energy saving ideas

**Sunfor** · 23-Sep-10, 01:29 PM

Originally Posted by murdock

the next step is lighting...

do you fit a t8 or t5 or an LED

new technology is great...lighting is becoming as technical as power quality analysing.

in the old days the standard was to fit 400 watt high bay fitting in your factory to give you the best light...mounted at the correct height above 6 metres above finished floor level...a good example of a really bad application is a company in pintown where the light are installed too low...they look good but thats all they do...they generate alot of heat so i feel for the people who work under them and they waste energy because if installed correctly could have reduced the quantity...now if the person who designed the installation had used his head he would have rather used t5 fittings...

the application...the building frame is low.
they dont get hot because they have electronic ballast... not wire wound and they dont flicker when they start...they start instanaeously.
the lamps have built in reflectors...so they light is not wasted in the black hole above the fittings.
they consume a minimul amount of electricity.

the only down fall is they generate harmonics if the correct filter are not used and they contain small amount of mercury which becomes a problem when disposing of them...especially large quanitites...for example if you do a lamping exercise where you replace all the lamps after a 5 year period...to improve overall lighting.

Led are becoming the way of the future...phillips has a 7 watt led lamps which they offer about 45000 hrs of lamp life to replace the old 12 volt downlights...i have been spending some time looking into these lamps because in a building which has lets say 500 12voltx 50 watt downlights = 25000 watts...you can save a by installing 7 watt units = 3500 watts and the beuty is you scrap the 12 volt transformer which in turn reduces heat...and maintence costs.

Hi Guys,
for all your lighting needs whether it be a T8-T5 retrofit conversion or all superior Cree LED lighting talk to us. we cater with proper lighting solutions that will give equivalent or in some caes better lighting in LED and not the cheap and nasty stuff that doesnt deliver. Our web is www.sunfor.co.za. regards, shannon

**murdock** · 22-Jan-11, 08:35 PM

here is an interesting exercise i did last week...i took my lux meter and walked thru a factory...and found some realy interesting facts...not thumb suck calculations...actuall readings...to my horror i found that the lux levels in the factory were between 50 lux and 300 lux...now the only reason i could come up with was that the lamps were older than others...you could see what looked like new lamps gave a reading of around 300 lux 5 metres affl...where as the older lamps where only 50 lux...mmm this got me thinking how important it is to carry out regular lux surveys...not only would the company get int a whole lot of trouble because it effects the workers eye sight...but the general look of the factory...what a waste of electricity if your lights are not producing at least 80-90 % efficency.

i took a new 80 watt double fluorescent and hung it at 4 metres off he ground and plugged it in....woooow i got a reading of 700 almost 800 lux and the joke the tubes are tiny thin little ones...i have just found the perfect light solution for future factory lighting projects.

and to replace any 400 highbay fittings where people want to save money.

when i had the fitting on the ground i took it and lit up across the factory and all i can say is wow...one of the contractors who i know have just installed a whole warehouse full of these fittings the problem was the height 13 + metres and i am told they worked out perfectly...i will take a look as soon as i can get a gap.

**murdock** · 22-Jan-11, 08:48 PM

Originally Posted by braganza

The use of Motor Protection units which have the built in functionality of data logging can enable an electrical engineer to determine and optimise the usage of power on each engine running in a factory. S Tech Africa supplies these units and has had encouraging results from them in using them as a diagnostic tool to reduce power utilisation.

cost per unit and more details about the the product.

**AndyD** · 22-Jan-11, 11:49 PM

One of the biggest energy wasting issues with motors is the specifying of oversized motors or the replacing of correctly spec'd motors with a larger one when people want to 'play it safe'. Motors are at their most efficient when running at their maximum load capabilities. An oversized motor can be 20% less efficient than a correctly sized motor whilst doing exactly the same work so using the right motor for the right job can save a fortune over the years in electricity costs.

**murdock** · 23-Jan-11, 09:40 AM

much like a diesel generator...i have heard of plenty of issues with genarators because people have over spec'd them...just in case.

**murdock** · 15-Mar-11, 07:04 AM

i found this site interesting....thought i would share it.

http://www.powersaving.co.za/

**billliu210** · 31-Mar-11, 02:26 AM

This website is interesting and useful.

According to a data, home electricity consumed by generating hot water is more than 50%, so how to save the energy ? Heat pump can help you, which can save you energy up to 50%-75% ! Moreover, ESKOM is provide a rebate R3660.0-R4236.0 ( If a home owner purchases a heat pump and converts their existing 150L or 200L electric hot water tank they get a R 3,660.00 rebate (approx $US 488.00). if the homeowner has an electric tank larger than 200L then he gets R 4,236.00 (approx $US 564.00).

Good news to all of us.

**murdock** · 04-May-11, 10:05 PM

during my experiment i have come to realise a few things which are not quite as i expected...trying to figue out where the 32 000 litres of water i am consuming a months is going.

had words on many occasions with the boss lady in the house about running deep baths to soak in...water and geyser cost etc.

well truth is if your washing machine runs as often as mine does and is a 7 kg plus top loader...best you start by cutting back on this becuase after doing a few runs from the pool to the machine to fill it i realised that the machine consumes between 50 and 70 litres of water per cycle

1 wash = 50 lt
rinse = 50 lt
softner = 50lt

total 150 lt being conservative x that by 4 a day...starts adding up = 600 lt per day x 6 days a week and more sometimes on the weekend...with babies bedding

worrying about what we as a family are consuming is far out weighed by the amount of electricity and water the maid is consuming on a daily basis...eeeish there is no holding back when it comes to

cooking on the stove all day...

washing machine running all day...

iron going 5 days a week..

hot water for washing floors...dishers...anything...it seems the hot water taps runs during the day.

if you have a home phone boy best you be coding it...the last maid we had ran up a R1000 plus bill in the little time she spent here...to cellphones.

so just a tip for those people out there making an effort to conserve energy...

best you take the time to educate the domestic...

**adrianh** · 07-Nov-12, 04:01 PM

Have you considered how much energy is used to manufacture and ship those panels

**ians** · 07-Nov-12, 06:37 PM

Tinting the windows on your house or office is an effective means of keeping the building cool, never thought it was true until i actually worked in a building recently, which had the windows tinted while we wer busy working and the A/C units had not been installed yet.

Reversing the direction of an extractor fan is also a means of bringing in hot air from the roof during winter and sucking the hot air out the room in summer.