To understand how to save energy in a home, you need to prepare for an integrated approach. There is no such option of just pushing a button to get the minimum bills. And living without light is somehow not comfortable at all.
The importance of saving energy
While the energy resources were inexpensive, no one thought about the need to conserve energy. Since then, however, as payment amounts have risen sharply, there has been considerable interest among the population in methods of saving electricity and other resources. Villagers are concerned about how to save electricity in a private house, while townspeople are looking for information on how to save electricity in an apartment.
The increase in tariffs is fully justified, as stocks of exhaustible energy resources on the planet are rapidly shrinking and production costs - on the contrary - are increasing. Unfortunately, the salaries of ordinary residents are not growing at such a rapid rate that there is no alternative but to look for effective ways to save electricity.
There is another reason to save - the enormous load on the substations. Every year more and more electrical appliances appear in people's homes. Of course, power lines and substations cannot withstand, they must be repaired or replaced with more powerful ones.
Saving electricity also reduces the emissions of processed products into the atmosphere and water sources. Resource-conserving people make their modest contribution to the preservation of rivers, lakes and forests and contribute to maintaining the health of the nation.
Effective and legal ways to save
Demand reduction
How can you reduce energy consumption without devices and additional investments? It's very easy. We just need to think about how much light we really need and use the following advice from seasoned innovators:
- Try to use less electric light. This does not mean a return to primitive times when life activity only took place in daylight. You can just try to do all the things that require bright light during the day and limit yourself to one lamp in the evening to light up the rest of the work.
- If you are dealing with the question of how to save light in an apartment, you need to know that the level of lighting depends on the cleanliness of the lighting fixtures. If the lampshade in the kitchen is covered with a "centuries-old" layer of grease and dust, you shouldn't expect bright light from it. And when the ceiling is clean, the light will penetrate perfectly, which means you can use a smaller bulb.
- Windows also need to be washed more often, as this way the daylight hours last a little longer for you and you can turn on the power later.
- In chandeliers with multiple lightbulbs, you cannot turn on all of them at the same time, but one or two. Use a desk lamp in combination with low ceiling lighting for desk work.
- A very useful invention is the dimmer. Here you can set the lighting level of each lamp.
- Replace standard lamps with energy-efficient ones. Recently, many worried about the question: do LED lamps save energy? Experts are convinced that the future belongs to LED lamps, as they use little energy and emit enough light.
- Turn off the lights when you leave the room. Of course, this is quite difficult when there are children in the house who find it very difficult to get used to such a simple way of saving.
Using tariffs with multiple tariffs
Electricity can cost differently at different times of the day. This is because it is consumed in large quantities during the day, and power plants practically idle at night. Therefore, you can save electricity with a meter that calculates energy consumption at the usual rate during the day and allows you to pay 30% less for the night.
If the house has devices that are used around the clock (refrigerator, electric heater, etc. ), a multi-tariff meter will help lower the electricity bill. Washing can be started at night and, at the same time, the power of the heaters can be increased to turn them off completely during the day.
Rational use of technology
In every apartment there are devices that can never be switched off from the sockets. But not everyone knows that they draw electricity even in "sleep" mode. Every single device has a very small amount of support performance, but an impressive amount is achieved in a month. To avoid unnecessary waste, it is sufficient to pull the plugs of all devices out of the sockets during their "idle time".
Note:The use of old, inferior cables and many extension cables and various T-pieces also increases household electricity consumption.
Technical news
People who want to know how to intelligently reduce electricity costs in an apartment should evaluate each of their household appliances. After all, old models of refrigerators and televisions consume a lot of energy, twice as much as modern models. Gradually try to replace any obsolete equipment with low-energy models. The labels usually indicate the level of economy, class A is the most profitable.
Recently, more economical power consumption classes such as A +, A ++ have appeared.
Smart devices are now available for sale. You can calculate the amount of detergent or laundry detergent regardless of the weight of the dishes or laundry and control the water consumption. Refrigerators can switch to super economy mode during the owners vacation.
vacuum cleaner
In order to prevent the vacuum cleaner from drawing more energy from the network than it should, it must be cleaned of accumulated dust layers regularly and in good time, as its consumption increases by 15 to 20% when fully filled. Also, don't turn the vacuum cleaner on / off too often - it consumes most of its energy performing these actions.
fridge
Probably a million articles have been written about the correct installation of the refrigerator and thousands of videos have been filmed, but our people still persist in placing this device near the heating battery, the stove and the sunny side. But in this case, the refrigerator will quickly warm up from nearby sources of heat and will consume much more electricity. It is also recommended to leave a little space between the refrigerator and the wall to allow the necessary air circulation.
