How to Celebrate New Year in an Energy-Efficient Fashion
Judging by queues in supermarkets, the majority of Ukrainians have already been actively preparing to celebrating New Year and Christmas season and buying food. This way they will be able to avoid paying extra during the rush and not to lose time waiting in long queues to cash desks.
It appears to be quite a smart approach to save valuable time and money, which is not least valuable.
This group of forward-thinking people will appreciate our advice on how to save another precious resource such as energy. Energy efficiency is trending now. Many people make a New Year resolution to start saving energy “after a New Year celebration” when they start doing some exercise or break themselves of bad habits.
DTEK ESCO specialists suggest that energy efficiency should not be postponed. Instead, they recommend to finish the old year in an energy-efficient fashion. There is a saying that a year will be spent in the same manner it is met. So, how to start preparations to save as much energy and power as possible during a holiday season and at the same time get pleasant feelings about one’s own efficiency?
Two-zone electric power meter
As a first step, install a two-zone electric power meter. This way Christmas lights will be sparkling at half-price, at a night tariff. Also, you will be able to watch night New Year and Christmas celebration TV shows and concerts at half-price as well.
LED lights
It could be added here that with a new electric power meter it would be twice cheaper to light an apartment or a house on Christmas and New Year nights. But it would be a half-measure if you do not use LED lights that consume nine times less electric power as compared to incandescent bulbs. It is also advisable to consider replacing old electric Christmas tree set inherited form parents for new LED decorations that could be enjoyed by great-grandchildren in future. A secret is that the service life of LED lamps is tens of thousands of hours. By the way, Christmas tree lights will be twinkling brighter if the tree is also adorned with light-reflecting decorations.
Timer sockets
Timer sockets can switch on a Christmas tree exactly at 23:00 and switch is off at 7:00, when a night electric power tariff is charged. Such sockets can also be programmed to switch on a TV set automatically 10 minutes before the President starts greeting the nation with New Year.
Cooking
Apparently, the best dishes should be served hot during a holiday feast. They can be cooked in an electric oven or a multi-cooker when electric power is charged at the night tariff, and served piping hot at exactly 23:45.
Gifts
The coming year is the Year of Earth Dog, and the Earth is associated with practically and economy. This is why New-Year gifts should be rational. To surprise each family member with big bright packaging and useful goodies and save money at the same time, Smart WATT, a set of energy efficient goods, can prove the best choice of New Year gifts. The set contains two-zone electric power meters, residential thermal power meters, installation service for such meters, LED lamps, smart sockets with timer, and an Energy Manager pin for kids. The box itself can then be used as a house for pets.
Joint celebration
To reduce specific consumption of electric power by each person, and at the same time have a joyful celebration, the best option is to celebrate with friends, neighbours, and relatives. The more people get together in an apartment or a house, the less specific consumption of electric power per person will be.
Heating savings can be made as well if you invite guests to your house. A human body in a resting state produces 60-70 W of thermal energy. The power increases up to 100-120 W when people are dancing wildly and saying toasts. Thus, if thermal energy meters are installed in an apartment, heating radiators can be adjusted to the minimum. If such meters have not been installed yet, it is recommended to do it, provided, of course, that an apartment has a horizontal heating distribution system.
Airing
It goes without saying that the celebration spirit cannot stay with us all the time, and an apartment has to be aired from time to time. The best way to do it is to open windows for 5-7 minutes to get an inflow of fresh air while avoiding cooling down the walls. It is also recommended to use heat exchangers for airing. Such devices will ensure an inflow of fresh air, and will keep your apartment warm.
Making wishes
There is a saying that every wish made on New Year is granted. This is why we recommend to make a wish for an individual heating unit with weather-dependent automatic controllers for a multi-apartment building. Such unit will ensure even heating of all apartments in the building, will help saving of 25-30% of thermal energy, and will prevent overheating. To make sure that this wish come true, the best way to make it is to do it with the neighbours by establishing a Multi-Apartment Building Owners Association. Also, when inviting Joulupukki, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, or Saint Nicholas, you should add to this list an Energy Auditor as well. The energy auditor will help calculate energy savings for the entire Earth Dog year and will give an advice on the source of financing.
Author: Anton Kovalyshyn,
Project Manager at DTEK ESCO