Since many of us spend a lot of time at home, it’s no wonder we will use electricity more often. This can lead to higher electricity consumption and increased bills. Saving electricity at home helps reduce your family’s energy needs, and in turn, reduces the demand for polluting fossil fuels.
In fact, there are many methods that can help you save electricity. Here are 5 ways you and your family can save electricity at home easily:
1. Use smart power strips to manage usage in a smart way
While unplugging and turning off appliances on the wall will do the trick, doing other tasks in our busy times can make us forget easily. To help control energy-consuming equipment, you’ll find it easier to save energy using smart power strips.
Smart power strips address the problem of using electricity to dissipate energy unnecessarily. With a power strip, you can configure it to turn off the electricity to the appliance when not in use. Alternatively, some models allow you to save electricity by setting a timer to turn off the supply while you work or sleep. You can easily find many smart power strips on Shopee or Lazada.
2. Adjust the use of light
An easy-to-remember tip is to turn off unnecessary lights when not in use. For better results of saving electricity at home, use bulbs with higher watts and reduce the number of bulbs in each room. For example, you can turn off 2-3 60 watt bulbs by installing one 100 watt bulb in the room.
Also, let natural light in and avoid electric lights altogether during the day. You will also get better natural light for your work from the home environment.
3. Install energy saving bulbs
Speaking of lighting, another good substitute is to change incandescent lamps for compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) or light bulbs. CFLs use between 50-80% less energy than regular incandescent bulbs.
At first, you will find it is more expensive to buy initially than regular bulbs, which use more energy. But, it will last longer than usual. As a result, over time, costs will decrease as you save more energy. CFLs are very practical for outdoor lighting, which you may leave on all night.
4. Slightly reduce the temperature of your refrigerator
Most of us don’t pay much attention to the temperature in our refrigerators. Of course, we have cold drinks, and the vegetables stay fresh. However, when taking into account energy savings, a temperature that drops a few degrees saves electricity.
With a little change to its thermostat, your refrigerator will keep everything cool and fresh, while these small changes result in fewer machine use to help reduce those energy bills.
5. Unplug & defrost your freezer every month
Your freezer sometimes benefits from defrosting, usually once a month. When excess ice accumulates in the freezer, the system eventually works harder to keep all that ice and keep the cold air flowing. As a result, a refrigerator that requires defrosting uses more energy and adds to your energy costs.
Any time you want to defrost, just unplug the freezer and remove all food. Leave the door open for a faster melting process, and then dry the freezer. Turn it back on, and once cool, repack your groceries. Make sure you place items correctly to allow for easy cold airflow and better energy savings so that your freezer system doesn’t overwork.
Sources: Trvst, EnergySage, SmartHomesForLiving