Energy guzzlers and their alternatives

This section is a continuation of my main blog. Please click here to read my main blog.

1. Geysers.
         Solar water heaters are a good alternative, if using hot water on a daily basis. For our 5 bedroom 5 bath home in Coimbatore, i installed 2 setups by spending Rs 32,000 . They pay off in less than 1 year. In addition they are cheaper than the electric geysers...and run with out consuming any energy.
   
   Now the geysers come with an induction coil inside. So if you want to take bath at night, you can heat your water with electricity inside the solar water heater...with out any additional set up.
2. You can also have a hybrid system by connecting the solar water heater to your geyser, if one does not want to get rid of the geysers. Geysers are energy in-efficient and therefore needs to go away...(my opinion) . It may not make economical sense for some to get rid of the geysers.
        A heat pump is an energy efficient, albeit inconvenient way to heat water. Heat pumps take lot longer to heat the water.
   
   
3. Surge Pumps.
        Solar pumps are a good alternative. Instead of a 1 KVA pump , replacing with a ½ KVA or even 0.25 KVA solar pump is ideal because it takes 4 times longer to pump the same amount of water. However time is not a constraint, since it runs on solar power.
         If access to sunlight is not near then DC pumps. The DC pumps can directly connect to the battery. It does require some wiring though.

3. Refrigerators
         Any refrigerator made with in the past 5 years are very energy efficient. Check the insulation on the refrigerator. Most energy star refrigerators made in India with in the past 5 years consume only one third of the electric power of old refrigerators. The new ones just consume 85 Watts and the old ones consume 200 watts or more. Just with the savings on electricity the new refrigerators pay for itself in 3 years.
   
   
4. Air Conditioners
         Depending on personal preference, consider silent cool breeze table or ceiling fans. Again the alternatives to air conditioners provide “close” to air conditioner comfort, but NOT the same comfort. Comfort is very important, so ensure it works for you before replacing your air conditioner.

References

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCRM7Q2YdPY

This section is a continuation of my main blog. Please click here to read my main blog.