Astounded by the charges in your bills every month? It\’s indeed a fact that comfort comes at a price but you need not succumb to paying accelerating costs when there\’re alternatives in reducing your cash outflow. Being energy efficient is possible for every type of homes, whether a single- or multi-family dwelling, or mobile home.
Regardless of the hype over the recently concluded Copenhagen Summit, being energy efficient won\’t only save your money but also preserve Mother Earth. There\’re lots you can do at home to stir the regression of environment damage even with the different types of energy like natural gas, electricity, heating oil and propane.
Even though turning off your switches when you don\’t use them is a good habit, you can save energy too whilst using your appliances. Just like lights. Scientists don\’t call Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs (“CFLs”) as energy efficient bulbs for no reason. Don\’t be blinded by the fact that CFLs are more expensive than the traditional incandescent light bulbs as they last almost ten times longer and incur less energy. Thus, CFLs are recommended especially in areas frequented during evenings. Additionally, consider using solar lamps or motion detector lights for exterior lightings. When spring and summer arrive with the sun shining until the early evening hours, allow the sunlight to penetrate into the house before the lights are switched on when the sky turns dark.
Although refrigerator manufacturers produce energy efficient machines nowadays, you can still limit carbon emission by ensuring that the doors are not left open longer than necessary, exposing it to heat source or putting warm food into the compartments. This will encourage less cold air from escaping and in return less energy is needed to generate cold air replacement. Take note that rubber seals are in good condition for doors to close properly. Defrosting the refrigerator from frost build-up once every two months can also prevent you from absorbing cost overruns.
Generally for electrical appliances, buy according to your household capacity. Although there are one-size-fits-all appliances in the market, try to find the ones which will cater exactly for your home. There is no need to show off larger and more powerful appliances that you don\’t need to your visitors. After all, they aren\’t going to pay your bills. When the lifetime of your appliances is up or with a remaining few useful years, replace them with products with an energy efficient label or rating that will give you enormous energy savings.
Another attribute of energy inefficiency is lime scale build-up which is normally found in appliances which use water to function such as kettle, washing machine and dishwasher. Besides that, lime scale build-up can affect performance and extra energy are consumed. More often than not, lime scale spoils tools sooner. To cut out cost overruns and keeping continuous appliances\’ performance, pouring in distilled white vinegar can assist solving this problem.
When the cold season comes, most of us will be tempted to turn up the temperature for warmth. While that\’s true, wearing wool tops will give you partial warmth that you need and thus you only need half the heater\’s temperature. Be reasonable too. Wearing singlet will only give you the chill. If there\’s a fireplace in your house, use it. Take it as an opportunity to have a daily family gathering. For hot water cylinder, opt to install a timer with an automatic switch or control it manually so that it can heat the water when you will use the hot water. When the summer sprouts, think of using cold water for a change and switch on the fan instead of air-conditioner to reduce carbon emission and plant more trees to shade and cool your surroundings.
Finally, don\’t be fooled that no energy is consumed when your appliances are switched off. It\’s not a myth that phantom costs form part of your bill charges. So, unless you\’re sure to use your tools within the next hour, unplugging the cords from the plug points will give you additional savings.
These are just all but some ideas which will benefit you in saving costs and reducing carbon emissions in your daily chore. Now you know how to save your dollars, you don\’t need to live like as a penny pincher and be astonished when the next bill comes.
Additional Reading:
http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/EnergyEfficiency/Pages/PracticalSteps.aspx
