Geyser Blankets – Saving You Money
In a typical home, a geyser will lose around 1 degree celsius per hour. This means that once the water temperature drops below the threshold, the geyser will switch back on to re-heat the water back to the set temperature. Depending on the time of year, this may happen between 15 and 30 times per day! Since hot water usage comprises around 40%-50% of the average household electricity costs in a month, it makes sense to take steps to reduce the electricity usage on your geyser as much as possible.
How geyser blankets work.
Just like wrapping yourself in a blanket to keep warm when it is cold, so the same is true for geyser blankets. They are wrapped around your geyser and prevent heat loss from the geyser , especially in the colder months. Your geyser loses heat because the air around the geyser is usually much colder than the heated air coming off the geyser due to the hot water inside it. The colder the air around the geyser ( like in winter) the more heat loss occurs. In electricity terms , it means that the geyser now has to heat the water up from a lower temperature and this of course uses more electricity. For example – the geyser temperature is set to 60 Degrees. In Winter, the geyser will cool down to 55 degrees over a period of say 2 hours. When the geyser thermostat senses that the water temperature has dropped, it switches the geyser on to reheat the water…and so it goes.
Using geyser blankets to save energy
By wrapping your geyser with a blanket, the insulation prevents the additional heat loss and keeps the water hotter for longer. In fact , many people report that the water feels hotter when geyser blankets are installed. This is not true, it simply feels hotter because they have become used to the water being cooler due to the heat loss experienced when there is no additional insulation. The fact is that a geyser blanket alone could save you around 20% on your geyser energy usage as less electricity is being used to reheat water.
At Think Green Insulation , we manufacture geyser blankets in a variety of sizes from 40mm to 150mm to deliver effective insulation. We can also offer the geyser blankets with the silver foil to protect the blanket if it being used outside. A rule of thumb here, the thicker the insulation, the more effective the blanket is in saving electricity – also, the silver foil does not add directly to the efficacy of the insulation, it is there purely to protect the blanket against the elements if it is outside.
