FOLDER ENERGY SAVING

Be aware of your energy con-sumption at home!!

Your monthly energy bill can increaseconsiderably, notably if you are notaware of your energy consumption.Dealing consciously with energy neednot mean that you surrender muchcomfort and luxury in your home.Besides, it can lead to a considerablelowering of your monthly energy bill.Aqualectra Distribution would like tohelp you deal in a more conscious man-ner with your energy consumption. Youare always cordially welcome in ourEnergy Center at our service office atPater Euwensweg, where our employ-ee can you advice and information onenergy saving and can also givedemonstrations of energy-savingappliances. In this folder concerningenergy saving, we offer you a helpinghand with useful energy-saving tipsand a handy meter-reading card. Gothrough the tips and start today with amore conscious consumption of waterand electricity at your home!

House lightingIt is a good idea to walk around insideand outside your house and pay atten-tion to the lighting that you have cho-sen. You need not have the same light-ing everywhere.• In rooms where there is nobody,such as in the passage, it is perhaps notnecessary at all to have lights on.• Having atmospheric lighting on inyour house is cozy. A lamp that servesonly as atmospheric lighting need not

be as powerful as a lamp that is usedfor reading or working. See whetherthere are lamps in your house with anunnecessary high wattage. Perhapsyou can replace 100 watt bulbs by 60or 40 watt bulbs, or even better, by low-energy light bulbs.• Low-energy light bulbs are notablyinteresting in lamps that are on longerthan three hours per day.• In the case of exterior lighting, it isrecommended to use light bulbs thatswitch on automatically at dusk or ifsomeone comes in the vicinity of thelamp.

Air-conditioning• Try as much as possible to limit pene-trating sunlight in a room that is cooledby an air-conditioner by means of exteri-or sun protection (a lean-to, shady trees),or interior sun protection (roll-down,venetian blinds, thick curtains, foil onwindow-panes). See to it also that thecold air does not leave the room easily(underside of doors, open windows ordoors, apertures in frames, etc.)• Screen off the air-condition unit fromthe sun, for example by placing ahood. Due to the increased tempera-ture of the housing, the temperture reg-ulator will switch on the air-conditionermore often, on account of which theenergy consumption will increase.• Clean the air-filters regularly. A thicklayer of dust on the filter impedes circu-lation of air, on account of which theair-conditioner has to use more energy.• When purchasing an air-conditioner,pay attention to its capacity (the number

of BTUs) and to the Energy EfficiencyRate (E.E.R.). An E.E.R. from 8 to 9 isaverage, from 9 to 10 is good and from10 to 12 is excellent. The level of theE.E.R. depends on the capacity of theunit. Compared to the split-unit, a win-dow-unit has a lower E.E.R.• If you leave the cooled room for justa little while, it is not so wise to switchoff the air-conditioner and switch it onagain after an hour. That costs moreenergy than setting the temperaturetemporarily a little higher. The higherthe thermostat, the more electricity theair-conditioner will use.• It is sometimes recommended to usea time switch for your air-conditioner.Let your air-conditioner in your bed-room, for example, switch off automati-cally at night after a few hours. Yourbedroom often remains cool enough tosleep on till the next morning.• Consider setting the temperature ofyour air-conditioner a couple ofdegrees higher and sleep, for exam-ple, under a sheet instead of a blanket.

Your refrigerator• When purchasing a refrigerator,choose one that matches your house-hold. Too large a refrigerator oftenleads to you putting things in it thatactually do not need to be in the refrig-erator, such as full bottles of soda,unopened cans and glass jars. Themore objects you put in the refrigerator,the more energy your refrigerator isgoing to use.• See to it that your refrigerator is notin the sun or too close to the stove. Don’t

put it too close to the wall and see to itthat it is level.• Allow the door of your refrigeratorto be open as short as possible, so thatas little warm air as possible will enter.All warm air will have to be cooledinside again, and this again costsextra energy.• Clean your refrigerator regularly.When thick layers of ice occur in thecooling or freezing compartment, yourrefrigerator will use more energy.Check the sealing rubbers, vinyl orother synthetic profiles of the doors forcracks and damage and replace them,if necessary.• A refrigerator discharges heat viathe rear. There you have a condenser.The discharge of heat may not be stag-nated. So, it is very important to cleanthe condenser regularly.• If you are going on vacation, emptyyour refrigerator, pull out the plug fromthe outlet and leave the door ajar.

