With all the hype about saving energy and saving money these days, everyone can use some helpful tips on how to prevent your budget from being maxed out and saving the environment around you at the same time. This involves a variety of different factors.
One of the more obvious tips is to turn out the lights when you are not in a room. That alone can save you at least a few dollars a month. Less-obvious ways to reduce cost of energy includes ‘Converting to renewable energy’. Three time-tested natural sources of energy are sunlight, wind, and water and they are usually combined with solar panels, windmills, or generators.
Even cars nowadays can be converted to run on other types of renewable fuel, such as wood or plant products.
Investing in more durable items also helps in the long run. Sometimes the up-front cost of purchasing longer-lasting appliances, furniture, and other household items can be more than you want to pay. However, this short-term investment has long-term benefits, for one, most often those items that are well-made are usually more energy efficient.
- Heat and cool your house naturally. This can be achieved by pulling the shades during the day and pulling them up at least part way at night. (If you value your privacy blinds are useful for this purpose. Double-glassing is also an option, yet sometimes costly, is usually a once off cost and will save you on heating and cooling costs in the long run.
- Insulate your home. This will reduce the cost of heating and cooling. Along with that, make sure you close all doors and windows while the home heater or air conditioner is on. Make sure your doors and windows seal around the edges, this can be accomplished by running a rubber / sealer tape (found in most hardware stores) around the inside edge of the frame, when the door or window is closed it presses against the rubber seal and helps with locking in air. I have even found this to be a great help with cleaning since it prevents dust from blowing into your home and causing you to spend less on cleaning and vacuuming.
- Wash full loads of clothes and dishes. When possible, do not run the dishwasher just for a few items. If you want to clean a stray dish a soap dispenser with a scrub brush attached is perfect for this purpose.
- Hang clothes on the line instead of drying them with a dryer. This will dramatically cut down on the energy used, as you will not be running the dryer nearly is often. Clothes dry fastest on a hot, dry, sunny day, this goes without saying, yet many choose not to use this free yet sometimes abundant resource.
- Shut down your computer, television, car, and miscellaneous devices. Any computer or electronic item will use up the most energy, so it is important to shut it down at night or during other times when you are not using them. Any charging devices or power-packs (like those used for mobile phones, laptops and printers) should be unplugged or turned off when not in use as this continues to use electricity even though the device is not connected to it. TV’s or Sound systems should also be switched off by the switch or plug if not in use, since keeping them on standby also still uses electricity.
- Use compact florescent light bulbs. You usually get more usage for these for the price, as they last quite a bit longer than traditional bulbs. These days you can get these florescent bulbs in many variants, from bright white light to soft warm yellow light.
- Use power strips, and surge protectors. Any large device that you have such as a DVD player, television, or computer should be plugged into a box such as this. If you are not sure what they are, contact your local computer store and they will point you in the right direction. In a nutshell, power strips usually have outlets for plugging in electrical devices of all kinds (heavy-duty and light-duty). This power supply is then plugged into the wall. Using these devices can cut your bill as much as 30%.
- Set your water heater at a lower temperature in the summer. This will lower the cost of heating your water for shower, dishes, household cleaning, car washing, and other home duties. Instead of a long shower, take a bath (or a short shower). If you absolutely cannot be content with taking a five-minute or ten-minute shower then you should consider taking a bath instead. It will save you money. However, if you take a shorter shower it would use less water than filling your tub with bath water.
More energy saving tips can be found on local and national government websites. You can also call energy savings hotlines for further advice. Additionally, non-profit environmental groups have educational resource regarding various aspects of energy-saving and conservation.
These are but only a few tips, some obvious others maybe not so. Either way, if you are looking for simple ways to save energy and money, driven by your passion to save the environment or by the constraints of a budget, this information would ensure you a better quality of life.
If you would like to read more about how to make your Home more Energy Efficient and Saving Money, follow this link: Saving Money, Saving Energy.
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