient. Install a water-efficient showerhead, and shorten your showers by a couple of minutes. If you have baths, try use a little less water each time. When shaving, switch off the tap, and try washing your face and brushing your teeth in the shower.
9) Save water by running your dishwasher and washing machine only when they are full.
10) Collect the water you use for washing vegetables and fruit and use them to water the plants.
*Tips compiled with the help of engineer and environmentalist Marco Cremona and the websites www.michaelbluejay.com and www.wateruseitwisely.com.
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Christopher Debattista
Jan 7th 2010, 09:21
FLINTSTONES, MEET THE FLINTSTONES - LALALA - DAQT NIBDA NISMA LILL MISSIERI JAGHAJJAT LILL OMMI WILMA !
alex darmanin
Jan 4th 2009, 23:30
I have other suggetions.......
use old cloths instead of toilet paper, wash them and re-use them (if you have a big family don't forget to print your name on them)
use battery torches, lighters or alight a piece of wood half soaked in parrafin when going from a room through another instead of switching on electricity
save dehumidifier water, you can make a nice 'borma brodu' with it
:))
lgalea
Jan 4th 2009, 09:30
M Grech
See my comment to Mr Bezzina
Seems you both had your legs pulled on the microwave.
Re the small wattage bulbs I was not writing about consumption, but about having to pay an additional tax on them and also because they are going to be banned by the eu in a couple of years time.
K Stivala
Jan 4th 2009, 07:47
Here is another suggestion:
Share your bath water. If you live alone, bottle it up and give it to your friends....
M Grech
Jan 4th 2009, 07:22
@igalea:
Have you ever heard that a microwave is much more energy efficient than a traditional electric oven. Gas does not come into it. We are talking about electricity consumption rates.
More hilarious is your reference to bulbs in fridges, cookers, night lamps etc. These would consume around 7W each. If you leave your fridge OPEN for 142 hours ie 6 days with the bulb on you would consume ONE unit. But then you wouldn't need the fridge, I guess!
lgalea
Jan 4th 2009, 00:11
Albert Bezzina
Re microwave cooker you apparently didn't notice that I was just joking.
Re energy savers, no. I have long been using them, but I like the rest of the Maltese people were promised 10 energy savers and I don't see why Gonzipn should not keep his word.
Re fridges and other appliances, that's exactly my point. Why put a tax on such small wattage bulbs when they come on for only a few minutes? Makes absolutely no sense except to tax the people to their last cent. And no. That's not scraping the bottom of the barrel. As for LEDs, they do not give the same light as the small bulbs.
edward bartolo
Jan 3rd 2009, 23:06
I would like to ask this:
Why are computers so wasteful on energy?!
The fault is not the consumer's, but the manufacturer's. If a laptop can have, more or less, the same processing power of a desktop, why on earth do we find desktop computers using a power of around 1000W?!
v.vella
Jan 3rd 2009, 22:19
Re suggestion 8 ;try washing your face and brushing your teeth in the shower.
Now why didn't i think of that?! I always showered from the neck down!!!!!
Albert Bezzina
Jan 3rd 2009, 20:10
Energy waste has crept on all of us with so much subtlety that we do not notice the waste we can easily live without. Waste practices have accumulated from of lack of sensitivity because of cheaper and subsidized energy.
@Igalea.
U ejja! Microwaves heat up food from the inside saving on heating time and energy use.
You are still waiting for a few light bulbs? I find it hard to believe that you cannot afford to buy them yourself - or do you use only internet cafés to enter your comments on The Times!.
Fridge light comes on for a total of maybe 5 minutes a day. You loose more energy from the loss of cold air when you open the fridge. You could fit an LED bulb if you are so finicky!
Sewing machines? You are really scraping the bottom of the barrel. What are the chances of having more than a couple of hundred sewing machines going at the same time in the whole of Malta. With their bulbs at around 7 watts = maybe 7kw from the whole of Malta. LED night-lights exist at 1 watt, or are you waiting for that too from GonziPN?
michael fenech
Jan 3rd 2009, 17:13
All I can say is UNBELIEVABLE. this is Malta in 2009.
Eugenio Taliana
Jan 3rd 2009, 16:11
Congratulations everyone "Rebbiegha Gdida!"
lgalea
Jan 3rd 2009, 15:48
"and use a microwave oven instead of the electric one.."
Does your microwave work with gas?
Energy savers. When are you going to distribute them Gonzipn? Guess just before the June EP election.
Traditional bulbs. How can you replace them in fridges, cookers, sewing machines, night lamps etc..?
In other words, Gonzipn has sent us back to Flintstones times.
C Zammit
Jan 3rd 2009, 14:58
@ Paul Barrett
Do I do I sniff a matelot ? :-)
Margery Proops
Jan 3rd 2009, 14:43
Has anyone told Bush and the Americans all this?
Paul Barrett
Jan 3rd 2009, 14:11
Here are another three ways to save water:
1. Place a 1 ltr size brick in the water closet - thus 1 ltr of water saved at each use.
2. A less hygienic solution but if you really want to save water, work out the following flushing rules:
If it's yellow let it mellow - if it's brown, flush it down.
3. Ship shower: Turn on the shower water, get wet and turn off the water. Soap down and scrub, turn on the shower water to rinse off. Although not the most luxurious way to have a shower, the amount of water saved is enormous.
Matthew Agius
Jan 3rd 2009, 13:48
Back to stone age?
Isn't it that we are all going to abide? Pff..
If it weren't for man's relentless waste and disregard the world's energy situation/crisis wouldn't have arrived to this?
It's about time we start saving our planet rather than just acting pretty because we have to go to 'stone age'.
wally vella-zarb
Jan 3rd 2009, 13:23
Back to the age of Hippies and Flower Power! Popular slogan from the sixties:-
"Save water - take a bath with a friend!"
;-)
Lorry Dalli
Jan 3rd 2009, 13:03
You forgot to tell us to only have a bath(or maybe a shower) once a month.
I would think that most Maltese would be aware of the above suggestions already(with few exceptions ). We are not now nor have we ever been wasteful when it comes to Electricity and Water consumption. In fact when I lived abroad, and only came to Malta occasionally ,I used to consider the people of these Islands as mean(wrongly as it turns out).
Bring down the rates to what is decent and acceptable and don't expect us to have to pay for the wasteful Enemalta's past .
Jean-Pierre Aquilina
Jan 3rd 2009, 12:48
in a nutshell...eliminate waste!
marco desira
Jan 3rd 2009, 12:17
Mr Borg,
Get to grips with reality. We only have one planet. Not wasting its resources might be a wise thing to do.
Stephen J. Borg
Jan 3rd 2009, 10:11
Back to stone age !!!