More and more of us are working from home nowadays, whether we choose to do so, or have been instructed to by an employer, and creating a comfortable and functional work space has been challenging for some. One of the major factors affecting a home work station, is how much more electricity you’re likely to use (and have to pay for!), and how much that additional electricity might be affecting the environment.
To help you save energy while working at home, here are 3 tried and tested tips:
Helping your body to create Vitamin D and providing you with a light source that is much better spread out and diffused, natural light can save you money on your electricity bill, and help you work more healthily.
While you will have to turn the lights on when the sun starts to go down, using natural light for as long as you possibly can, will save you money and even encourage you to open the windows and let some fresh air in when appropriate.
If you do need to use artificial light, consider switching your bulbs from incandescent to LED bulbs, which are around 75% more efficient, and produce as much as 90% less heat.
Turning lights off when you leave a room is another small step you can take towards improving your energy efficiency when working from home.
Plugging your devices into a power strip (or smart power strip) helps to reduce power consumption, as at the end of the workday, you can turn all of your devices off and the power strip. If you didn’t already know it, power strips that are still plugged in – even if the devices plugged into them are all switched off – will continue to use energy unless turned off. Known as phantom or vampire energy, this can typically consume the equivalent of the energy needed to power a whopping 11 million homes!
With federal incentives and an opportunity for your household to produce its own clean, green energy, solar panel systems are becoming increasingly popular, and are a great way to save money on electricity bills, whether you work from home, or not.
In terms of energy efficiency, a solar system is the best way to reduce your power usage (and dependency on the grid), and while it may take some time for you to begin getting a return on your investment, once you do, you’ll wonder why it took you so long!
Over the 25-year span of solar panels, they could save you between ten and thirty thousand dollars on your energy bills, not to mention federal tax credits, potential referral savings, and the obvious benefits to the environment.
Working from home is a convenient solution for many, but if you’re concerned about how this could be impacting the environment and your utility bills, follow the tips above and start making energy savings today.
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