Tag: Energy
Best Gas Stoves and How to Save LPG used by cook stoves
Although induction cooktops are gaining popularity, but traditional old gas stoves are still the most used cooking appliance in households. At Bijli Bachao, we profess saving energy, and although our name gives a feeling of saving electricity, but saving other sources of energy are as dear to us. LPG and PNG are the most common fuel used for cooking on gas stoves in India, and saving them is as important as saving electricity. Although there are several things that
Time Switches: easy automatic way to switch on and off appliances and save electricity
We all know that switching off appliances from the mains is one of the best way to save electricity. Still, at times we encounter situations where doing the same is either a hassle or is difficult. Running an AC all night will consume a lot of electricity and will also make the room quite cool, but getting up in the middle of the night to switch off is a hassle. A switched on TV/DTH-DVR system will consume quite a lot of electricity,
Learning from a Thermos – Designing a well insulated space
When I was a child I used to have a lot of curiosity while using a Thermos (or vacuum flask). It was always like magic that it used to keep hot things hot and cold things cold all the time. It neither had fire in it to keep things hot nor ice to keep things cool. Later in high school we learnt the basics of heat transfer, and that was when the theory behind the thermos became clear to me. After so many years, when I think of it, a lot of it can be applied to saving
Evaluation and comparison of Superfan, a BEE 5 star rated fan and regular fans
Since we started Bijli Bachao, which was almost two years back, we have been experimenting with various appliances and measuring their electricity consumption. At our own home we measured electricity consumption of some of the appliances, replaced them with efficient options and estimated the impact post replacement. One of these is the ceiling fan. We were on regular fans about a year back, when we replaced them with BEE 5 star rated ceiling fans. And just 3 months
Air Conditioners with Heat Pump can save electricity for heating in winters
Several places in Northern India experience extreme winters and summers every year. To deal with such extreme weather, most people buy both air conditioners as well as room heaters. It not only adds to the number of appliances in a house, but also significantly increases electricity bills in summers as well as winters. Air conditioners because they have a thermostat (which controls temperature) do not consume a lot of electricity as compared to room heaters, which
Ceiling Fan blade angle can impact electricity consumption
You have a few ceiling fans in your home or office, and you yourself clean them or ask your maid to clean them up regularly. You feel good when you look at nice and clean fans, but have you ever wondered if in the process you have mistakenly disturbed the fan blade angle? Recently during one of our visits at a home we found that the angles of ceiling fan blades were completely disturbed (as shown in the image below) and on asking the reason for the same, we found that
All about Electric Cars – technology for the future, pros and cons, and our take on it
Green living and green concepts are the new buzzwords in our age, and use of electric cars is gaining popularity in the green town. For most people, use of electric cars is an alien or a new concept, but it is not that these cars never existed, or were never tried. A good look at the history of cars will tell you that people started using electric cars way back in mid-19th century (some time in 1830s). These cars were popular even before the gasoline (or
Reflective roof top coatings can make a home energy efficient by reducing air conditioning load
Air conditioning is the biggest paint point for most people concerned about their high electricity bills in summers. On Bijli Bachao we get a lot of visitors looking for help on Air Conditioners. In one of our previous posts we mentioned how using ceiling fan with an air conditioner can help. On response to it, some of the visitors said that ceiling fan should not be used with air conditioner because it will push down hot air from the ceiling. Please refer to our article
Pumping systems without overhead tanks can significantly increase electricity bills of a group housing society
A few months back we got a call from the management committee of a luxury residential complex in Mumbai to help them on their very high electricity bills. Surprisingly their common electricity bills were so high that their monthly maintenance bills were as high as what a family would pay as rent in any other society in the city. On a walk through audit we found that although the lighting used in the complex was most efficient, what was causing high electricity bills
Inverter/UPS models and their energy efficiencies in India
Twenty-four hour power supply is a rarity in India. There are very few places in the country that can boast of having continuous supply of power. All this has resulted in growth of Inverters, UPS and DG sets industry in India. Although there are many branded models of inverters/ups available in the country, there are many people who still go for cheap/unbranded models that can significantly increase electricity bills. The efficiency of inverters/ups is not even considered