With the exception of television, the one thing that is the subject of constant “fights” in many urban homes is the installed water heater.The water heater causes war because, like all good things, everybody wants a piece of its services. This will have a direct effect on your Cash Power consumption at the end of the month. And a water heater has not been known to consume power sparingly. On the contrary, it is a real power guzzler, and if your entire family of six is to insist on a hot shower every morning, then brace yourself for an equally “hot” electricity bill. In a bid to check the electricity bill, it’s common in some families for people to boil bathe water on the charcoal stove in the kitchen and carry it to the shower, as opposed to switching on the heater.In other families, a hot shower is a privilege to be enjoyed exclusively by a select few, usually the man and woman of the house. The children will then be told that hot showers make little kids grow lazy and weak. But do they take heed? Hardly! Actually, they will now want to indulge in marathon hot showers when the proverbial cat is away, to make up for lost time. But instead of sitting by to watch as your home degenerates into a battlefield, here are a few holes to plug instead of eliminating the hot shower altogether.For starters, it is the peak of the dry season, meaning that the need for a hot shower is drastically reduced. Who really needs a hot shower in this searing heat?If there should be need to heat up your bathe water, make sure to unplug the heater just before stepping into the shower. Leaving the heater plugged into power as you shower only means that you are boiling more water than you will need to use. And it is easier to forget all about unplugging the heater once you are done with the shower. Nothing is worse than loading 2,000 Rwf worth of Cash Power, only to drain it all in a simple act of forgetfulness. Find out if someone already turned on the heater before you, to avoid double-heating, in which case the water would be more suited for your tea than a bathe. Try and avoid running hot shower taps elsewhere while the water heats up. While waiting for your water to heat up, someone could turn on the hot water tap in the kitchen to do the dishes, and unless you ate a really fatty meal, cold water is good enough for getting dishes clean. Finally, it’s your right to keep your electricity bill as low as possible. Don’t feel shy about boiling your bathe water in that big black saucepan over a charcoal fire after the food is cooked.
