Power cuts for repairs worsen summer woes

Hyderabad:  The summer season has become synonymous with power cuts partly because the electricity department is carrying out minor repair work but mostly because of overloading, as air-conditioners and coolers are on much of the time to beat the heat.

The electricity department has installed around 2,000 additional transformers to tackle the overloading, 1,000 of which were installed in the last six months, said an electricity department official.

Overloading leads to tripping; sometimes this can be dealt with at home by re-setting the cut-off switch. These complaints do not make to the electricity office and are sorted out at homes and in commercial establishments.

The overloading in each home also affects the transformers in the locality. Upon noticing the overload, the electricity department replaces the existing ones with a higher capacity transformers, which is a regular practice.

On an average a 1.5-tonne capacity air conditioner (AC) consumes around 1,500 watts per hour. The electricity department does not have data on the acquisition of high-wattage equipment at homes and comes to realise it only when overloading occurs.

Customers are supposed to inform the power department of the purchase of high-watt equipment, but this requirement is not widely known nor publicised. Almost no one follows it.

There are also schemes in place like voluntary disclosure, in which, if the consumer informs the electricity department of the newly introduced load at home.

The additional bill which is generated due to the new equipment would be discounted by 50 per cent.

India has recorded an 18-20 per cent growth in the last decade in the sale of air conditioners. Experts say that one should use a ceiling fan along with the AC to avoid heat entering the room, and clean air filters often, which will help reduce the power consumption.

Besides, the Centre is urging people to run the air-conditioner units at 24ºC, which consume less electricity at that setting. Customers are also urged to buy ACs with higher power-saver ratings.

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Additional connected loads means those which are over and above the connected load agreed upon, as printed in the bill. Anything that is beyond the connected load should be informed to the power department.

As per Voluntary disclosure scheme, Southern Power Distribution Company gives 50 per cent discount for regularisation of additional loads.

According to the Electricity Regulatory Commission, domestic consumers who have to pay development charges of Rs 1,200 per kW (GST 18%) for additional connected loads can pay only Rs 600 per kW (GST 18%) through the voluntary regularisation scheme.

What they consume
LED bulbs:
5-12 watts
CFL bulbs:
20-60 watts
Incandescent lamps: 60-200 watts
Tubelights: 40 watts
TV: 100-200 watts
Mixer: 500-750 watts
Fans: 50-75 watts
Oven 750-1,000 watts
Washing machine: 250-400 watts
Inverter: 300-500 watts
Cooler: 200-300 watts
AC 1,500-2,500 watts
0.5 HP water motor: 373 watts
1-1.5 HP bore motor: 746-1,119 watts
Electric chimney: 180-240 watts
Iron box: 750-1,100 watts
Computer: 100 watts
Printer: 30-50 watts
Refrigerator: 250-400 watts
Heater: 750-1,000 watts
Rice cooker: 300-600 watts