What You Can Do to Help Reduce Peak Demand

In last month’s article you learned what peak demand is, but what can you do to help reduce it? The answer is to simply be more aware of when you are using large amounts of energy in your home.

WFEC’s peak demand times are approximately 5:00 a.m. until 8:00 a.m. in the winter and 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the summer. These are times when you want to avoid doing laundry, showering, cooking or other activities that use large amounts of energy.

When doing laundry avoiding peak times is important, but there are some other things you can do to reduce your energy consumption and costs. Here are a few tips:

Clothes Washer

Wash your laundry with cold water whenever possible. To save water, try to wash full loads or, if you must wash a partial load, reduce the level of water appropriately. Hot water heating accounts for about 90 percent of the energy your machine uses to wash clothes — only 10 percent goes to electricity used by the washer motor. Depending on the clothes and local water quality (hardness), many homeowners can effectively do laundry exclusively with cold water, using cold water laundry detergents. Switching to cold water can save the average household more than $40 annually.

It's worth investing in a new, energy-efficient clothes washer if you are due for a replacement. Many new models are much more efficient than those manufactured 10–12 years ago. ENERGY STAR qualified clothes washers use half the energy of standard washers to clean clothes. They also use less water, and have a better spin cycle allowing for less drying time.

Clothes Dryer
Don't over-dry your clothes. If your dryer has a moisture sensor that will automatically turn the machine off when clothes are done, use it to avoid over drying. Remember to clean the lint trap before every load. Dry full loads, or reduce drying time for partial loads. A dryer operating an extra 15 minutes per load can cost you up to $34, every year.

Cooking
Cooking can also use a lot of energy, but there are also steps you can take to save time, money and energy when preparing meals for your family. Choosing quicker and more efficient methods of cooking are some of the easiest ways to save on your energy bill. The average family cooks 1.5 meals a day and each of those meals takes an average of 30 minutes of energy to prepare; because traditional ovens have a considerable appetite for energy, the yearly costs of serving hot food to the family can be anywhere from $150 and up. But you can save considerably on costs and still keep the oven fires burning with a little advice.

• Keep burner pans (the metal pans under the burners that catch grease) clean so they'll be more effective at reflecting heat to the cookware. Blackened burner pans absorb a lot of heat, reducing burner efficiency.

• Always cook with the lid on your pans. Cooking without lids can use three times more energy as with lids. Look for pans with glass lids if you like to keep an eye on what you are preparing.

• To reduce cooking time, defrost foods in the refrigerator prior to cooking.

• Cook double portions when possible, and freeze the remainder. Less energy is required to reheat than to cook the dish over again.

• Select the right pan or appliance. Oversized pans waste energy. The pan you use should match the burner size. A 6-inch diameter pan on an 8-inch burner wastes almost half of the energy produced by the burner. Using a separate appliance like a Crockpot can save energy when preparing foods requiring long cooking times. Pressure cookers reduce energy use 50 to 75 percent because cooking times are reduced when food is cooked at the higher temperatures created inside a pressure cooker. And when you bake, use glass and ceramic pans and you can lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees. If you're baking or roasting something for less than a half hour, use a toaster oven. They often use 1/3 to 1/2 the power needed for a conventional oven.

• With flat-surface electric burners, make sure the bottom of your pans are flat-bottomed and can make good contact with the element. Uneven pan bottoms don't conduct heat to the food as well. And with electric burners, you can turn them off toward the end of the cooking time since they'll radiate heat for awhile as they cool.

• When boiling foods, keep the amount of water used to a minimum. Using excess water that must be heated wastes the energy required to raise its temperature.

• Use microwave ovens when possible since they use less energy and require shorter cooking times than conventional ovens. And in the summer, they have the additional advantage of producing less heat in the kitchen.

• Use small electric pans or toaster ovens for small meals rather than your large stove or oven.

These are just a few tips that can help you reduce your energy consumption, which in turn, reduces the demand for energy system-wide. This demand for energy has an impact on West Florida Electric’s (WFEC) member-owners because significant increases in that demand drive prices up for everyone.  

Taking part in some of the cooperative’s energy saving programs can also help you reduce the amount of energy you use in your home. For example, the H2O Plus program equips water heaters with a device which will allow the cooperative to monitor and control usage during periods of peak demand. The water heater has adequate storage to accommodate consumers’ needs for hot water during peaks and can also reduce the effects of peak demand throughout the co-op’s service area. All WFEC residential member-owners with new or existing fifty gallon electric water heaters will qualify for this program. Members who would like to replace their gas water heaters will also qualify. For more information on this upcoming program, contact the Energy Services department and look for more information in the Current Light Flashes publication.