TV and sound equipment• TV and sound equipment that are onstandby, so which you switch off withthe remote control only, continue con-suming energy! It is recommended thatyou really switch off these equipment(with the button on the appliance) if youare no longer watching or listening.• There is often a radio or tv on, simplyby sheer habit, while actually nobodyis listening or watching. Be aware ofthis and turn off the radio or tv.

Your washing machine• Use your washing machine only if

you have a full load of laundry. Wash-ing small loads regularly leads tounnecessary energy and water con-sumption. Washing a half-full drumcosts just as much energy and water asa full one. You can program a shorterwashing cycle for clothes that are notvery dirty.• Don’t forget that we have sun andwind in abundance here; ideal for dry-ing your laundry fast.• Catch the washing water and use itfor cleaning your steps or wateringyour plants.• When purchasing a new washingmachine, pay attention to the followingcharacteristics: low water consump-tion, maximum permissible load, thepossibility to adjust the water level inadvance, depending on the amount oflaundry.

Sanitary facilities• By placing perlators or water-savingmouthpieces on faucets, 50% can easi-ly be saved on water consumption. Youyourself can attach them easily. Thethreads are practically universal andthe pieces can be attached manually toa mouthpiece of, for example, a wash-basin or kitchen faucet. The effective-ness of the water supply is not affectedby placing these accessories; the divi-sion of the jets of water is better andyou get a kind of foam effect.• Check shower and toilet faucets reg-ularly for leaks and repair them as soonas possible. A leak of a drop of waterper second leads, on an annual basis,to a waste of 15,600 liters or 15.6 m3.

• Check to see after flushing the toiletwhether there is still water flowing intothe toilet. You can check this by putting asmall amount of blue in the tank and notflushing it immediately. If any of the blueflows into the toilet, you have a leak.• If you are buying a new toilet set,make a choice from water-saving toi-lets. The tanks of these toilets have aflush stop and offer the choice betweena small or a big flush, depending on thenecessity.

The garden• A drip-irrigation system for wateringplants is a good option.• Water your plants in the morning;the evaporation is least then andbesides, most plants ‘drink’ in the morn-ing at sunrise.

ELEKTRA

• Choose local tropical plants for yourgarden; they even survive dry periodswith little water or rain.• Put mulch, wood shavings or dryleaves around your plants in order tocounteract the evaporation during theday. Mulch limits the evaporation up toapproximately 70%.• The washing water from the kitchenor shower, also called ‘gray water’,can be used for plants.• Clean your paths and drivewayswith a broom and not with a gardenhose.• A lawn requires a lot of water; a bet-ter alternative is making use of pebbles.

Every little helps …By handling water and electricity inand around your house more con-

sciously and also pointing out theadvantages of energy saving to yourhousemates, you yourself can loweryour energy bill in a simple manner. Bypaying attention to little daily habits,you can save considerably on an annu-al basis:• Limit the showering time as much aspossible and don’t take a showerunnecessarily.• Turn off the faucet when soaping,brushing your teeth or shaving.• Teach the kids how to turn off thefaucet well after using it.• Take a shower rather a bath.• Don’t allow the water to run too longto allow it to become warmer.• Select the correct pot size whencooking; pots that are too large requiremore cooking water.

DATE INITIALREADING

INITIAL READING

DATE FINALREADING

FINAL READING

CONSUMP-TION IN kWh

CONSUMP-TION IN ANG.

