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How to save energy at home – here’s what you can do without much effort and cost!

The question is quite important because even if you have everything at home OK, you can still reduce the cost of bills by 30% or more if you perform at least some of the tasks described below.

LIGHTING

  • Energy-saving lamps are about 4-5 times more efficient than conventional incandescent bulbs. That is, a 20-watt energy-saving bulb provides the same amount of light as a 100-watt incandescent bulb. The savings are obvious.
  • Usually, rooms withlight-colored walls look brighter than rooms decorated in dark colors.

To have energy-saving lighting, the following factors are important:

  • Rational placement of sources of interior lighting,
  • Use of sunlight
  • Installation of intelligent systems,
  • Improvement of the reflectivity of the walls,
  • Use of automatic lighting control systems.

USEFUL TIPS

  • TV, sound system, recorder, in standby, consume an average of 10 watts per hour. They must be completely detached from the network if not used.
  • Mobile phone chargers or laptops connected to an outlet constantly consume electricity, even if you do not use them for charging. It is better to unplug them, since all types of chargers are famous for their poor energy efficiency.
  • The air conditioning must have a thermostat and turn off when the temperature in the room has reached the required level.

LOGICAL AND SIMPLE

  • Do not iron wet clothes.
  • Do not open the microwave or oven often.
  • Cover the pots and pans with a lid.
  • The most energy-efficient way to cook is to use pressure cookers.
  • The oven can be turned off a few minutes before the food is ready. Then simply keep your dish in hot but switched off oven and it will finish cooking.
  • Do not put hot food in the fridge
  • Start your washing machine only at full load (but not overloaded)
  • Do not place hot objects (lamps, TV) near the air conditioner with the thermostat. Otherwise, thermostat measurements may be affected.

COMPUTER

  • It is best to turn off the computer when you are not using it. Some computers consume as much standby electricity as a small refrigerator.
  • If you can not turn off the computer, turn off the monitor at least. In this way, you can save additional electricity.
  • Screensavers do not save energy.
  • Configure a sleep mode on the computer and printer after 5 minutes of inactivity.

WATER-SAVING SHOWER NOZZLE

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Incredibly, in a minute a regular shower uses about 20 liters of hot water. If the pressure is strong, up to 30 liters of water per minute can be consumed. For 5 minutes in the shower, a person easily uses 100 liters of water. And it is only water, but it also needs to be heated.

The low-cost shower nozzle uses about 7 liters per minute. We get 1/3 of the consumption. And the potential for savings in this field is obvious!

WASH WITH COLD WATER

  1. About 90% of the electricity used by the washing machine is actually spent not on the “washing” process, but on heating cold water.
  2. In practice, most of the laundry just needs “refreshment”. So, it’s reasonable to wash with hot water only very dirty things or to remove stains. In other cases, use cold washing, and you’ll achieve the same effect and save a lot of electricity.

MAKE YOUR HOUSE ISOLATED

  • If on cold and windy days you feel that drafts are moving around your home or apartment, then this section is exactly for you.
  • Especially drafts can be felt near windows, doors, fireplaces, cracks in the floor, etc.
  • When cold air enters the house, hot air (along with your money spent on heating) flies out. In this case, you can and should use grandmother’s methods – isolate the windows, for example with a special sticky tape, in particular, it is important to pay attention to the joints of glass and frame, frames and walls.
  • Check the tightness of the entrance door. If you find a crack and there is no way to change the door, you can install temporary insulation around the door. And if there is an entrance tambourine or a small corridor, it’s even better – cold air will not enter the heated rooms directly.
  • If you have a fireplace or a simple stove, close the smoke outlets when you don’t use them. Therefore, warm air will not be pulled into the pipe.
  • Even if you do not have a special closure for the fireplace, you can use a piece of cardboard, or any other object, to block the exhaust pipe. But do not forget to remove them before lighting the fire.
  • Try to insulate as much as possible all the cracks in the basement and attic, gaps around the entrances and exits of pipes and ducts from the house, cracks, and holes in the roof, floor, joints of the roof and walls, walls and basement.
Heat loss, thermography

INSTALL DOUBLE-GLAZED WINDOWS

  • Put double-glazed windows. Double-glazed windows are more efficient than single-glazed ones, not only because they are thicker, but also because they create an enclosed space between the two panes of glass. In this enclosed space there is air, which plays the role of insulation.
  • Air is a bad conductor of heat, so it can be used as an excellent insulator. The thermal conductivity of stationary air under ideal conditions is 0.024 W·m−1· K−1. While thermal conductivity, for example, of glass wool is 0.045 and that of wood is 0.15. That is, air is better than stone wool or wood, but only on the condition that the air space is small. Therefore, the recommended distance between the double glazing in the window is from 1.3 centimeters to a maximum of 10 centimeters.

HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES

Though we use more energy-efficient appliances, electricity consumption still increases every year. This is because we are obsessed with electrical devices. Modern man can no longer imagine life without a dozen units of household appliances.

