Dubai: Reducing consumption of water and electricity in your home saves money, preserves natural resources, and reduces pollution emitted from non-renewable energy sources. From noon to 6pm, or peak-load hours, using any electrical device adds more load to the electricity grid. Then, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has to increase its power generation capacity, and more power sources and energy imports are needed.

In order to reduce or eliminate the extensive electricity usage problem, Dewa has launched its annual ‘Peak Load Campaign’ to encourage customers to reduce electricity and water consumption during summer months.

“The main objective of this campaign is to raise awareness of rational power consumption among residential, industrial, and commercial. Rational consumption does not mean that we need to stop using electricity or water. It simply means that we only need to shift non-critical loads to off-peak hours and re-distribute usage of high power-consuming devices to off-peak hours. If we don’t adopt sustainability in consuming electricity, we will always need to burn more gas to generate more power,” said Amal Koshak, Senior Manager of Marketing Communications at Dewa.

Switching off electric irons, washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters, and electric ovens during peak hours will contribute significantly to solving the problem.

Air-conditioning represents as much as 60 per cent of the peak load consumption. By raising the temperature of the air-conditioning system even slightly, it is possible for consumers to lower their electricity bills and increase the overall reliability and efficiency of the electrical system. If every customer changed the air-conditioning in their homes or offices from 20 degrees Celsius to either 23 or 24 degrees during peak hours, this will considerably reduce energy consumption. Adopting such behaviour towards preserving electricity usage will help in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and conserve natural resources.

Einar Rowan, a hotel maintenance technician, said, “By putting insulation in walls and attics, we can reduce the amount of energy it takes to heat or cool our homes.”

The Peak Load Campaign also targets commercial and industrial customers to shift their less critical energy operations from peak times to off-peak hours.

“It is significant that all community members participate in the peak-load campaign to sustain our natural resources,” Koshak added.

“Educating people about the importance of electricity is all that matters. Reducing the use of electricity is not that hard. For example, lights shouldn’t be on in all rooms in the house, and using one TV for all family members should be enough,” housewife Nora Mohammad said.

Nawal Al Ramahi is a trainee at Gulf News.