Selwyn Times: June 19, 2019

6
[Edition Wednesday datE]
34 June 19 2019
Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
HOME PROFESSIONALS
SELWYN TIMES
Ways to save
power during
winter
It is expensive to heat your home during
the winter so keeping the cold air out and
the warm air in can help save costs. Here
are some simple ideas that might help
reduce your winter power bill.
Draw curtains at dusk to keep the heat
from the day in and consider installing a
DIY window insulation kits which reduces
the loss of heat through the windows.
Try and stop draughts throughout the
home by adding special tape around
windows and doors, making sure windows
fit their frames and placing door snakes or
draught excluders at the bottom of doors.
Turn your heaters off when you are not
there including heat pumps and set your
heater thermostat to 18 or 20 degrees. Close
any doors to make the area you want to heat
smaller. Do not use unflued gas heathers
as they can release toxic fumes and make
your house damp. Cheap portable electric
heaters are safer and cost less to run.
Air your home by opening windows and
doors a few times a day to let the moisture
escape and sleeping with your bedroom
window open a crack also lets out the
moisture that naturally builds up over the
night. Dry clothes outside where possible
as moisture from wet clothes on indoors
airing racks will end up in your home.
Turning lights off when you are not using
them is an easy way to save energy around
your house and replace incandescent light
bulbs with energy efficient LEDs - and save
$100 or more a year on electricity in your
house.
Heating water is expensive so using less
hot water will help reduce your energy bills.
Using an efficient showerhead still gives you
a great shower, but uses much less water. To
check the flow rate of your shower, put a
10 litre bucket under the shower. If it fills
in less than a minute at normal showering
temperature, your showerhead is wasting
water. An efficient showerhead has a flow
rate of 9 litres per minute, or less.
Reduce your shower times. A 15 minute
shower costs around $1 while a five minute
shower costs around 33 cents. Use cold
washes for your laundry as most washing
machines and detergents clean well using
cold water. A hot water wash can use 10
times more electricity than a cold wash.
Finally turn off those appliances left on
standby including televisions, stereos, game
consoles and computer equipment.
Making simple changes now can go a
long way to reducing your power bill over
the colder months.
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