How to Save Energy
With climbing energy costs and dwindling resources, we all need to know how to save energy.
The best place to start is at home. There are lots of things we can do – some easy and inexpensive, but still very
affective, others more involved and costly.
Use Solar Power
Depending on your location, solar power might be an ideal way to heat your water or generate
electricity.
Solar power is becoming more affordable and once the installation is paid for, the generated electric power is
free. You even might have a go at building your own DIY solar power system. Electric lights, television, small appliances and even some
energy efficient refrigerators can be powered by PV Solar Panels.
Reduce Hot Water Temperature
Reducing your hot water temperature from 130 to 120 degrees can save $50-$100 per year and up to
2% of your total household energy use. If you are building new you may consider that reducing the length of a hot
water pipe from 10m to 3m will save enough energy in one month to heat water for 10 showers.
Heating the water in a washing machine takes a lot of energy. Washing at 30C instead of 40C can save a lot of
energy, and modern detergents are designed to give the performance at 30 that needed a hotter wash of 40 in the
past.
Insulate
A good way of how to save energy is to insulate your house. Heating and cooling your house with
electricity accounts for about 50 to 70 percent of the energy used in your home. Unless your house was already
built as an energy-efficient home, adding insulation will significantly reduce your utility bills. If nothing else
make sure that your roof is insulated, as 85% of heat escapes through the roof in an uninsulated house. Insulation
keeps a home cool in the summer and warm in winter.
Adjust Heating & Cooling Temperature
Turn down the thermostat during winter. Turning down the thermostat by just one degree will
reduce energy consumption by more than 5%. Chances are you won't even notice the change. And don’t forget to turn
it up a little during summer, so your air-conditioning is not working as hard.
Turn Off Lights & Appliances
Make sure you switch off the lights at night when you leave the room. Also switch off appliances
off the wall when not in use. In stand-by mode appliances like TVs and computers still consume electricity.
Make sure your air conditioning or heating is turned down when you are away for a longer time.
Close/Open Curtains
An easy and cheap way of how to save energy is closing your curtains or window shades
during the night to keep in heat and open them during the day to let the sun warm your room and reduce heating
needs.
Clean Gaskets on Your Refrigerator
Clean the rubber seal on your refrigerator doors at least once a month with warm soapy water.
Check the door seal periodically for tightness, by placing a piece of paper between fridge door and fridge - if the
paper slips, your gasket needs to be replaced. Leaky seals cause your fridge/freezer to work overtime and use a lot
more energy.
Replace Light Bulbs
You probably expect here the usual recommendation to replace your incandescent light bulbs with
compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) – NO! – I can not recommend these “energy savers”,
regardless of how much energy they might save. If you wonder why – Google the term: ‘dangers of compact
fluorescent light bulbs’ and you might understand why installing CFLs is not an option of how to save
energy for me.
If you feel you are wasting energy using the traditional incandescent light bulbs (and you are), change your
lighting system to LED bulbs or halogen, which have similar or better energy saving qualities then CFLs without the
hazards (watch high temperatures with halogen lamps!).
By the way, going easy on the Christmas light decorations is a better way how to save energy and money, then
changing your whole household to CFLs – and you never know, your neighbours might follow suit next season?
Wind Power
Another good way of how to save energy is using wind power. Consider a wind turbine to generate
all or part of your electricity requirements. Again, once the installation is paid for, the generated power is
free. Have a go at creating your own DIY Wind Turbine.
Click here if You Want to Save Energy by Using Wind
Power
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