Newsletter Archive

Fridges - 230V

We are interested to hear your feedback on the actual daily power consumption of standard AC fridges. My impression is that they are slowly becoming more efficient.

Gary from STS reports that a 520 litre Kelvinator (cyclic defrost) uses 60 - 65 Ah/day in the summer around Canberra. He gave the 135 heating element for the cyclic defrost the nip and tuck so it is now a manual defrost.

Did you know that generally larger fridges are more efficient than smaller ones because the surface area of the walls per volume is smaller on the large units.

Dynamo Torch

We have been able to obtain this popular product.

It is a small hand torch, which you squeeze every couple of seconds to give you light. This one is made in Russia and is much heavier duty than the 'Taiwanese imitation', which came onto the market a couple of years ago.

Rural Electrification Policy for Papua New Guinea

I was recently asked for a submission about the future direction for power options in Papua New Guinea (PNG)

The provision of grid power to vast areas of PNG would rank as some of the most difficult and expensive electrical work in the world due to rugged terrain, high rainfall, dispersed population and lack of finance. The cost of grid extension in PNG is in the order of US$15,000/km (Chris Cheatham PEDP).

Read the full article on Electrification of Papau New Guinea.