Shanghaiers, famous for being careful planners and calculating
everything down to the last fen, have come up with a list of
energy-saving tips that are easy to follow and practical.
The tips, compiled into a brochure, have been selling like hot
cakes in Shanghai. The brochure is into its third print run, Xinhua
reported on July 16.
The brochure was compiled by the Shanghai Municipal
Energy-Saving Supervisory Center. The center analyzed energy
consumption patterns in over 1,000 households and gathered advice
contributed by citizens via the “energy-saving hotline.”
Some of the tips sent in include:
Soaking rice in water for 10 minutes before cooking it in a
700-watt electric cooker actually consumes less electricity and
cooks faster than cooking non pre-soaked rice in a 500-watt
cooker.
Instead of thawing frozen food in the microwave oven, consider
taking it out the night before and leaving it in the fridge.
Speaking of which, fridges should not be jammed packed with
things.
As far as air-conditioners are concerned, recommended summer
setting is 26-28 degrees Celsius. Recommended winter setting is
16-18 degrees. In summer, using an electric fan at the same time
allows you to set the air-conditioner to a lower operating level,
which can save energy as well.
And the walls. Well, depending on their color, they could
enhance light utilization rate. A white wall, for example, has a
reflection coefficient of up to 70-80 percent, which can reduce the
energy consumed by a lamp.
Some of these techniques have been confirmed by scientific
tests. To use household appliances as an example, tests show that
an appliance that is still connected to the mains continues to
consume energy even when it's not in use. Hi-fi systems consume the
most electricity in such a situation, up to 10 watts of electricity
every day.
The brochure therefore suggests disconnecting the appliance from
the mains when it's not in use.
The Shanghai Municipal Energy-Saving Supervisory Center has
compiled another two brochures covering buildings and energy
savings in industry. According to rough calculations, if all of the
tips in the brochures are followed closely, more than 30 percent of
energy can be saved in buildings alone.
(China.org.cn by Zhang Tingting July 24, 2005)