• When cooking water, use kettle andnot an open pot; in this way you willprevent loss of water due to evapora-tion and you will save on energy.• Wash the outside of the windowswith a sponge, shammy leather and abucket of water; don’t use a gardenhose.• If you, nevertheless, have to use agarden hose, install a water pistol first.• Allow frozen products to thaw bythemselves. It costs more money tothaw frozen products in a microwaveoven.• When cooking with electricity, it isimportant for the bottom of the pot to beapproximately just as big as the hotplate. Therefore, do not put a large poton a small hot plate, or even worse, asmall pot on a large hot plate.

• If your water pressure is high, have aplumber install a regulating valve.

PagatinuFor customers who want to have morecontrol of their energy consumption,Aqualectra Distribution proudly offersa new product: the PAGATINU system.Pagatinu is a prepayment system forwater and electricity, in which case youbuy water and electricity in advance.With the help of the Pagatinu device atyour place, you can check your con-sumption easily at any moment. Bypressing a button, you can see howmuch energy you are using at thatmoment. You will, therefore, becomemore conscious of your own consump-tion and can therefore budget better.Pagatinu is the system for the conscious

WATER

DATE INITIALREADING

INITIAL READING

DATE FINALREADING

FINAL READING

CONSUMP-TION IN m3

CONSUMP-TION IN ANG.

consumer who wants to deal withhis/her energy consumption in a moreresponsible manner. Pagatinu: the sys-tem of the future and now already with-in your reach.

A good way to deal more consciouslywith your energy consumption is tokeep count of your consumption. In thisway you will know exactly what youconsume weekly or monthly, and youwill not be surprised by our invoice atthe end of the month. With this meter-reading card, you have a handydevice to keep count of your meterreadings in a simple manner and to cal-culate your consumption.

On the front side of this card, you canrecord your electricity consumptionand on the reverse side your water con-sumption.

How does it work?1. You can take your meter readingson your electricity and water meters.(add drawing)2. Record the date on which yourecord the meter reading for the firsttime in the first column (date initialreading).3. Record the corresponding meterreading in the second column (initialreading).4. After a certain period (for exampleafter a month), you will record the datein the third column (date final reading)and the corresponding meter readingin the fourth column (final reading).

5. You can calculate your consump-tion in the past period (for example inthe past month) by subtracting the ini-tial reading from the final reading; sosubtract the reading in the second col-umn from the reading in the fourth col-umn. Record the result in the fifth col-umn (consumption in kWh). Thisamount represents your consumption inthe past period in kWh (for electricity)or in m3 (for water).6. You can calculate your consump-tion in guilders by multiplying the con-sumption in kWh and m3 by the corre-sponding rate. The present rates can beapplied for at any time at AQUALEC-TRA DISTRIBUTION.

Main office and service office• Aqualectra Distribution Otrabanda

Pater Euwensweg 1P.O.Box 230Telephone: 463-2000Fax: 462-6251Opening hours information desks: Mondaythrough Friday 7.45 - 14.30 hoursOpening hours cash points:Monday through Thursday 7.45 - 18.00 hoursFriday: 7.45 - 19.00 hours

Service offices• Aqualectra Distribution Sta. Rosa

St. Rosa 94 (Paseata Building)Telephone: 767-8851Fax: 767-8859Opening hours:Monday through Friday 7.45 – 15.00 hours

• Aqualectra Distribution Sta. MariaJan Noorduynweg (Shopping Center)Telephone: 869-3523Fax: 869-3512Opening hours:Monday through Friday 7.45 – 15.00 hours

• Aqualectra Distribution BarberBarber 106Telephone: 864-1308Fax: 864-1305Opening hours:Monday through Friday 7.45 – 12.00 hoursand: 12.45 – 15.00 hours

Important numbers• Complaints Department for failures:

tel. 135 (24 hours available)• Information on your account:

tel. 463-2328 or 463-2329• P.R. Department:

tel. 462-5968