Tag: Cost
Desert Air Coolers better option than Air Conditioners for hot and dry places
Air Conditioners can significantly increase electricity bills is a fact that is known to many people, but still many people buy it thinking that buying an air conditioner has become a necessity. While we can agree to an extent to the fact that temperatures have increase a bit in last century, but it is not that the life was difficult when there were no air conditioners. For a long time, people in India, especially those living in hot and dry climates used to rely more
Operating Cost a big component as compared to Buying Cost of appliances
Knowing what will happen in their lives in future is something that interests a lot of people. A lot of us are very excited to know about future and plan things accordingly. People feel satisfied if they have taken sufficient care of whatever will happen in future. What if you know about the approximate cost you will spend on electricity before buying any appliance? Will that change the buying decision? We are sure it will. How will that get impacted if we tell you
Measuring electricity consumption of home appliances and doing self audit
Knowing the electricity consumption of appliances is always the first step towards saving electricity. And before one starts a project to reduce electricity in home or office, it is very important to measure the electricity consumption of appliances. But the question comes, how do you measure the appliances? In this article we will tell you how we used a simple single phase meter to do some sample audits. We purchased a single phase energy meter for a nominal price
BEE 5 Star Rated Ceiling Fans: Myths And Realities
When we were setting up our house and were looking for electrical appliances to buy, our contractor, who was working on the electrical work, told us not to buy BEE 5 star ceiling fans. The reason he gave us was that there was complaints that BEE 5 star rated ceiling fans do not give good air delivery. We looked around for some data and agreed to what he was saying and installed a regular ceiling fan. Three years later (last week) we decided to give them a try and got
Replacing old or buying new, why a BEE 5 star rated refrigerator always makes sense
Since last few weeks we have started auditing some homes in Mumbai to get a feeling of different kind of appliances available in various homes and their consumption pattern. And one interesting fact that has come to our notice is that the refrigerators are the second biggest consumers of electricity in any home after air conditioners, that too if there is a significant use of air conditioners in that home. Else refrigerators are truly the biggest consumers. The observations
Cooktop Comparison: Gas, Electric and Induction
Recently while interacting with a Bijli Bachao reader, we came across a question: which cooktop should I buy Gas or Induction? And this made us realize: Hey! We didn't think about it! Cooking typically is a small component of the whole energy requirement in a house (especially in most middle and upper class urban homes), which some people typically ignore. Although rising LPG/PNG costs does cause a furore but rarely do we compare it with other form of energy: electricity.
Energy Saving Wallpaper can provide thermal insulation and save electricity
Extreme weather is uncomfortable to everyone and we all like to sit in a cold room during hot summer months and in a warm room during extreme winters. We use appliances like air conditioners and heaters to make rooms comfortable but it increases the electricity bills significantly. In addition to various other ways, there are simple techniques of thermal insulation that can make the environment much more comfortable and can reduce the electricity consumption. In case
CFL Bulbs and Fluorescent Tubes buying guide
In our previous post on task-based lighting, we showed that a watt is not the right measure for brightness and we should use lumens instead. We then went around the shops in our area and then carried out online market survey to find out different types of CFLs and Fluorescent tubes available in the market in India, and give our readers some comparative figures to help
BEE Star Rating Program Explained
Today, when we go to purchase an electrical appliance for our house, the number of choices available exceeds our capacity to understand and evaluate them. We are heavily loaded with information on a large number of products. This may at times land us in purchasing something that might not be the best option for us. However, once purchased, they are going to stay in our house almost till the life of the appliance, say 8-10 years for
Fuel Adjustment Charges on Electricity Bills explained
Have you ever wondered why your electricity bill amount is not the same even when you have the same number of units consumed on the bill? Why is it that the electricity bill is different even when you have not changed your electricity consumption? If you look at your bills you will just find that there is an amount mentioned as FAC or FCA or FPPCA, which is either positive or negative and is creating the difference.