2. Electricity. Average US usage is 11,000 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD, PER YEAR, or about 900 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD PER MONTH. A 90% reduction would mean using 1,100 PER HOUSEHOLD, PER YEAR or 90 kwh PER HOUSEHOLD PER MONTHSolar Renewables are deemed to have a 50% payback – that is, you get twice as many watts.Hydro and Wind are deemed to have a 4 to 1 payback over other methods – you get 4 times as many.
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So we average 30 kWh per day?
When I started this I was averaging about 17 kWh. That probably was at the low point of the year as it was the middle of the Dry. In the Wet fan use goes up considerably.
When I do my Coolmob readings every week I tend to be between 12-14 kwH.
The single biggest contributor is the spa pump. Especially if the water is threatening to go green. My pump is electrically powered. I wonder if a solar pump/generator option exists?
The next one is the fans and lights. So it is a case of everyone trying to remember to switch things off.
The other thing is all of those little things we forget to switch off. Like rechargers.
I’ve taken to switching off the house at the fusebox when I go out. All except the fridge/freezer circuit.
Doing cold washes as opposed to hot washes in the front loader also makes a considerable difference.
Now where does Darwin’s power come from? Is it coal-fired or is it something else?
This report suggests that most of it is sourced from the natural gas of the Mereenie gas field in Central Australia. Given there are offshore supplies of natural gas soon to come on line this is reasonably positive. It also has an ammonia thermal storage system which avois the need for a refrigeration plant and is a much greener option.
Elsewhere you might find the odd diesel powered turbine but solar options have been quietly replacing these.
A methane gas powered plant can be found at the Shoal Bay tip.
While this sounds pretty good [and it is compared to a lot of places] there is a lot of pressure on the system as we seem to be in a transition phase:
14 February 2008
Power and Water to ‘power through’ gas field supply transitionPower and Water Corporation confirmed today that due to the expected decline in gas supply from the Mereenie and Palm Valley gas fields, it is currently supplementing gas supplies with diesel for power generation at the Channel Island Power Station.
So it is no wonder that PowerWater are encouraging people to reduce their consumption.
So where is all of the power going?
Air conditioners make up 70% of peak load with the worst occurring around 2 pm. Think of all of those shops and offices that have you shivering when you walk in the door. The workplaces where you take a cardigan to keep you warm because the aircon is too cold. The newer houses with dubious hot box tropical design.
Urban Ecology Australia has some suggestions. They aren’t necessarily that pleasant so we really need to do behavioural changes. Turn the aircon down a couple of degrees. Use the timer functions. Switch the thing off especially if there is noone in the room. Use fans instead. Dress for the climate.
Any other suggestions?
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Filed under: Electricity, Heating & Cooking, Solar Energy, Water Consumption
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Filed under: Solar Energy
I have a spa pool. Every day it has to run for a while to ensure that the water stays okay.I run the thing for about 20-30 minutes on a timer; the pool guy runs it for 1-2 hours at a time which drives me nuts. Yes, I make sure he hasn’t played with the timer every time he comes.
Now the pump was playing up the other week and it got me thinking about the possibility of hooking up the pump to a solar generator arrangement. Then the darned thing could run all day if needed. Now I wouldn’t know where to start but it got me wondering if something was commercially available. So I emailed Onga Pumps who passed my email on the next guy who referred me to the Solazone site.
I probably don’t need anything this big but its nice to know there is something out there at least for pool owners.
There seem to be plenty of solar heating pumps for pools and spas but I don’t need one of those – this is Darwin! If someone could come up with an arrangement that involved a solar panel or two that could be placed in the garden and hooked up to an existing pump for under A$500…
Surely its possible!
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Solar Powered
Pumps
Solazone 24 volt dc Filter Pump
 |
|
| Model | Horsepower | Input Watts | Flow @ 3 m | Max Noise | Price/October 2006 |
| Sz 500F | 0.5 | 440 | 204 l/m | 60 dBA | $ 1080 |
Solazone 24 volt Solar Heating
Pump
 |
|
| Model | Horsepower | Input Watts | Flow @ 3 m | Max Noise | Price/October 2006 |
| Sz 500B | 0.5 | 440 | 204 l/m | 60 dBA | $ 1060 |
Solazone Solar Powered Filtration
System
Solar pool filtration system is ideal for swimming
pool and fish farms that have no available 240 volt power nearby. The filtration
system is completely independent, and starts at first light and runs all
day.See more details of our solar powered filtration system here
As Solazone polypipe heating systems have minimal flow resistance, they
are ideally suited for adding after the filter, to warm the filtered
water on its way back to the pool.
