Eco House Challenge Electricity 2

This is a continuation of the previous post.

Week 5. No More Pool Pump.

I did something I never thought I would do. I turned off the pool pump, and guess what? The pool stayed clean all week without it! Something as simple as that could save us 4 to 6 kWh a day! Why did I not think of it earlier? (because it was a silly thing to do, read on)

Week 6. Oh no, not the beer fridge!

This week was another simple thing that anyone could do, if they have the courage. Turn off the second fridge. It was only a small bar fridge but it made a big difference. And do you know what? We haven’t missed it one little bit. I believe that an Esky full of ice is cheaper to run when you really need a cold beer. Another 1.5 kWh a day down the gurgler.

Week 7 to 10. A Sustainable Result.

We had made the biggest impact in the previous week and now we were just after smaller reductions a week, just through awareness. It worked well and we began to spend more time together watching the latest Eco House challenge and spent more time talking about creating a sustainable future. We actually started reading books and magazines to continue our thirst for knowledge about all things sustainable.

Week 11. The Bearings are stuffed!

I went to clean my pool manually as we had a bit of a storm during the week, and the pool pump just hummed and did not start. I had to pull it apart and move the little plastic flywheel at the back to free up the motor brushes. The pool guy said that I should run the pump for at least an hour a day, just to make chlorine (my pool is salt-water) and to stop the pump from freezing again. I admitted defeat and now have the pump on for 1 hour a day. Add one kWh back on per day!

The Result

Our first 11 weeks gave us a fantastic result. The weekly average for electricity was 14.9 kWh per day for the week. That was a reduction of 52.1% from our baseline week! All very simple things to do, without spending too much money. The only expenditure for this part of the project was for the CFL’s and I haven’t replaced one since I bought them over a year ago. We managed to continue at a relatively steady base line for the next four weeks (see graph).

I was so impressed with our efforts. This put us in a good place for the installation of our solar photovoltaic array. During week 11 I ordered a 2.8 kW system from the team at Energy Matters, however installation was not due until September 2007, but that was another challenge!

I will continue with the other eco hotspots in the following posts.