10 energy saving hacks for your home

NOV 24, 2017 AT 07:27 AM

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What do you do? How do you reduce the energy usage in your home? This article will give you some hacks to reduce your bill while maximizing comfort in your space, because we know that saving energy is not just about becoming electricity-efficient, but also saving more money.

However, before you can make strategies on saving energy in your home, you need to know what appliances use the most and least electricity in your house. Statistics show that large amounts of capital is wasted on energy consumption – the average electricity spent per annum is about $1,368.36, while 35% of the power is wasted. This is bad news for the environment as well as your billing account.

Saving money on home heating

1.Layer your clothes and get cozy

During cold days of the year, wear more warm clothes like socks, jumpers and slippers in your home. This reduces the urge to increase the heating when you put an extra blanket on your bed or chair means. 

Closing the doors and the curtains regulates the temperature of the house, and what is more, it is free! Shut doors to areas you do not use much and heat or cool the rooms you spend the most time in. your curtains or blinds should also seal your windows completely, and close the curtains at night to trap warm air.

2.Stay warm

Here is an overlooked fact: reducing your thermostat temperature by 1oC can save you as much as £60 per year! Constantly keeping your heating system on instead of putting it on and off for heat saves you even more money, so get to understand your timer settings on the thermostat. In winter, set your average settings on your thermostat to about 18-20oC, because every degree above 20oC adds 10% to your energy bill. In summer, you can set the thermostat to 26oC or above.

3.Reduce the pressure on the power shower

High-pressure power showers can be luxurious, but the truth is they use much more water than you think, even more than a bath.

4.Remove standby power waste

Fun fact: did you know that your laptop and phone chargers use up 10% of energy even when the laptop and phone are unattached? Appliances that are on standby still contribute to the power bills of your home, so switch them off when not in use.

Efficiency in washing

5.Save yourself some ironing time

Before your clothes get completely dry, remove your clothes from the dryer. This will reduce your ironing time, therefore using less energy and less amount on your bill.

6.Shrink your bill – use cold water to wash your clothes

Saving money

Know the appliances in your house that use high amounts of energy – 90% of a washing machine’s expenditure is spent on heating water, so when washing clothes at 30 to 40oC, you will save significant energy amounts, up to $115 per year.

Cooking and storage of food

7.Make things easier for your refrigerator and freezer

One of the tips that many people may not know, is that keeping your fridge and freezer full means that they ultimately use less energy when keeping your items cool. Empty space in the freezer or fridge not only wastes your space, but energy as well. Thawing your frozen food before cooking also saves you energy, and use the microwave whenever possible to reduce energy expenditure – it uses less than electric ovens. Reduce cooking time on your cooker by using lids on your cooking pots, and use the economy cycle in your dishwasher, only running it when it is full.

8.Use the correct ring on your cooker

For small pans or small meals, use the small rings to heat your food. If you decide to use the larger rings or a larger pan to heat small meals, you will be wasting a lot of energy. In addition, if you heat a larger pan with a smaller ring, you easily heat up things for longer instead of saving money or energy.

Efficiency with your home

9.Take advantage of free loft insulation

When hot air in your house rises, as much as 25% of the heat ends up being lost in your loft space. Older buildings that have insulation in them may fare even worse because they lack the recommended levels. Loft insulations can save you up to 19% on your energy bill.

10.Install solar panels in your home and use energy-efficient bulbs

Solar panels on roof

In this age of environmental conservation, there is a lot of sensitization on using clean energy sources, for example solar and wind power. When you have solar panels installed on your house, it can save you as much as 30% on your energy bills. It does not hurt that you protect the environment as well.

Replacing old halogen and incandescent light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs can save power because they last longer. You can apply to change them for free or at some cost.

So what uses the most energy in your home?

Comfort in this modern age comes at a high cost. Keeping all your appliances functioning including chargers, cookers, refrigerators and other household appliances makes up the third largest energy use in the US.

Cooking and central heating – the biggest culprit. It uses up about 47% of energy.

Water heating - energy use is about 14%

Washing machine and dryer – energy use is 13%

Lighting – energy use is 12%

Refrigerator – energy use is 4%

Electric oven – energy use is 3 to 4%

TV, DVD, Cable box – energy use is 3%

Dishwasher – energy use is 2%

Computer – energy use is 1%

One of the easiest ways you can save on energy use is to shut off devices that still suck power even when they are off, or what are also called ‘vampire electronics’. They include digital cable or satellite DVRs, Central heating furnaces, laptops and computers, DVRs, DVD players, routers and modems, televisions, microwaves, phones and gaming consoles. 

As Warren Buffet once said, a penny saved is a penny earned - so be more efficient with how you use your energy and you will reduce the impact to the environment as well as your wallet.

After figuring out what appliances use the most energy, it is also good to find out energy efficient electronics.

Tips to maximize energy saving in your appliances

Use the power management features and sleep mode on your computers and laptops to save money – because so many people work from home at least one day per week, you cut out commuting fees, but you may increase your home bills unless you use energy saving equipment.

Unplug electronics when not in use – you can use a power strip and use to switch to cut all power to the appliance, to avoid ‘vampire’ loads. This phenomenon of appliances sucking out power can occur in items such as stereo players, DVD players and kitchen appliances like microwaves. Unplug your battery chargers when not in use or battery is full. A similar option is to use rechargeable batteries for items like digital cameras, which are more cost-effective than disposable batteries.

Charging laptop

Computers – one of the most important tips when using your computer -understand your computer uses more energy when running for long periods, as opposed to when it starts up. Therefore, spend a lot of time I low-power mode to help your equipment last longer and run cooler. As a rule of thumb, consider the following savings:

Turn off the CPU and monitor if you will not use your computer for more than 2 hours

Turn off the monitor if you will not use your computer for more than 20 minutes.

Your printers, monitors and other accessories like external speakers should be on a surge protector to guard them against drawing power when the power is off. If you do not have a power strip, make sure to unplug them when not in use. PCs produce heat as they run, so keeping them off reduces building cooling loads.

Sleep mode – most computers that are currently in the market have sleep modes or power management features, which can help you save up to $30 in your energy bill per year. One thing to note is screen savers are NOT energy savers. In fact, using a screen saver uses more energy than not using one, and modern LCD color monitors do not even need them. Instead, consider setting up the power-down feature on your computer through your Operating system.

Who would know that your appliances would lead to high-energy costs? Consider the tips above and watch your bills reduce, saving you money to do other things and increasing your efficiency.