Contact: Priscilla Knight, 703-392-1580, pknight@novec.com
NORTHERN VIRGINIA—The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative asks all of its 144,000 customers to reduce power consumption at work and home between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. this week as temperatures soar. The reduction will help the Co-op insure reliable service during this extended heat wave.
“We’re asking everyone to cut back their electricity use to help us keep power flowing during this heat wave,” says Mike Curtis, vice president of Public Relations. Curtis says peak-use hours in summer usually occur in the afternoons and evenings when air conditioners work the hardest to cool while families do laundry, prepare dinner, and wash dishes.
Tips for Reducing Peak Electricity Use
- Turn the thermostat up to 78 degrees or higher if no person or pet is at home. When family members are home, run fans; the air movement will make them feel cooler.
- Close window shades, blinds, and drapes to block the sun’s heat.
- Delay running the dishwasher, clothes washer and dryer until late at night or early in the morning.
- Turn the electric water heater temperature down from 140 degrees to 120 degrees.
- Turn off all unnecessary lights, electronic devices, and appliances.
- Cook with a microwave oven instead of the stove and oven.
- Spend time in a finished basement where temperatures are cooler.
- Consider going to the library, mall or the movies where it's cool, and turn off the air conditioner before leaving.
- Replace or clean the air conditioner filter if it’s not clean.
- Replace incandescent light bulbs, which produce 10 percent light and 90 percent heat, with compact fluorescent bulbs, which create little heat and last much longer.
For more energy-saving tips, go to www.novec.com/useitwisely.
