How to Save Energy at Home
It is clear that for any of us, saving money is very important and through small savings, we can achieve significant savings. Moreover, in the case of energy, saving on your electricity bill not only benefits your pocket, but you will also contribute to slowing down climate change.
There are two ways to save on your electricity bill, and that are not mutually exclusive. The first one is to install a solar panels in your house, so that we would have an inexhaustible and free source of energy. The second way that we can all do in our homes is to change our consumption habits. We are going to focus on this second path in this article.
To make it easier, we recommend that you do not try to implement them all at once, start with the ones that are easiest for you and incorporate the rest gradually.
1. Take advantage of sunlight
2. Turn off the lights
This is so simple and obvious that it doesn’t need much explanation, it costs us nothing to turn off the light when we leave a room or simply when we don’t need it.
Many people leave home and leave the lights on, or leave a light on all night. Even if you have LED bulbs and they use very little energy, what’s the point of leaving them on? You’re just throwing money away.
3. Unplug unused appliances
Something that many of us are not aware of is that the ‘stand-by’ of electronic devices consumes energy 24 hours a day. Here are some examples, Chargers, Computers on stand-by instead of switched off, Coffee machines, Electronic toothbrushes, Shavers, Routers….
What is the point of having them on all night? A good habit is to have the appliances plugged into power strips with a switch instead of directly into the socket, so that you can switch off several at once.
4. Consume in off-peak hours
In Spain, electricity tariff schedules are regulated by the government, with off-peak hours running from 12 midnight to 8:00 am and throughout the weekend. Many companies have offers such as “two hours of free consumption per day”.
If you are aware of what plans your company has, take advantage of them and switch on your electrical appliances during these hours, washing machine, dishwasher, iron, or even for cooking (especially in the oven) etc.
5. Cooking with pots and pans covered
Although it may seem silly, if you do not use the lids on pots and pans, everything will take longer to heat up and therefore you will have a higher energy consumption.
It is also a good option to get used to cook with the pressure cooker, you will not lose quality in the end result of your cooking, but you will reduce the time of energy consumption in the kitchen considerably.
Similarly, when you are going to use the oven, you can organise yourself and take advantage of it to prepare the next day’s meal at the same time.
6. Take advantage of the residual heat from the hob and oven
If you have a ceramic hob, as when you turn it off it does not lose heat immediately, you can use this residual heat to turn it off 5 minutes before finishing your cooking, the best thing to do is to test to find the right time in each case.
In the case of the oven, this is even more applicable and with a greater saving of consumption, for example if you are cooking a roast chicken and you have it for an hour at 200 degrees, you can perfectly well turn off the oven about 15 minutes before and maybe you have to leave it a little more than an hour, but it will be with the residual heat and you will not consume energy. The best thing to do is to try it out as each oven work different.
7. Use your appliances rationally
In this point there are several things we can do, and to make it easier to read, we are going to write a list. Remember, the list is incomplete, use your imagination to complete it.
When you buy a new appliance make sure it has a good energy rating and hopefully, never less than A+.
Rationalize cooking
Maintain all appliances on an ongoing basis to keep them in good working conditions.
Clean the refrigerator coil once a year.
Clean air conditioning filters regularly and according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Clean hoover filters thoroughly.
Dust fan blades.
Iron clothes in one go.
Fill the dishwasher and washing machine and choose the eco programme.
Before opening the fridge or freezer, think carefully about what you need, so that the doors are open for as little time as possible.
Try to maintain a constant temperature in your home. To give you an idea, the comfort temperature in summer is between 22º and 24º and in winter between 20º and 23º.
As a general rule, in the instruction manual for each appliance, you will find the instructions for use and maintenance. I know that hardly anyone reads them, but it is worth it, as as well as saving money on energy, you will extend its useful life.
Conclusion and a final advice
If you think about it, the only thing you need to have is common sense when it comes to saving electricity. They are small changes in habits that, when added together, you will notice in your monthly bill, your economy will be grateful and, although it may seem a small contribution, the environment will also be grateful.
The advice we would like to give you is that if you live in a house, whether individual, semi-detached or terraced, seriously consider installing a photovoltaic solar system. You will have a free and inexhaustible source of energy for the rest of your life, plus the banks are happy to finance this type of projects, so your economy will not be affected, as you will change the payment of electricity for the payment to the bank.
Leave us your comments below, and if you have any doubts or questions, send us a message and we will be happy to help you.
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