What (Watt) We Need to Know to Reduce Electricity Bills

Consumer’s dependency on electricity has encouraged wastage. We’re seriously overpaying for inefficiency as well as wastage. Technology has changed – we haven’t, politicians won't! We need to hold the following thought as we read on. For every 1kW we consume, 3kW has to be generated because 2/3 of electricity generated from fossil fuel power stations is lost in heat and other inefficiencies. If we really wanted to we could dispense with the electricity grid altogether and use current technology to meet our energy needs. But that’s a bit further down the track and requires a change in consumer culture. The problem is the 'system', which is based on centralised power generation of large quantities of electricity obviating the need to transport it hundreds if not thousands of kms. Instead of perpetuating the ‘system’, we should move towards consumer located power systems e.g. solar collectors with a battery bank connected to an inverter. Solar panels collect free energy; the inverter acts as a battery charger and chemically stores energy for withdrawal when its dark or the sun doesn’t shine. The inverter then converts dc (direct current) to ac (alternating current) so it’s just like mains electricity. Inverters are at least 95% efficient, but more to the point electricity is generated at the point of consumption, not thousands of kms away. This effectively saves 66% lost in inefficiencies before we even start. These ‘systems’ could be small stations in each consumer’s premises or combined small stations for a group, street or suburb. ‘That’s going to cost a lot of money’, I hear you say. Indeed, but so is building large power stations under the ‘old system’. The alternative ‘system’ is efficient and cheap (did I say cheap, sorry I meant free) but we need to know what (Watt) to do. Instead of re-building power stations with the same inefficiencies, the alternative would create a new industry attracting employment for Australians. ‘Yeh Yeh’, respond the cynics, who always know what’s best for us, especially since they advise and we pay! Part of the plan needs consumers to be educated in what (Watt) to know to reduce electricity consumption. It’s much less complicated than consumers trying to negotiate with electrical retailers. Reducing electricity consumption is a quantum leap away from switching off the lights. Its generally accepted governments are the only means of reducing electricity cost because they control power generation ‘systems’. It's also true, the ‘system’ creates massive carbon emissions, except we all create demand because we have each developed an insatiable appetite for electricity. We simply don’t know what (Watt) to do to reduce our consumption, so let’s all wait for the government to do something. Hello, are you still there? Fossil fuel Power Stations in Australia are approaching the end of their useful life. and so the 'experts' advise new fossil fuel stations should be built. It would also perpetuate the need for poles and wires. Another solution would be to close them down and adopt a more efficient ‘system’ and get rid of poles and wires. A saving of 66% in a single hit. I can hear cries from cynics, ‘but we need base power that only large power stations can supply for manufacturing’. Hang on! I didn’t think we were a manufacturing country any more! In any event manufacturers are not all demanding MW but even if they were, let them buy their own generators. It would be much cheaper and cleaner and more efficient. Just run them when they're needed, at the same location they consume it. Power consumed at the point of generation always starts with 66% saving. ‘Yeh, Yeh, but what about the noise, diesel engines are very noisy’. I know, so are buses and trucks and trains, which are also diesel powered. Stationary diesels can be contained in silenced enclosures – been done for years! Sid Eavis - retired power station/distribution design engineer