Consumers are driven by rising energy prices and environmental considerations to save electricity. Consumers may view the environment as a whim or a fraud, but if it results in an additional cost, this must be taken into account.
Of course, energy will not go anywhere, its consumption will increase, the number of sources will increase and the most harmful ones will be replaced. Savings do not mean limitation, but wise use. You can economically spend one hundred kilowatts and waste one hundred watts.
Electricity saving is achieved by a reasonable (not messy) organization of its use, this is the result of planning activities. And the quack devices and "methods" advertised on the Internet sometimes have nothing to do with saving. These methods can only cause fire and electric shock.
Consumers of decreasing energy
All consumers of electricity can be classified in some way according to the amount of energy consumed (energy intensity). For example, like this, in descending order:
- Heating devices;
- Lighting devices;
- Electric motors;
- IT;
- Electronic equipment and communication devices.
Even at a family level, this classification is justified: above all electricity is consumed by kettles, stoves of various types: grills, toasters, electric stoves, then irons, dryers. A lot of energy is spent on lighting purposes. Lighting competes with refrigerators (compressor motor).
Even a normal home PC consumes a lot, it is quite a competitor of the refrigerator. In this context, TVs, safety and fire alarms and chargers for mobile communication devices consume less.
Converting electricity into heat is the most "obvious" result that can be obtained, but it is also achieved with maximum efficiency. if such a conversion is necessary. The efficiency of the iron is almost 100%. For light sources, things are much worse: even for LED lamps the efficiency is close to only 15%, (we can speak of proximity to 100% only for quantum phenomena in a semiconductor crystal of LEDs, the rest goes toheating wires and leaks in additional equipment: drivers).
Savings on heating devices
How to save energy without denying yourself the benefits of civilization? Since, as can be seen, heating devices "absorb electricity" above all, this is the most important resource for saving. For them, energy saving methods in everyday life are indirect, but no less important. First of all, the heat must be used completely. For example, it is extremely unwise to boil water in a metal tank in a cold room that does not need to be heated. It is best to do this where the heat will spread through the living quarters.
The resulting heat must be retained completely and as long as possible thanks to the good thermal insulation of the premises. In European countries, for example Germany, they are also fined for poor insulation.
With a multi-tariff payment for energy and the ability to store heat, the most convenient will be the night mode of operation of water heaters and other heating devices. During the day, the heat will remain at a sufficient level. This is especially beneficial if the residents are at work or studying during the day. In addition, by spending energy at night, consumers equalize the load on the power grid, which has a positive effect on its ease of maintenance and operating costs. This allows us to hope for cheaper rates.
Savings on lighting
Let's start with a reminder to turn off the lights where they are not needed. And think carefully about the location of light sources (preferably with the help of professionals in this matter) in all rooms, even if they are utility rooms. So we turn to the light sources that exist in our time.
First of all, it should be noted that we live in a fertile period of rejection of the greedy incandescent lamps, which heat up more than they shine. The widespread use of fluorescent light sources (daytime) allows a very significant energy saving, from two to three times.
Fluorescent lamps made in the form of 40 and 80 W tubes were already very popular (from the 70s of the last century), but mainly in public and industrial buildings.
Modern "energy saving" household fluorescent lamps in the E27 base are the same tubes with mercury and phosphor vapors from the inner surface of the glass. But they are twisted into a spiral of a round shape and connected via a miniature electronic ballast located in the base and which performs the same functions as the previously performed iron starter and gas-discharge starter.
But fluorescent lamps are already displaced by LED lamps, which consume two to three times less energy than fluorescent lamps with the same luminous flux. They are still a little more expensive than other types of lamps, but the market is not yet saturated with new products. The costs pay for themselves quickly thanks to the significant savings resulting from their use.
Both fluorescent and LED bulbs have a very broad spectrum that approaches daylight. This is due to the use of an ultraviolet primary source in both cases: LED lamps also use luminescence and the ultraviolet light is converted into a mixture of all the colors of visible light. Only in LED lamps, ultraviolet light is not generated by mercury vapor atoms, but by a semiconductor crystal.
Other ways to save energy when solving lighting problems are to automate switching on and off. The person is forgetful, but the technique is not. The use of dimmers (brightness control devices), photo relays, timers and motion sensors will minimize unnecessary lighting costs.
All these products are in stores, sold with warranties, certificates and instructions, and have long ceased to be exclusive crafts, available only to qualified radio amateurs who made them for their home.
Electric motors
Electric motors are found in everyday life mainly in refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. There are also pumps for heating systems and pumps for wells. All other cases - coffee grinders, drills and so on are not worthy of attention, as they rarely turn on and for a short time.
The reduction of energy consumption in the case of continuous operation of electric motors is achieved both by stopping them periodically (refrigerators and air conditioners), and by using frequency converters for asynchronous motors.
The latter are sometimes used to control pump motors for water supply and heating systems. Since the operation of electric motors is usually associated with heat (cold), the saving measures boil down to the fact that there are fewer reasons to start the motors: keeping doors, vents, refrigerator and freezer doors closed.
The power consumed by electric motors in everyday life is relatively small: around several hundred or even tens of watts, you can ignore the infamous "cosine phi" here, as the home consumer does not pay for reactive energy.
However, asynchronous motors have one feature - a large starting current, 5-7 times higher than the rated one. This suggests that the less often such motors are started, the better and justifies the use of frequency converters, where they are acceptable (the cases of refrigerators, especially air conditioners, do not apply to this). And don't put hot pots in the refrigerator.
Electric motors used in household appliances can be classified according to power and duty cycle (fraction of time in a duty cycle) as follows:
- Refrigerators, air conditioners (150–450 W, 20–50%);
- Heating pumps (60–200 W, 40–100%);
- Kitchen appliances (50-500 W, short term);
- Fans (10-30W, up to 100%).
Submersible water pumps are used quite rarely and have significant power. They are used in individual houses and cottages for wealthy owners. But even there, economic issues are not in the last place. Thus, the operation of the pumps in such systems is optimized by hydraulic accumulators, frequency converters and controllers that control the operation of the water supply. Everything happens automatically.
Chargers for computers, TVs and phones
Gaming computers are able to load counters well not only for the fast processor, but also for the powerful video card that runs 20 hours a day (time for gaming flies fast, and starting fromschoolboy you may not notice how retirement has approached). . . Some people also use video cards to make money.
A typical office computer in silent mode consumes about 200 W, a laptop - 40-60 W. This is comparable to a TV and not that significant. Despite this, it doesn't hurt to manage the power supply of such devices, especially since such capabilities have long been envisioned in modern smart electronics.
As for the chargers for phones and other mobile devices, they can be powered by "alternative" energy sources: solar panels and small wind turbines powered by appropriate converters (including, of course, 5, 12 and 20 VDC. be used to charge laptops. )
Alternative sources in everyday life are still not very widespread, their capacity is very modest and the price is high. However, you have to start somewhere and the tips on saving energy in everyday life should take this little into account.