Better Farming - August 2016

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Better Farming August 2016 Farm News First > 47
HOW ITWORKS
Billing confusion
In an effort to control system expan-
sion and costs, the newer Hydro One
(Ontario Energy Board) introduced a
pricing system to effectively decrease
the use of electrical energy – kilowatt
hours (kWh) – during the now higher-
use times of the day, week and time
of year.
The present billing structure can
cause significant confusion. The bill I
have in front of me straddles a
summer/winter change, thus there
are six different rate charges for
electricity as well as the delivery and
regulatory charges and the debt
retirement charge. Then we have the
HST on the total billing amount
before the politically expedient
Ontario Clean Energy Benefit of 10
per cent is deducted!
But wait, I am not finished yet. I
have a sentinel light rental charge
complete with another HST charge!
Why would you rent a sentinel light,
you ask? Well it is located on the
centralized Hydro One metering pole
which neither I nor my electrician is
permitted to access. That pole is in
the ideal location. Yes, I could have
put in another pole beside it, but that
would have cost $500.00 and looked
very silly.
Assess consumption and costs
The first item that I check on my
monthly bill, after the grand total, is
the three peak-use periods (on-peak,
mid-peak and off-peak) as that
breakdown is my first line of defense.
The more consumption I can move
to off-peak (seven p.m. to seven a.m.),
the better.
One load I moved to off-peak over
a year ago was the electric water
heater. It is the largest controllable/
movable load. My high efficiency
(well-insulated) 40-gallon water heater
has a 3,800-watt element in both the
top and the bottom locations. That
means if either one comes on, the
water heater will consume almost four
kWh each hour.
A simple $35.00, 24-hour time
clock set for ON at seven p.m. and
OFF at seven a.m. keeps that load
totally at the off-peak lowest rate. It
can be manually overridden on
Saturday, Sunday or holidays with a
flip of the switch. The switch is
located directly over the water heater,
which is very close to the clothes
washer.
To add to the off-peak water
heating, the new dishwasher has a
built-in four-hour time delay which
can be overridden if necessary. It
allows my wife to set the fully-loaded
dishwasher at six or seven p.m. and it
will not start until 10 or 11 p.m. –
when the water heater is back on.
But look again at the picture of my
water heater. It has an anti-siphon
pipe loop, and this section of piping
is insulated. Both reduce heat energy
losses. Please note that I do not have,
show or recommend, a water heater
blanket. Those thermal blankets can
McCormick_CC_Aug16.indd 1 11:23 AM