It is also desirable that the room where the refrigerator is located is cool. Do not forget to defrost the cooling unit as required and remove the accumulated ice in order to simplify the operation of the device and to reduce the "energy appetite". Make sure the door is not damaged.
If you are thinking about how you can reduce your energy costs, you should not “swing” the largest and most spacious model when buying a new refrigerator if 2-3 people live in the house permanently. After all, such a "colossus" consumes a lot of energy.
electric stove
An electric stove is a very energy-consuming device. You can reduce energy costs by following these guidelines:
- If the recipe for a dish does not state that the oven should be preheated at the time the dish is placed in it, you should not turn it on in advance.
- Switch off the hotplate 5-10 minutes before the end of the cooking time. There will be enough residual heat to cook it.
- Pots should always be covered with lids.
- When cooking eggs and vegetables, add enough water to cover the food.
- It is important to use good, flat-bottomed pans. Ideal for an electric stove - thick-bottomed pots and pans.
- Do not use a stove to boil water for tea or coffee, but a kettle, as this consumes much less electricity for this process.
- Use the microwave or multicooker, not the oven, for quick meals.
washing machine
It's very difficult to imagine modern life without a washing machine, but it also “eats” a lot of electricity - around 15% of total consumption. Use these tricks to save money:
- Wash in quick and economy mode.
- Do not wash 2-3 items, dig up the laundry until it is completely loaded. But you can't overload the car either.
- Use low temperature settings for normal washing.
Air conditioning systems
To prevent the air conditioner from using too much electricity, operate it properly:
- Set the optimal temperature just so that the room is cooled and not frozen.
- Do not operate the air conditioner with the windows or doors open.
- When buying an air conditioner, be sure to calculate the area of the room in which it will cool. Don't take too much for a small space as it is a waste of electricity.
- It is essential to clean the fans, filters and grilles of the air conditioning system so that it does not have to be operated at high speeds.
heaters
In autumn, winter and early spring we often have to get different heaters from our household containers. After all, the heating is often switched on and off for a very long time. So we use energy-consuming heating, although this heat is very expensive.
In order to reduce the need for heating devices even in a relatively warm time, you need to insulate everything you can: windows, walls, floors. It is best to replace old windows with plastic ones. And if that is not possible, at least try to seal off any cracks and micro-cracks in the frame and next to the glass. Up to 50% of the heat goes through them. Perform the same manipulations on the front doors.
If the heating is already on and the batteries are still cold, you will need to call an assistant who will check if there is water in them.
Use of solar energy
Solar energy has long been actively used in many countries with a warm climate. Some even managed to abandon all other sources entirely. The technology is very attractive, but without government support it often turns out to be an overwhelming task for individual households as solar panels and other structural elements are expensive and pay off over many years.
It is advisable to read special literature during the design phase and to determine the required properties of a solar station. Many people try to create the entire structure on their own, but they do not take into account all the nuances and complexities and often fail.
Wind energy
Home wind generators in regions with high air mass activity can significantly reduce electricity costs. If there is a special meter, they can also make money with the electricity they generate. However, such devices, as well as solar stations, cost a lot of money and require installation by specialists.
It happens that the owners of such power plants incorrectly calculate the power of wind currents, which leads to forced downtime of expensive equipment.
Smart Home System
Probably everyone has seen the films in which the hero claps his hands or shouts a password word, and at this point the lights turn on or off, the curtains on the windows open, the fireplace starts to work. This is the "Smart Home" system.
In order to automate the operation of all devices in the house, special devices and a computer program are used that also control energy consumption. Sensors are installed throughout the house that read the measured values and determine the power consumption in each room. The computer analyzes and suggests solutions to optimize energy consumption.
The system does not work alone, it has to be programmed for a specific house or apartment. However, when all the residents of the house are distracted about their business in the morning, the system turns off the air conditioning or lights in the kitchen, locks the door or starts washing.
Installation of motion sensors
Instead of buying a rather expensive "smart home" system, you can get by on "little blood" and install motion sensors in the premises. After all, we often just forget to turn off the lights when we leave the house or fall asleep with the lights on. However, if the rooms are equipped with motion sensors, they turn off the lights themselves.
They can be set so that the light is switched off only 5-10 minutes after leaving the room. After all, children are constantly running back and forth, and adults can move around the house very quickly.
Such a sensor is very useful in corridors, where light is only needed for passage into another room. In order not to constantly press the switch or constantly turn on the light in the corridor, you can put the sensor and live comfortably. Energy-saving lamps with built-in motion sensors are now available.
It is not very difficult to save electrical energy. All you have to do is tune in and arrange this with all household members. The main obstacle is ourselves and our beliefs. As soon as we realize we need to save money, it immediately turns out that the bills for the light are small.