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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-05-16, Page 10Page 10 May 16, 2007 • The Huron Expositor News Power consumption droppin says Festival Hydro data from the utility. LED lights load will use 15 to 20 gallons per load," "I believe there is some relationship * 36 per cent replaced an old refrigera- Holman said. to the conservation efforts," said Bill tor with a more efficient model Beginning May 1, Ontario homes Zehr, president of Festival Hydro. * 16 per cent replaced on old freezer with "smart meters" were scheduled to However, he cautioned the numbers with a more efficient model be charged a variable rate for the elec- aren't adjusted for the influence of the * 30 per cent installed a programmable tricity. The smart meters encourage weather. thermostat. conservation by showing people how For example, 2005 — which had the But the No. 1 change households much their energy habits cost them. highest consumption in the five-year reported was swapping their old incan- Under the variable pricing plan, period — was warm and people ran air descent light bulbs for more efficient users will pay 7.2 cents per kWh week - conditioning more often during the hot compact fluorescent bulbs. days from 7-11 a.m Brian Shypula GINIUMINEED Messages and tips for conserving electricity are getting through to Festival Hydro customers, who used less power on average in 2006 than in each of the four previous years. Average consumption for the utility's 17,000 residential customers in Seaforth, Brussels, Dashwood, Hensall, St. Marys, Stratford and Zurich was 703 kilowatt hours a month in 2006. That kWh in 2005, 713 kWh in 2003 and in according to was kWh 730 down in kWh from 2004, 2002, 738 7 16 summer. Still, Zehr declining statistics jive Respondents were also asked about From 11 a.m.-5 p.m., the peak period, said he believes usage is the conservation steps they planned to electricity will cost them 9.2 cents per and that the consumption make in the next 12 months. Again, kWh. From 5-10 p.m., the price falls with a survey Festival switching to compact fluorescent bulbs back to 7.2 cents. Hydro conducted was the most frequently listed mea- From 10 p.m. -7 a.m., the price is 3.2 sure. centskWh Th k 'The survey itself gave us some confi dence that the consumers are thinkin about conservation," Zehr said. In Ontario, the average household consumes about 800 kWh a month o about 10,000 kWh, according to Statistics Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Energy. Six of Ontario's largest electric utili- ties recently said conservation pro- grams saved enough power last year to take nearly 34,000 homes off the grid. The utilities -- Toronto Hydro, Hydro Ottawa, Horizon Utilities, Veridian Connections, PowerStream and Enersource Hydro Mississauga -- rep- resent 1.7 million customers in south- ern and eastern Ontario. The utilities collectively reduced power consumption by 302.5 million kilowatt-hours in 2006, a 274 per cent increase over savings achieved in 2005. Local retailers say consumer demand and awareness of conservation is on the rise. Jim Sills, owner of Sills Home Hardware in Seaforth, has seen an increase in sales of compact flourescent light bulbs recently. "When they come in for bulbs, they consider the compacts," he said. Chris Holman, co-owner of Seaforth Plumbing and Heating has also seen an increase in demand for energy effi- cient products. He attributed the rise in demand to high energy costs and a government program that started a couple months tWEECeadf FARM EQUIPMENT SEAFORTH 519-527-0120 EXETER 519-235-2121 www.teamvincent.com r.1 >r r.. S. at •,r,...cat cc.. Car N arc Casa '.C1 an v. ...c, rr Alt 14 CASE 1// last year. The utility polled about 10 per cent of its cus- tomers to ask them about what they did to cut back elec- tricity usage. Briefly, the survey found: * 36 per cent replaced old Christmas lights with more efficient Are you a cancer survivor? Join us for a night to remember...register for the Survivors' Victory Lap at Relay For Life. Friday, June 15, 7 p.m. G.D.C.I. Register online at cancer.ca/relay or contact the Canadian Cancer Society at 1 800 294-0086. EVENT SPONSOR j. Gain** Place SURVIVOR SPONSOR E MEDIA SPONSOR Canadian SocietE Cancer canadienne Society du cancer MF DIA SPONSOR per a price on wee ends - and holidays is 3.2 cents per kWh. g So running a washing machine or dishwasher in the middle of the night will cost just over one-third of the price r of running it mid-afternoon. Smart meters likely won't be installed in this area until later this year. Festival Hydro is still waiting for approval. The provincial government's plan is to have 800,000 customers on smart meters by the end of 2007 but has set 2010 as the target for provincewide smart metering for residential and smaller general service customers. In addition to smart meters, Festival Hydro has other conservation initia- tives planned. The utility hopes to double the num- ber of customers who allow their water heaters and air conditioners to be con- trolled by a wireless signal sent by the utility. Last summer, about 200 customers signed up to have their air conditioners turned on and off in 15 -minute cycles through the controllers, which are installed free of charge by the utility. About 1,400 customers have their water heaters controlled in a similar manner. The signals run the water heaters in off-peak times when there is less demand for electricity. Demand for a Kill -a -Watt appliance tester Festival Hydro gave Stratford Public Library to loan out was so high the library ended up buying four of the units on its own. The testers measure how much energy an appliance uses. "As a part of the community, we like to consider ourselves doing our part for the environment as much as we can. We really felt we owed it to people to do this," said Sally Hengeveld, public ser- vices librarian. Hengeveld, who is a member of the environmental group CARE (Common Action for the Restoration of the Environment) Stratford, said she thinks the conservation message is get- ting through to people. "I really think, personally, that the tide has turned. I think the message has got through between the publicity of what it's doing to the Earth and the cost, I think people really are paying attention," she said. With files frm Aaron Jacklin ago. "There's a rebate program where you can get up to $800 back," Holman said. "That's basically increased our sales on higher efficiency products." He named three types of products that are selling well. Air conditioners with a Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio of 14 were one. Holman explained that the higher the SEER, the more energy efficient the product. The highest is 21. He said they've seen a lot of sales of 95 per cent efficient furnaces with vari- able speed fans, which distribute heat throughout a home more evenly. Another type of appliance in high demand is the front loading washing machine, because it uses less Water. "Where the top -load (machines) will use 60 to 80 gallons per load, the front-