Let’s see how electricity is used in a typical house or apartment. The numbers are average, but the basic idea is clear:

Device

Watt

 Hours included per day

 Consumption per month kWh

6 bulbs, 60 watts each

360

10

102

TV

100

10

28

Computer

200

10

57

Kettle

1500

0,5

21

Refrigerator

225

15

96

Iron

1500

0,5

21

Washing machine

300

1

9

Vacuum cleaner

700

0,3

6

Air conditioning

1500

3

128

Mixer

450

0,3

4

Oven

1000

0,5

14

Total:

486

SAVING ELECTRICITY AT HOME

Advised

  • Avoid using extension cords (or use only high-quality devices with a large section of wire).
  • Switch to devices with pulsed power supplies (instead of transformers).
  • Use standby mode in household appliances.
  • Use copper wiring.
  • Keep track of illegal connections and inserts.
  • Gradually replace old household appliances. Old TVs and vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, and dishwashers are very voracious by modern energy efficiency standards. All household appliances are divided into energy efficiency classes. Thus, the highest energy efficiency class is marked with the Latin letter A, the lowest – G.

SAVINGS IN THE KITCHEN

The consumption of electricity in the kitchen as part of saving general consumption in the home is one of the most important factors.

It is no secret that up to a third of all the energy expenditure of modern households is spent on cooking.

Unfortunately, the lack of basic knowledge about ways to save energy leads to the waste of the family budget.

First of all, let’s consider the features of the operation of household appliances.

  • The most energy-intensive are a refrigerator, oven, washing machine, hood, and kettle.
  • When operating a refrigerator, remember that every minute with the door open increases its energy consumption three times
  • Do not forget about the need to choose the optimal mode of work for any appliance
  • When using a kettle or coffee maker, use the minimum amount of water needed.
  • Admit that bringing a full kettle to a boil several times a day for making two cups of tea is not extremely cheap.
  • To achieve the effect of saving, you need to adjust the power of the stove to just keep the water boiling.
  • In addition, the pots and pans used must correspond to the diameter of the burner.
  • Regularly remove limescale in the kettle or coffee-machine. Limestone creates a shell around the heating element, which prevents the rapid heating of water due to the low thermal conductivity of the limestone itself.

REFRIGERATOR

In an ordinary house or apartment, the refrigerator uses about 3%-5% of electricity.

As we mentioned before, the less you open the doors of the refrigerator, the less electricity you use.

But there are the other measures.

  • Defrost the refrigerator regularly.
  • Set the temperature inside the refrigerator from 3°C to 5°C. A freezer from -15°C to -18°C.  This will be reasonable and efficient.
  • There should be enough distance between the refrigerator and the wall for easy air circulation
  • Cover the liquid dishes with a lid. Evaporation leads to increased energy consumption.
  • The heat exchanger, located at the back of the refrigerator, should have free space to dispose of heat.
  • In addition, periodically removing dust from the heat exchanger, will improve heat exchange and reduce electricity loss.

HOW TO REDUCE WATER CONSUMPTION

So, now we’ll try to save water.

The most effective tips are:

  • Installation of hot water meters for water consumption,
  • Installation of cold water measuring devices,
  • Installation of contactless mixers with sensors (especially in buildings with a large number of people),
  • It is even better if instead of taps is installed mixer for water.

It is possible to reduce water costs not only by introducing the above energy-saving measures but also by taking the right approach to its consumption.

  • For example, instead of bathing, you can use a shower, which reduces water consumption by about three times. And for additional economy be sure to buy an energy-saving shower nozzle!
  • Energy-saving at home is not possible if there are faulty taps or showers.
  • The use of washing machines and dishwashers, which consume water more sparingly than hand washing, also contributes to the reduction of water consumption.
  • This is true only if the device is charged correctly and according to the instructions, and at full load.

When washing dishes or doing laundry by hand, you can also save water by turning off the water flow when it is not in use.

CHECK TOILET DRAIN BOX

  • If water flows or drips a little from the tank, the volume of “lost” water can reach 200 liters per month.
  • In a family of 3-4 people it is useful to install a toilet drain with two drain buttons: economy and ordinary water drain.

HEATING

TO ELIMINATE HEAT LOSS

  • The first thing to worry about is to prevent air leaks.
  • To do this, check the joints between the window profiles and the walls or around entrance door.
  • If a draught is detected, use special silicone or latex caps/tapes.
  • This technique saves up to 30% of the energy used for heating.

INSULATION OF ATTICS AND ROOFS

Reliable insulation of attics and roofs is also an effective method of energy saving in the heating season.

After all, even small gaps between attic floors transport pediments can add an additional 20-30% to the amount of heating costs.

FLUE

Do not forget about the possible heat losses through the chimney. To prevent them, it is enough to monitor the closure of the chimney. During the unheated period, to avoid cooling the living room, it must be tightly closed.

VENTILATION SYSTEM

Optimization of the ventilation system can give a high energy-saving effect.

According to the laws of physics, after heating the air it moves upwards.

Cold masses, in turn, fall into the lower zone.

Special ceiling or wall fans are used to distribute the temperature evenly in the rooms.

They redistribute air flows, thereby providing a favourable temperature in all residential and auxiliary premises.

HEATING SYSTEM

  • Regularly change the filters, monitor the technical condition of the boiler and the entire heating system.
  • Wash the heating system regularly (at least once every 3 years).
  • Replace old pipes and radiators.
  • Insulate pipes that pass through unheated rooms or outdoors.
  • Install chronothermostats to set a timer for heating.
  • Use thermostats to lower the temperature of premises that are not used temporarily.
  • Install heat exchangers to heat water and air.

Apply these tips and save every day!

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