Top Tips for Conserving Energy at Home

With an ongoing global energy crisis and myriad environmental concerns affecting people across the globe, saving energy at home is probably never far from your thoughts.

While you might not be able to save a fortune on energy at home, you can almost certainly make some savings by reducing your usage of power and adjusting your habits. With this in mind, here are some useful tips for conserving energy at home and lowering your energy bills:

Conserving energy with electronic devices

You might be surprised to know just how much energy electronic devices can consume, but with these tips, you can reduce your usage and save money:

• Have one power strip to plug devices into, and ensure that it’s switched off when not in use
• Stream media onto smaller screens
• Try turning down brightness features and using ‘eco’ modes
• If devices have a ‘sleep’ or ‘hibernate’ feature, try to make use of them
• Restrict the charging of mobile devices to a few hours instead of overnight

Conserving energy with appliances

Appliances are essential items in all modern households, but with a few simple tips, you can save energy, money and even your health:

• When appliances aren’t in use, turn them off and unplug them
• When cooking, use your microwave as often as you can, rather than the stove
• Try not to open the oven door when it’s in use
• Run full loads of laundry at night time, and do your dishes in the evening, too
• Wash clothes in cold water
• Buy energy efficient lightbulbs that use as much as 80% less electricity when compared to traditional bulbs, such as halogen incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lights, and light-emitting diode bulbs.
• Switch lights on when not in use
• Lower the temperature on your hot water heater
• Take advantage of natural light within your home, which will save energy and benefit your health
• Only run ventilation fans in your kitchen or bathroom for as long as necessary

Conserving energy with heating and cooling

At certain times of the year, heating and cooling our home is essential for our comfort, but they can be a big drain on your energy usage. Follow these tips for ways to conserve your heating and cooling requirements:

• Make sure your home is fully weatherproof, and this can include sealing air leaks around doors and windows to fixing leaky faucets
• Instead of overhead lights or running central heating and cooling, use small lamps and fans etc
• Ensure that your HVAC filters are cleaned and replaced regularly, as dirty filters will force the system to overwork and run up more energy
• Set your thermostat to 20 degrees in the winter months and 25.5 degrees during the warmer, summer months

Being an energy conscious citizen won’t just save you money on your energy bills, but will help save the planet, too, and with these simple tips, you can do your bit with ease.

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