Conserving electricity serves the double purpose of helping stop global warming and saving a lot of money over time. Take a look around your home and office: any appliance that operates on electricity can be made more energy-efficient. Insulating your home and changing your daily habits are also effective ways to reduce the amount of electricity you use. Read on for more details on how to save electricity.
Switch to LED Bulbs
LED bulbs now come in a wide variety to suit the demand of users. There has also been a lot of technological advancement in LED bulbs, which have led to improved efficiency and a reduction in the prices of the bulbs.
Below are some types of LED bulbs you may choose to go for when replacing the old ones.
Kitchen Under-Cabinet Lighting
Proper lighting in the kitchen is almost as important as the meal you’re preparing. Install under-cabinet LED bulbs for efficient lighting instead of hanging incandescent or CFL bulbs that consume much power and increase the temperature of the kitchen.
LED Downlights
LED downlights can be installed in your ceiling and are suitable for hallways, sitting rooms, bedrooms, and kitchens. They consume far less power than the traditional bulbs and are cheaper to maintain.
Upgrade Your Refrigerator
It’s interesting to know that the energy used by a refrigerator is halved about every 15 years. This implies that there’s continuous advancement in the manufacture of refrigerators to produce units that consume less power.
Manufacturers have continued to develop more efficient refrigerator coils and condensers. Some refrigerators now come with smart features that allow you to control their settings using your smart devices over a Wi-Fi connection.
Some others come with features that allow you to set a temperature and time limit that they are allowed to run. This will help to save energy when the refrigerator is not needed to run.
You can simply upgrade your old refrigerator to a newer model if you can’t afford the smart version. And while doing so, check for the efficiency of the refrigerator to ensure that you buy the one that will cut down your electric bill in the long run.
Turn Off Your Computers
It has become a norm for computer users to always leave their device on even when it’s not in use. This is probably due to the convenience of reaching out to it easily whenever they feel like using it or because it has become a habit.
Nowadays, computers don’t need to boot for long before they’re ready for use. So, leaving your computer on for the sake of convenience might just be ruled out as far as power saving is concerned.
Computers, especially desktops, require power to keep the cooling fans in the CPU working even when they’re not actively being used. And the cooling systems are high consumers of electricity.
Power is consumed even when you only put up a screen saver on your desktop. You might be shocked to see the amount of power you’ve saved if you always switch off your computers when not in use.
Unplug your computer from its socket if you’re not going to be using it for a long time.
Put Off Your Lights
While you are at work, asleep, or outside your home, switch off all unused light. Make it a habit in your home and watch your electric bill reduce by a reasonable percentage.
You may not realize the need to always switch off your light bulbs when they are not in use until you see the difference in your electricity bill. Electric bulbs like non-LED bulbs, chandeliers, and colored bulbs consume power. The power consumption may be initially insignificant but becomes significant if left over a long time.
If possible, install smart lighting systems that only come on when they notice a human presence or light bulbs that can be controlled using remotes, smart devices, or programmable features.
Go Easy with the Cooling Appliances
The cooling appliances in homes like air conditioners require a lot of power to run. The compressor in the air conditioner uses a lot of power to function, likewise the coils found in the electric fan.
Cutting down electric consumption doesn’t require you to stop using these appliances. It simply requires you to become prudent in their use. Switch off all fans and air conditioners when leaving for work. The time these appliances run in your absence will have a great effect on your electric bill.
Install a smart thermostat if you’re so concerned about having a chilly atmosphere in your home whenever you return from work or concerned about sleeping and waking in a cool room. This will allow you to program the time your air conditioner goes on and off.
Alternatively, you can use the electric fan more than you use the AC. Using electric fans for fairly hot weather and ACs for unbearable heat will reduce electricity consumption.
This technique will see you pay less for electricity.
Unplug Idle Appliances
It might interest you to know that your appliances still consume a little amount of electricity while they’re switched off but plugged into a power source.
Chances are that you can mistakenly turn on your appliances and leave them running if they’re connected to a power source. This is more predominant if many appliances use an outlet simultaneously.
A typical instance where such a mistake can occur is when you have your television, home theatre, standing fan, decoder, DVD player, and other gadgets/appliances plugged into a power outlet with the aid of an extension box.
Switching on the power outlet might prompt all the appliances to start running even when they are not all needed at that time.
Unplugging the appliances you won’t need for that period is the surest way to avoid unnecessary electricity consumption.
Minimize the Use of Heating Appliances
Heating appliances such as pressing irons, microwaves, ovens, electric kettles, boiling rings, and electric cookers make life easier for us. But, on the contrary, they also make life harder by increasing electric bills.
Find alternatives to these appliances to make things easier. Appliances such as electric cookers, boiling rings, ovens, and the likes can be substituted with gas cookers and ovens. You can do a survey or experiment with different alternatives of heating sources to ascertain cheaper options.
If you find gas heating sources to be the cheapest and most convenient, then it’s time to start using them often.
For appliances such as electric pressing irons, whose alternatives may not be common or easily at your disposal, device a way to avoid using them often. Avoid ironing clothes made with materials like wool, denim, polyester, and rayon as they don’t require ironing.
Upgrade Your Appliances
Consider upgrading some or all of your old appliances to new models. Appliances like blender, microwave, television, air conditioner, heater, washer and dryer, and dishwasher should be upgraded to newer models if necessary.
There are newer models of these appliances that consume less electricity.
