In ancient times, when Alessandro Volta conducted his first experiments and Thomas Edison looked at the invented light bulb, would they have thought how the lives of their descendants would change in connection with their discoveries?Life without electricity is no longer imaginable these days.This is a resource to which everything is tied: information, data, household needs, comfort, communication, leisure.An accident in the power grid of a capital city paralyzed him.The work of maternity hospitals, hospitals and water utilities was stopped, schools and residential buildings were cut off, more than three thousand citizens were stuck in the elevator and some, reportedly, could not leave their apartments equipped with smart home systems.In a way, we have all become hostages to electricity.Although the stranded citizens literally became them.
By increasing the number of electronic devices in our lives, we inadvertently increase the burden not only on city power grids, but also on our wallets.In our mothers' and grandmothers' houses there was a television, a refrigerator, and a lucky few had a washing machine.What works in our homes and uses electricity leaves our grandmothers in awe of quantity and functionality.
However, all joys in our lives come at a price.And for the enthusiastic look of the grandmothers - included.Every time you look at the electricity bills, it seems as if magical gnomes live in the apartment, who amuse themselves by scrolling the meter wheel, speeding up its movement by two or even three times.But no, these are not dwarves.These are our insatiable electronic friends.
In order to curb the appetites of imaginary dwarves and save the fate of our wallets, we tried to find out whether it is fundamentally possible to save electricity.
To that end, we've examined the savings methods offered online, both obvious and incredible.We invite you to familiarize yourself with the results of our work.
Obvious ways to save energy
The most obvious way to lie on the surface is to turn off the light when not in use.If your memory fails you or you have so much to do that you don't have time to flip the switch, there is a way out.Motion sensors or presence sensors.They are installed in rooms and react to the appearance of a person in the room.They automatically turn on when you enter the room and off when you leave.Ask the installers to adjust the sensors so that they do not react to cats and other pets.Otherwise, the electricity tariff will skyrocket instead of the expected reduction.
Replace light bulbs with energy-efficient counterparts.And even better: LED models.They use much less energy, last longer and shine brighter.If you install partial lighting and equip the room with several lighting elements, you can use them alternately as needed.A dimmer (an element that allows you to regulate the brightness of the lighting) also helps reduce lighting energy costs when used constantly.Experienced people recommend choosing lamps for rooms according to the degree of their use.Of course, you can hang a lamp with a dimmer in the pantry, but it will use less energy than in the living room or kitchen.New generation lamps are more resistant to voltage spikes.Well, the last piece of advice regarding lamps is that you should not be lazy to regularly wipe the dust from them.Dusty lamps give off a dim light and use more energy to heat the dust uselessly.
Buy electrical appliances with high energy efficiency (Class A+)
Modern devices know how to use energy sensibly.Most dishwashers, late-model washing machines and other appliances are equipped with an energy-saving Eco mode.Use it often.If possible, choose the lowest oven, washing machine and dishwasher temperatures.
The largest part of the energy costs goes to heating the device;By heating it to a minimum, you can save a lot.
The load level of the washing machine is also important.Load it according to the technical documentation.Overload or underload increases energy consumption.The same applies to vacuum cleaners with unwashed filters and full dust containers, air conditioners with uncleaned interiors, refrigerators with ice, kettles with limescale deposits and other everyday joys.We keep in mind that heating excess material will increase your costs.A washing machine and dishwasher connected to a central water heating system use less energy to heat.But instead of spending on electricity, increase the allowance for hot water supply.And here you have to weigh which resource costs you more.
Of course, it is more logical to include this item in the list of incredible things, but leave it here anyway.Unused household appliances should always be unplugged.When switched on, they consume quite a bit of power.It is ideal if all sockets are activated with a slight hand movement when laying the electrical cables.Except the one that powers the refrigerator.Then you can leave your home safely without having to worry about fires, power surges and energy loss.
Removing the device from charging immediately after charging is complete will save energy and contribute to the long life of the device itself and its charger.
Devices that you use regularly throughout the day do not need to be unplugged every time.For example, it would be best to put the computer into sleep mode.For some devices, switching on and off requires more energy than switching them to sleep.Be sure to remove the disks from the drives.When switched on, additional energy is used to promote them.
If you have not already installed a separate toggle switch to turn off the outlets, use surge protectors with a shutdown function for your devices.
And a little more about technology.In accordance with established standards, many high-rise buildings have an electric stove instead of a gas stove.
