Useful tips

How to save electricity

Ass.-prof.Yordan Shopov,PhD
Technical University-Sofia

Electricity – do we know how to save it and to pay less?

Electricity has a few specific characteristics – it is easily transferrable to the desired destination, easily convertible (e.g. in heat, in light, in mechanical etc,), it is easy to use and does not make our homes dirty. We all got used with the convenience to use it to such an extent that we prefer it to all other energy sources.  However…

There is another circumstance of general validity in the material world – everything has its price that is to be paid. In winter our bills are that high that burden our family budget.

We are apt to believe that it was not our fault, and that somebody wants to harm our interests. We are convinced so, especially when we read our bills. Very often we do not think that the blame may have been ours. The truth is that we pay for the electricity we have consumed.

What is the average electricity consumption per person and do we save it compared to the countries from the European Union?

A Dutch household which uses central heating has additional electricity consumption of about 3 000 kWh a year. There is no such statistics for Bulgaria but the rough estimates show at least twice less consumption.  We often mistake saving with “depriving oneself of electricity”, although the unjustified high expenses, or to be precise, losses, are mainly due to:

• The worn out household equipment that have been used for 10, 15, and even more years, based on old technology already shattered and of aged material. 
• The ineffective automated control of the processes or lack of any control.
• Bad operation.

For a considerable part of the Bulgarian households the first two constants are considered facts that cannot be altelred.
The only chance is to use the appliances in such a way as to reduce the loses of electricity and thus the electricity bills.
If you use central heating, you have to start from the largest consumer – the electricity cooker.
There follow the refrigerator, the freezer, and, although it sounds unbelievable – the lighting! (in some cases it consumes more electricity than the refrigerator). Then: the washing machine, the boiler, the TV set, the vacuum cleaner and another surprising consumer – the computer, plus the rest smaller appliances. The standard electric cooker has three or four hotplates – of diameters 145, 180 and 220 mm and consumption in conformity with the European standards  1, 1,5 and 2 kW respectively. The oven consumes about 2 kW. If you convert it in money this means that the electricity consumed by the largest hotplate for only 1 hour (at approximate price 0,13 BGN/kWh) will be (2 kW х 1 h х 0,13 BGN) = 0, 26 BGN. And you do not use the cooker only once a day for an hour! What to do to spend 0,13 BGN instead of 0,26 BGN, how to achieve the desired result using less electricity?

If youрcooker has been used for years it is good to follow one of the tips below: 

• To avoid using of vessels of diameter smaller than the diameter of the hot plate – fig. 1. Due to heat loss the electricity consumption in this case may reach three times the standard for heating the same quantity of water!  - fig.4. If you need to heat a small quantity of water, it is best to use a small jug and a hermetically sealed immersion electric heater ("immersion heater")
• Avoid using vessels that are not flat-bottomed. Due to the insufficient and bad thermal contact between the hotplate and the bottom the electricity consumption may increase by 30-40 % !
• The same problem may arise with vessels of caked bottom – fig. 3. The air between the hotplate and the bottom is thermo-insulator and lessens efficiency. The electricity losses may increase by 25%!
• Do not use the cooker to boil one or two eggs in a litre of water. Use a small jug and an immersion heater if you do not have a special egg-pot.
• If your cooker has the so-called "quick-heating" hotplates of thermo-sensors and adjusters for automated control of temperature, use them when it is possible – you can save up to 40% electricity. If the adjuster has 12 positions, use them depending on the type of dish you cook -0-2 – for butter and sauces, 1-3 – for preparing creams with milk and cooking rice, 3-5 for vegetable soups and fish, 3-8 for cooking meat or sausages, 6-9 –for frying, 9-12 for frying larger pieces of meat and potatoes.
• Do not use the hotplates to toast bread – use a toaster! Only the heating of the hotplate will cost as much as a slice of bread.
• Turn the supply off a few minutes before the dish is ready. The residual heat collected in the hotplate is enough to cook your dish and you will save about 15-20% electricity.
• Never turn up to the maximum the hotplates during cooking. Turn them down as soon as the water boils. You have to bear in mind that the temperature is the same, about 100 degrees, both when you simmer the dish and when it bubbles up. If you simmer the dish you can close the lid tight, while if the water bubbles up you will have to take it off. In such a case the water evaporates quickly and the electricity consumption increases about three times
• If you have a pressure cooker, use it when it is possible. The time for preparing the dish is reduced two to four times, which results in lower electricity consumption.
• Do not leave the hotplate on if there is no vessel on it. Apart from the waste of electricity, the hotplate may get deformed which will deteriorate its performance. The result will be – higher electricity loss.
• If you must warm a small quantity of food, always use the microwave. The energy in it is transferred directly into the product and the losses are minimal. However, it is important to put a small plastic container of water when you put a small quantity of food, e.g. half a slice of bread. You have to do so, because you need very little power to warm the slice up, but the excess power, if not used up, may give rise to electric discharge, sometimes of serious consequences. (Never try to boil eggs in the microwave – they are like small bombs!).

