15 Excellent Tips for Saving on Electricity
Saving electricity becomes a very serious problem. And it’s not at all in the minds of people, but the fact that tariffs for utilities are constantly and steadily growing. At the same time, anyone who receives invoices at the end of the month asks about how to save electricity. And then you just read the most effective and simple recommendations for literate savings on electricity.
Caution on sockets
Try to educate yourself in a useful habit of always turning off non-functioning electrical appliances from the network. Pay attention to how often you forget to disconnect the charging from the phone, electric kettle, hairdryer, etc. The fact is that even in the standby mode, the technician consumes a lot of energy, which is easily solved by its timely disconnection from the outlet.
Energy-saving lamps
Surely you have already heard that it is best to buy only energy-saving light bulbs. It is important to note that they are much more expensive than ordinary incandescent lamps. But while the former spend 3-4 times less electricity and serve 10-12 times longer than their traditional counterparts. As you can see, in the long run, the savings are very obvious.
Turn off the light
Most likely, you already noticed for yourself such a feature as forgetting about the included lights in the rooms. Perhaps it was so, that you returned home after some walk and found that in a certain room they forgot to turn off the light. At the same time, we often do not pay attention to such things when we are at home.
There is a great option that can help in this matter. If a child lives with you (daughter, son, sister, nephew, etc.), then designate him as a sort of electricity controller. If this observer observes that one of the other tenants has not turned off the light, then the latter must pay a certain penalty. The effect is striking – the family is vigilantly saving on electricity, and the child earns pocket money on inattentive relatives. But here information on how to save electricity is just beginning.
Keep an eye on the vacuum cleaner
As you know, cleaning with a vacuum cleaner spends a lot of electricity. A good recommendation, in this case, is the regular cleaning of the dust bag from debris. The fact is that the vacuum cleaner works much more efficiently if there is no excess dust inside it, which means that the cleaning process itself will take you much less time.
Competent washing
Surely you heard about the fact that before washing clothes should be soaked in hot water with powder. This is because so much dirt lags behind, and things are easier to wash. Do not forget about this simple advice, and then you do not have to repeatedly wash the same things in the washing machine, spending excess electricity.
Attention to the refrigerator
If necessary, try to defrost your refrigerator more often. Frozen and ice-filled machinery works 20-30% worse than its original state. Naturally, all this has a negative impact on electricity costs. In doing so, try not to put the refrigerator near the heating devices and close to the walls – so it will work in a reinforced mode. It is also advisable not to put hot food in it.
Setting the two-rate counter
Install in your apartment a two-rate counter. The fact is that the night rate is valid from 23:00 to 7:00. The price of electricity in this period is 2 times cheaper than the daily cost. Conventional meters read all the consumed electricity to one balance. Therefore, it is unclear how much was spent for the day, and how much during the night. To divide the use into two different balances, you need to buy a two-rate counter. Residents who use such a device, say that the money spent on installation paid off after 2-3 years of use.
To make it even more effective to use this counter, it is good to have a delayed start mode on home technology – today such a function is by no means a rarity. There are many washing machines, multi-varieties, bread makers, etc. Such a technique can be programmed from the evening, and in the morning to hang laundry items, breakfast porridge, and pastries. And all the electricity used for this will cost you two times cheaper than usual. But this is not all that is worth knowing about how to save on electricity.
Zonal lighting
If you own a spacious apartment, then often there is no need to cover the entire room. It is possible that you will be more suitable for zone lighting. So, there is no need to turn on the light in the entire room at once, it is enough to cover only its individual zones. For these purposes, you can use not such powerful lamps as are usually put in the main chandelier, or individual lamps and floor lamps.
Light and cleanliness
If in the near future you are going to do repairs, then for your walls it is better to choose light wallpaper. So, the sunlight is well reflected from the white color. Therefore, in a white room, it will always be much lighter than in an apartment with a dark interior, which will allow you not to include lighting again.
Here it is worth adding that cleanliness is a pledge not only of health but also of saving. Do you know that a clean lamp shines 21% brighter? In this case, do not forget that clean windows are also better to let the sunshine. For these reasons, it is better to devote time to competent cleaning than to overpay extra money for utilities.
Attention to the kettle
If you often use an electric kettle, it is important to understand that this device spends a lot of electricity. How to save electricity in this case? Here, a very useful recommendation is cleaning your kettle from the scale. To do this, fill it with a small amount of water, add 15-20 grams of soda and boil it. Then the same procedure should be repeated with citric acid. The fact is that the refined kettle without scale will boil much faster than with the contaminated surface.
About the washing machine
Continuing the topic of combating scum, we should also mention such energy-consuming household appliances as a washing machine. As in the case of a teapot, a cleaning washing machine will cope with its task much easier and faster than with a large incrustation of scale. To clean it you can use the same recommendations as in the case of an electric kettle, but in this case, you will need more citric acid. You can also use specially designed cleaning agents, which is more preferable.
Energy-saving classes
If you are going to purchase any household appliances, then it is extremely important to pay attention to the class of its energy consumption. So, the most energy-efficient are the following classes: A, AA, AAA. These indicators are calculated according to the consumption of electricity by the device for 1 year to the standard parameters. So, if the washing machine consumes 55% of the standard level, it is class A, up to 75% – class B, up to 95% – C, etc.
Home computer
As a computer for home use, it is more rational to choose a laptop. The fact that a mobile computer consumes an average of 60 watts per hour, while a personal (system unit, monitor, acoustics) consumes about 250 watts. As you can see, laptops are much more economical.
Clean your computer from dust. As already mentioned above, all electric appliances overflowing with dust, scum or other dirt operate in an enhanced mode. The computer is also no exception. So do not forget to clean your system unit from dust in time. In addition, if it is very overheated, which is very conducive to dust, then the technology and at all can deteriorate.
Choose LCD monitors. LCD monitors consume three times less power than their counterparts CRT monitors.
Warming of the room
In the cold season, you can significantly save on heating appliances, taking simple measures to insulate the room. First, it is recommended to insulate windows, plugging all the cracks or changing wooden double-glazed windows to better plastic ones. Through windows, up to 50% of the total heat in the room can escape. Secondly, hang warm, dense night curtains on the windows. And third, insulate the front door, loggia, as well as the floor in the room.
Replacing an old posting
Quite often, increased power consumption is caused by obsolete electrical wiring. If this is relevant in your case, it will be reasonable to replace it with a new one, which will allow you not only to save money in the future but also significantly increase the overall fire safety in the room.
Now you know how to save electricity in simple and effective ways. Try to apply these recommendations in practice, and then utility bills will delight you much more.