Nghe An people adjust their living habits to save electricity.

Minimize the time spent using electrical equipment

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thuy’s family in Van Tien block, Hung Dung ward, Vinh city has 5 people. On hot days, especially when children start summer vacation, the demand for electrical appliances such as TV, refrigerator, fan, air conditioner… increases much more.

“The house has two air conditioners, four electric fans, not to mention the TV and refrigerator that are also running continuously, so the electricity bill has increased in the past two months. That is why the family has had to adjust the habits of all members to save electricity and minimize the use of electrical devices,” said Ms. Thuy.

Specifically, normally every day her family cooks 3 meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner using an electric rice cooker and electric stove. Now she reduces the number of times she cooks rice using an electric cooker to 1-2 times by cooking 2 or 3 meals at a time. She wakes up early in the morning to cook enough rice for lunch, even dinner. In addition, every day Mrs. Thuy wakes up early when the weather is still cool, takes advantage of lighting the honeycomb coal stove to boil water and food for the whole day, only when she needs to cook quickly does she use the electric stove.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Hung Dung ward, Vinh city applies many measures to save electricity during peak hours. Photo: HT

“On hot days, to cool the house and reduce the capacity of the air conditioner, she regularly cleans the house and closes the doors, limits the wind from bringing hot air into the house and only uses the air conditioner above 28 degrees Celsius. At night when using the air conditioner, she also sets the timer to automatically turn it off, turns on a gentle fan, and does not leave the machine running all night, which will waste a lot of electricity,” Ms. Thuy shared.

In Dai Dong commune, Thanh Chuong district, Ms. Vi Thi Quyen in Truong Son hamlet shared that people in Truong Son hamlet live near Lam river, so for a long time, they have had the habit of calling each other to sit on the dike after dinner, around 8 o'clock, to enjoy the cool breeze, both to chat and to limit the time using electrical appliances in the family.

“When people leave the house, the lights, fans, TVs, and air conditioners can “rest” for about 2-3 hours. After 10 pm, everyone goes home to sleep, which means about 2 hours of electricity usage is reduced. Not to mention that women also have a volleyball movement, every afternoon people gather to play and cheer until 8 or 9 pm, so a lot of time is saved on electricity usage,” said Ms. Vi Thi Quyen.

Many households reduce the number of air conditioners, keeping the temperature above 28 degrees Celsius to save electricity. Photo: HT

Also by adjusting the family's "schedule", Ms. Le Thi Na in Ha Huy Tap ward (Vinh city) said that normally her family regularly uses 4 air conditioners, of which 1 is placed in the living room. For more than a month now, she has "thoroughly instructed" members to limit their activities together in the living room, and not to use a large capacity air conditioner in the living room. In addition, her 2 children previously each had a separate room with their own air conditioner, along with the couple's bedroom also using air conditioning, so the 3 machines were running continuously.

“Now I encourage my youngest son to sleep in the same room with his parents to reduce the use of 1 air conditioner. The other room used to be used to watch news and movies after dinner, but now when needed, he watches it on the computer or phone in a separate room, limiting the use of a large TV and air conditioner in the living room. I also want to teach my children the habit of saving electricity through adjusting family activities. The children are also very supportive, because saving energy, protecting the environment, and combating climate change are also topics that are regularly taught at school,” said Ms. Na.

Use alternative energy, smart electrical equipment

In addition to limiting the use of air conditioning, her family's lighting systems also use smart, energy-saving bulbs. Ms. Le Thi Na said that although the cost of buying energy-saving bulbs is more expensive than incandescent bulbs, it reduces the amount of electricity consumed and the amount of heat released when the bulbs are turned on. In her family's 5 rooms, she installed 10 LED neon bulbs that are both bright and energy-saving.

Using solar lights is an effective solution to help families save electricity. Photo: HT

In addition, she also invested in solar lights for the garden. “Solar lights are not expensive, about a few tens of thousands of dong for a small one, and have a heat sensor that automatically turns on when someone approaches, self-charging from solar energy during the day and turning on at night, which is quite convenient. My family has been using 4 solar lights for more than a year now, enough to serve the daily activities in the yard and garden without needing grid electricity” - Ms. Le Thi Na said.

In Thinh Son commune, Do Luong district, Mr. Le Van Dung in Van Phuc hamlet has a way to save electricity by using "green energy" from biogas for daily cooking instead of using an induction cooker.

Mr. Le Van Dung has been passionate about applying green technology to life and production for many years. His family raises chickens and pigs with a flock of about 200-300 chickens and 10-15 pigs per litter. He uses the waste from the livestock to compost biogas.

Mr. Dung said that the amount of manure produced by the pigs is almost completely recycled back to serve the pigs themselves, and converted into gas for household use and cooking food for the pigs.

"Thanks to biogas, my family doesn't spend a penny on electricity for cooking all year round, except for cooking rice in a rice cooker. Compared to other families using induction cookers for cooking, using biogas can save a few million dong on gas or electricity each year," Mr. Dung shared.

Thanks to using biogas, every year Mr. Le Van Dung's family does not need to use electricity for cooking. Photo: HT

Need the cooperation of the whole community

In addition to the self-awareness of individuals and households in saving electricity, the participation of the entire social community is needed. This is a necessary action to both reduce family expenses and contribute to reducing the current power shortage across the country.

In Vinh city, for more than 3 weeks now, the public lighting system has been turned off after 7am to reduce costs, only turning on on main streets during rush hours. In other localities such as Tam Quang commune, Tuong Duong district, Dung town, Thanh Chuong district..., public electrical equipment in villages and hamlets have also been turned off for more than a week now to save electricity.

According to Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), due to the impact of El Nino, heat waves, droughts, and water shortages have seriously affected hydroelectric reservoirs across the country. As of May 11, 2023, 11/47 large hydroelectric reservoirs have reached or are near dead water level.

Nghe An Electricity workers repair and maintain the power transmission system in Hung Dung ward. Photo: HT

In April and early May alone, water levels in lakes were only below 50% of the average for many years, and some lakes were only 20% of the average for many years, causing a serious water shortage for hydroelectric plants. Therefore, to ensure energy consumption, it is expected that the entire Northern power system will have to reduce 1000 - 2400 MW. Nghe An will have to reduce 53 - 124 MW of its total capacity during peak hours on hot days.

Currently, the expected electricity consumption in the whole province on hot days is approximately 17,500,000 kWh, while the allocated output only meets about 90%.