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Cost conscious public lifts energy saving interest
By Xu Wenwen |
May 18, 2011, Wednesday
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WITH summer looming, residents are preparing for the most intensive energy use period of the year. However, since last month, Zhejiang Province has been hit by the worst power shortage in seven years.
It is believed the shortage well ahead of the normal peak consumption season will continue once the peak season actually arrives.
According to staff from the Zhejiang Provincial Power Dispatch Communication Center, power demands this summer will hit 50 million kilowatt hours during peak power consumption, while the maximum power supply stands at less than 47 million kilowatt hours.
Causes include a rise in electricity consumption, insufficient coal stocks at power plants and low water levels for hydropower generation, authorities said.
Though the government said residents' demand for electricity wouldn't be much suppressed during the summer, Hangzhou locals are going about saving electricity themselves - not only to echo the city's low-carbon call but lower the costs of their bills.
Ranging from reducing the brightness of a computer screen to calculating how much food should be stored in a refrigerator, their tricks are the result of experimentation and experience.
They are ordinary, yet these people set an example to everyone for saving the planet.
In 69-year-old Sun Xinbao's apartment, only a small 8-watt fan cools her home in early summer.
"I rarely operate the air conditioner, as curtains block the heat and sunshine," says Sun. "Even in the past summer when the temperature in Hangzhou hit 40 degree Celsius, I just turned on two 8-watt fans."
Energy-saving ideas
Sun, who lives in the Dongping Lane Community, is a well-known figure for energy saving, and has come up with lots of energy-saving ideas and loves working on experiments of "how to conserve energy."
For example, she initiated an experiment to determine "how much food should be put in the fridge" in the community last summer.
To decide how best to save money, residents got together and stayed up all night to count the startup frequency of their refrigerators' quick-freezing space. The next morning, they compared meter readings and found the best way to save power is to fill only 70 percent of the space at one time.
Sun also hired an electrician to compare what power setting on a microwave oven was the most energy-efficient and found "high heat" is 50 percent more power-efficient than "low heat;" similarly, the washing machine's "high power" setting saves more electricity than the "low power."
Her researcher-like spirit wasn't aroused until 2009 when the city had a "low-carbon campaign."
"I used to be wasteful. I seldom turned off the tap while brushing my teeth," Sun says. "But the propaganda about 'saving the planet' changed me, and now I, as a volunteer of energy saving, am influencing people around me."
Compared with Sun who studies by experimentation, Chen Liping who lives in Shuicheng Bridge Community relies on her wealth of life experience.
The 56-year-old Chen used to conserve water and electricity simply to save money, but now she's even more conscientious since the city began its low-carbon campaign.
"Many people in depressed areas suffer drought and poverty, I feel ashamed to be wasteful," Chen says. "And I have called on my family to join the work of saving energy."
They spare no effort to conserve electricity - they use a solar water heater and energy-saving lightbulbs, unplug the TV, computer and air conditioner after use, turn down the computer's luminance, and never put hot or warm food into refrigerator.
The family has also learnt many tricks during their years of experience.
For instance, they found the best way to defrost food is to move it from the freezer to a cold locker one day in advance, so the frozen food helps keep the temperature in the cold locker down and defrosts in 24 hours.
Moreover, placing a towel over a rice cooker will maintain the heat.
And it's fine to turn off the rice cooker one or two minutes before its light alters from red to green since the steam in the pot will ensure the rice is stewed.
As a result of all these energy-saving efforts, the family's monthly electricity bill is always below 100 yuan (US$15.37).
It is believed the shortage well ahead of the normal peak consumption season will continue once the peak season actually arrives.
According to staff from the Zhejiang Provincial Power Dispatch Communication Center, power demands this summer will hit 50 million kilowatt hours during peak power consumption, while the maximum power supply stands at less than 47 million kilowatt hours.
Causes include a rise in electricity consumption, insufficient coal stocks at power plants and low water levels for hydropower generation, authorities said.
Though the government said residents' demand for electricity wouldn't be much suppressed during the summer, Hangzhou locals are going about saving electricity themselves - not only to echo the city's low-carbon call but lower the costs of their bills.
Ranging from reducing the brightness of a computer screen to calculating how much food should be stored in a refrigerator, their tricks are the result of experimentation and experience.
They are ordinary, yet these people set an example to everyone for saving the planet.
In 69-year-old Sun Xinbao's apartment, only a small 8-watt fan cools her home in early summer.
"I rarely operate the air conditioner, as curtains block the heat and sunshine," says Sun. "Even in the past summer when the temperature in Hangzhou hit 40 degree Celsius, I just turned on two 8-watt fans."
Energy-saving ideas
Sun, who lives in the Dongping Lane Community, is a well-known figure for energy saving, and has come up with lots of energy-saving ideas and loves working on experiments of "how to conserve energy."
For example, she initiated an experiment to determine "how much food should be put in the fridge" in the community last summer.
To decide how best to save money, residents got together and stayed up all night to count the startup frequency of their refrigerators' quick-freezing space. The next morning, they compared meter readings and found the best way to save power is to fill only 70 percent of the space at one time.
Sun also hired an electrician to compare what power setting on a microwave oven was the most energy-efficient and found "high heat" is 50 percent more power-efficient than "low heat;" similarly, the washing machine's "high power" setting saves more electricity than the "low power."
Her researcher-like spirit wasn't aroused until 2009 when the city had a "low-carbon campaign."
"I used to be wasteful. I seldom turned off the tap while brushing my teeth," Sun says. "But the propaganda about 'saving the planet' changed me, and now I, as a volunteer of energy saving, am influencing people around me."
Compared with Sun who studies by experimentation, Chen Liping who lives in Shuicheng Bridge Community relies on her wealth of life experience.
The 56-year-old Chen used to conserve water and electricity simply to save money, but now she's even more conscientious since the city began its low-carbon campaign.
"Many people in depressed areas suffer drought and poverty, I feel ashamed to be wasteful," Chen says. "And I have called on my family to join the work of saving energy."
They spare no effort to conserve electricity - they use a solar water heater and energy-saving lightbulbs, unplug the TV, computer and air conditioner after use, turn down the computer's luminance, and never put hot or warm food into refrigerator.
The family has also learnt many tricks during their years of experience.
For instance, they found the best way to defrost food is to move it from the freezer to a cold locker one day in advance, so the frozen food helps keep the temperature in the cold locker down and defrosts in 24 hours.
Moreover, placing a towel over a rice cooker will maintain the heat.
And it's fine to turn off the rice cooker one or two minutes before its light alters from red to green since the steam in the pot will ensure the rice is stewed.
As a result of all these energy-saving efforts, the family's monthly electricity bill is always below 100 yuan (US$15.37).
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