A family of five goes through a lot of dishes. I run the dishwasher at least once a day, sometimes more, especially if I'm on a cooking or baking rampage. With the cost of hydro and water continuously going up, it's getting more expensive to run our dishwasher during the day.
Although we don't have the Peak Saver program yet in Ottawa, it is expected to roll out this coming year (by the end of 2011). This means that I need to start getting into the habit of doing things that require a lot of electricity and/or hot water at night and on weekends, when the costs for both of these is at its lowest.
To start, I am going to start running the dishwasher at night. My dishwasher has a delay function, so I can set it for 2, 4, or 8 hours. This means I can fill up the dishwasher with the supper dishes, and put it on for after 9 p.m. (when Peak Saver rates apply). Hopefully, by the time Hydro Ottawa gets around to charging for peak/off-peak rates, I'll be in the habit of dish washing at night.
I actually have to do it the opposite way to use less energy: I have a solar hot water system in my Seattle, WA. It has an electric heater backup- meaning that during the day, the percentage of water heated by the sun is greater than at night, when the electric backup has to kick in to bring the water to temperature. Thus, the most carbon-free way to run my dishes is between noon-3 pm.
ReplyDeleteDitto with showers.
It's interesting how different kinds of equipment can affect how you save energy. Truthfully, I wouldn't have thought that Seattle had enough sunshine for solar heating! :)
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