Saving Electricity

Saving Electricity

If your hot water is heated by electricity, you may be using full tariff or off peak electricity. The latter only heats during the low usage time periods such as after midnight. If you run out of hot water you may have to wait until the off peak period before the water begins to heat up again. Some heaters are heated off peak with a full tariff boost if necessary.

There are instantaneous heating and hot water storage systems. The storage type of heater is sometimes located above the ceiling of the house. Some of these rely on gravity to feed the hot water to the shower. We do not recommend fitting Showertimer in this case unless the cold water is also gravity fed.

Electricity saving potential varies according to which tariff and, to a lesser extent, which type of heater is installed.

Electricity saving is related to the amount of water used and to the temperature of the water before heating. Saving electricity with Showertimer is achieved by using less water.

To determine your supply tariff (cents per Kilowatt Hour), consult your electricity account or call your electricity supplier. See our shower savings calculator which you can download to easily calculate your potential electricity saving.

The following shows the approximate cost of a 12 minute shower using electric heating:

COST OF SHOWER	Each shower	5 Showers per day	Annual Cost
Electric Full Tariff	$1.12	$5.60	$2044
Electric Off Peak	$0.58	$2.90	$1059

These costings are based on a shower flow rate of 12 litres per minute at a comfortable temperature and a cold water temperature of 15 degrees C. Tariffs used are 18.5 cents per KWatt Hour (Full tariff), 7.5 cents per KWatt Hour (Off peak) and 90 cents per KiloLitre (Water supply).

By halving the shower time, your annual electricity saving will be half the annual cost. The cost of a shower timer will be recovered in a matter of months.

For more information on saving electricity, you might find the resources on our links page helpful.

These include links to pages with comprehensive lists of tips and advice; such as turning off lights, using low power globes and appliances, keeping doors shut to keep heat in, insulating ceilings and walls and turning your television off when not in use.

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