Getting used to and applying the above precautions will increase more or less the efficiency of your cooker, but you may achieve better results and save a considerable quantity of electricity if you buy a new appliance. It is so, because when designing modern appliances, the constructors seek to minimise the electricity consumption. This is a main priority of all companies after the boom in the price of petrol, during the first petrol crisis.

Energy label

At present the manufacturers of household appliances in the European Union are required to include in the so-called “energy-label” apart from the basic technical parameters their energy efficiency as well. It is marked using the Latin letters from A to G, the most-efficient, i.e. the ones of the lowest electricity consumption at equal other parameters, are the appliances form class A. The label also must include information about the average consumption of the appliance per a work cycle or per year.
It is known that the best electricity cooker is the new one. The modern appliances of glass-ceramic plates not only are made of the most modern material employing the latest technology, but also are completed with electronic devices, which can automatically set and control the operation modes.  Photo-sensors scan the shape and the size of the vessel and heat only the area which is under its bottom. The heating areas turn on when a vessel is put on the plate and turn off when it is removed. The infra-red, halogen and induction heaters, built in the glass-ceramic plates are practically not inert and the heating starts right away. All these characteristics, combined with the suitable heat screens and the compactness of the heating elements result in higher efficiency of this type of electric appliances, which means lower electricity consumption.

CEZ Distribution Bulgaria recommends to the households, to use electricity vouchers to pay their bills after the 10^th day of the month because some time is necessary to process the information submitted by the social support centres.

Pursuant to the protocol, signed between CEZ Distribution Bulgaria and the social support centres, the deadline for submission of information about the people who need financial aid for settling their electricity bill, is the 10^th day of the month.  This information is submitted and received online and it is automatically included in the database of the company. Only the amount for the actually consumed electricity is transferred by the social support centre to the account of the company. If the consumption exceeds the amount of the financial aid, the customer is to cover the difference. In this case the database generates a bill that includes information only about the consumption, exceeding the limit set by the Social Support Agency.

CEZ Distribution Bulgaria recommends: It is good to get informed about your rights!

All rights of the customers are stated in the General Terms of the Contracts for  Use of the Electricity distribution Networks of CEZ Distribution AD, the former Electricity Distribution Stolichno AD. The draft of this document was submitted for approval after wide public discussion. It was agreed with the customer and the business organizations inBulgaria.

Useful information for any customer of CEZ Distribution Bulgaria:

• If you think that the quality of the electricity you are supplied is not good enough, you CAN inform the company in writing. Within 3 (three) days following the day of submission, the company will initiate a checking and will inform you about the findings.
• If as a result of breakdown or short-circuit the electricity appliances in your home has got damaged, YOU ARE ENTITLED to notify the company of the event. The company will send a representative who will ascertain the damage and will prepare a protocol of findings. If it is proved that it was through fault of the company your expenses for repair of the appliances will be recovered.
• If your electricity supply is cut, you have to contact the respective emergency group or at hotline 0700 10 010. The company has the responsibility to organize the elimination of the problem within reasonable period of time depending on its severity.
• If your electricity supply is cut you have to report this to the company. In case you have no electricity supply through fault of the company for a period exceeding 24 hours after reporting the problem, you will be compensated 30 BGN for the first 24 hours and 20 BGN for every next 12-hour period of no electricity supply.
• You CAN be financially compensated in all cases when the company does not keep, without any good excuse, a deadline, specified in the General Terms.
• If you doubt the accuracy of your electricity meter, you CAN request a checking by the company or an examination by an independent laboratory. If inaccuracy has been found, your bill will be adjusted. If you have overpaid, you will be refunded the difference together with the statutory interest.
• If you need reference for electricity you consumed during a past period it is good to know that Electricity Distribution Stolichno keeps this information for 3 (three) years.
• If you are not in the town or village where you live, and you have to pay your electricity bill, you CAN do it via Internet – ePay.bg, using an ATM, gsm, (you need to be a debit card holder) as well as at the offices of Easypay, DSK Bank, or UniCredit Bulbank.