DOHA: Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) plans to introduce a smart home device to help reduce power consumption by electric appliances, especially air-conditioners which account for 70 percent of household electricity consumption during summer.

“Now we are heading for smart home energy management systems to control air-conditioners,” said Head of the Rationalization Technology Section in the Rationalization and Energy Efficiency Department at Kahramaa, Eng. Nasser Al Khuzaei.

Speaking to Qatar TV recently, he said air-conditioners consume 70 percent of total electricity of household during summer. “The smart device alerts people, gives consumption rate and works as a remote controller, enabling users to switch off air-conditioner running unnecessarily,” said Al Khuzaei.

Smart home energy management systems perform certain actions automatically, in a way that is designed to reduce energy costs while being tailored to meet people’s specific lifestyle needs. They also allow users to monitor their energy consumption and identify performance issues.

“With urban development, the house space increased from ground floor to basement, ground floor, first floor and penthouse resulting in an increase in the number of air-conditioners which required a proper management to rationalise power consumption,” said Al Khuzaei. He said Kahramaa has launched several initiatives to reduce power consumption in homes including awareness campaigns, issuance of guidelines for increasing the efficiency and best practices.

“The National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency means optimal use of energy by implementing best practices to reduce the waste in a smart way,” said Al Khuzaei. To a question about the energy efficient air-conditioners, he said a mandatory stars system like 7 stars, 9 stars was introduced to encourage people to use green air-conditioners to cut the energy consumption and reduce their bills.

Speaking about the role of routine maintenance of air-conditioners in reducing the power consumption, Al Khuzaei said: “Proper maintenance and at least filter change makes air-conditioners from 15 to 18 percent more energy-efficient.” He said this minor thing can make a big change in power consumption and bills.

“Green buildings which are equipped with modern insulation systems save electricity significantly. Building such facilities is expensive relatively but in long term within five years they will give the return in term of consuming less power and sustainability,” said Al Khuzaei.

Kahramaa is implementing a national initiative to reduce electricity and water consumption in the residential sector by five percent.

This initiative aims to achieve environmental sustainability in line with Qatar National Vision 2030 and the UN global Sustainable Development Goals. It also strives to raise community awareness and ensure efficient electricity and water consumption in Qatar.

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