Therefore, buy an induction cooker for apartments on high floors.It is specifically designed to save electricity.However, it is even better if you buy flat-bottomed dishes that exactly fit the size of the burner for the stove.And when cooking, cover the pan with a lid.And you finish cooking dinner on a cooling burner and turn it off 5-10 minutes before cooking.And at the same time, we iron delicate items of laundry with the iron switched off and cooling down.
Kettle?In addition to timely descaling, we recommend only adding as much water as you need.
Now to the refrigerator.And reforms will not escape him.The refrigerator should not be placed near walls or other surfaces.Especially if the surfaces are heated – for example an oven.This prevents overheating.Don't forget to check the rubber seal and the presence of ice.The main function of a refrigerator is to protect your food by keeping it at a low temperature.And if there is a heat source from outside, the refrigerator tries to cool with twice the (electrical) energy.Of course at your expense.
You can also say a few words about films.High-quality movies consume more energy, but we don't recommend you save money while watching movies.This is blasphemy.
The repair concept itself can make a small but significant contribution to your salary savings.For those who didn't skip physics at school, it is clear that a light wall covering saves electricity and heat because, unlike a dark one, it does not absorb them.This also includes dusting windows and heaters.Dust is a well-known heat absorber.And if your windows also have increased light transmission and energy efficiency, you save even more money.
Choose apartments with south-facing windows.Then you get heat and light directly from the sun, completely free of charge.However, this bonus is offset by the fact that in the summer you will have to turn on the split system more often.The south side heats up very quickly and in warm weather such rooms may not be comfortable without air conditioning.Therefore, keep in mind that small savings in winter can lead to big expenses in summer.
A significant part of the heat (and, accordingly, the loss of energy for heating the room) enters the walls to which the radiators are attached.Installing heat reflectors between the wall and the battery allows you to use the heat generated without incurring the costs of street heating.According to experts, this measure allows you to increase the air temperature in the living room by 2-3 degrees without additional energy costs.
Now let's move on to the saving methods that are more incredible than feasible in our reality.Nevertheless, we will tell you about it.
Less likely ways to save
Replace your home's wiring with more efficient wiring by arranging power sources so that additional wires and supports are not required.Now that you're rewiring anyway, take care of the switch for everything except the refrigerator, which was described above.
Eliminate heat loss.Specialists with a thermal imaging camera will inform you about your home's weak points.And according to the diagnosis, it will be necessary to strengthen the weak, insulate from the cold and dry from the damp.In most cases, owners have to add additional insulation to the walls and replace windows.
If you are the happy owner of an individual heater, we recommend installing a boiler with a thermostat.It is able to regulate the heating temperature and prevent it from rising above the set value.The lack of additional heating means a small saving in electricity.
Install a smart home system in your home.It automatically sets the optimal energy consumption.With this system you can control the electricity in your apartment yourself and remotely.In our opinion, the comrades who suffered from the 2015 accident will tell you the only drawback of the system.On the other hand, such force majeure events are rare and do not cover all the benefits of a smart home.
If you are afraid of the uprising of machines and believe in the victory of artificial intelligence over human intelligence, this option is also not for you.
Install power generators.Windy, sunny.And become energy independent.You thought this was completely outside the realm of science fiction, right?Vain.
If you are planning to move to hot countries, keep in mind that in Greece, for example, solar panels are used as a source of energy, as central electricity is very expensive.
Installation of a two-phase meter.The idea is to shift the main business to the night, when the load on the city's electricity network is minimal and, accordingly, the tariffs are quite cheap.Before replacing the meter, please make sure that you are a night owl and that a nocturnal lifestyle (especially washing dishes, laundry and using electrical appliances) is not stressful for you.And also make sure your neighbors are owls too, or provide additional soundproofing to avoid incurring the wrath of your neighbors.
In many regions, representatives of power networks even offer free installation of two-phase meters.However, practice has shown that there are still discrepancies in indicators and not entirely correct calculations.Therefore, despite all the possible advantages, people are in no hurry to convert their usual meters to two-phase ones.
And the most unreliable way to save electricity is independent manipulation of the wiring, as a result of which the line bypasses the meter.Built without knowledge of basic technical safety standards and the laws of physics, such structures become the cause of fires and other disasters.Not to mention the fact that city services can check the equipment and find out your secret plan.For an experienced power engineer, such a search will not take much time.And instead of saving, you then have to pay a fairly small penalty for your initiative.