Everyone takes different measures to save energy and reduce the cost of electricity as well as help the environment. The energy-saving measure might include installing efficient new equipment, replacing old appliances or simply changing day to day routine. The following are a few tips to help you start saving energy.
Efficient Management
One of the simplest ways to save energy is to efficiently manage the everyday usage of energy. Turning off unnecessary; lights, fans or other home appliances, helps cut unnecessary usage. Some household tasks can be done manually such as drying clothes or washing dishes or cleaning the floor, these simple tasks go a long way in helping to save energy a lot. Other significant changes include keeping air conditioner temperature slightly higher and heater temperature slightly lower than usual.
Replacing Old Equipment
Old equipment wastes a lot of energy. Incandescent light bulbs use significantly more energy than fluorescent and LED lights, later use up to 80% less energy and last 20 times longer than former. Replacing old washing machines, ovens and refrigerators is also a good option because newer appliances use energy more efficiently, and they have built-in systems to turn off devices when they are not being used. Phantoms loads are those loads that occur when an electronic device is turned off but it is still plugged in, smart switches can be used to eliminate phantom loads. Even though energy-saving appliances are expensive, but their cost of operation is lower than traditional devices.
Smart Thermostats
Use a smart programmable thermostat to regulate the temperature of your home remotely. Smart thermostats can be used via smartphone and they can automatically turn on or off enters or leaves the house. Smart thermostats log usage data which helps to find unnecessary usage that can be eliminated.
Customizing your home
Nowadays, energy conservation is kept in mind while designing new homes. But older homes can still be optimized to save energy. Air leaks from slits and cracks of doors, windows, and vents wasting a lot of energy. These cracks should be closed immediately. You should insulate your home because the insulation is vital in reducing your electric bills by keeping heat in throughout the winter and preventing cooling loss through the summer. Insulate your home with suitable R-Value, this value is lower for warmer regions and higher for colder climates.
Solar Energy
Installing solar panels on your roof have two advantages, they will block sunlight to directly hit your home and also generate inexpensive energy throughout the day. Solar panels have a long life-span usually up to 25 years. Solar energy can be stored in batteries for use during the night. Recently, all sorts of home appliances have been introduced which run solely on solar energy without any need for conversion, these appliances can be run completely off-grid.
Home HVAC
Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning systems in homes are responsible for almost half of total energy use. Upgrading this equipment is highly advisable. For heating and cooling DC inverter ACs should be installed, they save energy and produce heating and cooling efficiently. Also, better ventilation is necessary for the distribution of existing heating and cooling evenly throughout your home.