Modern-day solutions to save electricity

Lighting bulb

Modern-day homes are very different from the first homes of industrial civilization. Most things in our home utilize electricity and work on batteries. We are adopting new, efficient technologies that make our lives easier from voice control house systems to wireless ports. However, with increasing population and decreasing economy, the cost of electricity (utility bills) is a big concern in many households. The best solution we have so far is to utilize electricity in a cost-effective method.

Finances are a major motivation to conserve energy. However, that is not the only advantage of saving electricity. Less usage of electricity means less production through the burning of fossil fuels. This would not only save the remaining fossil fuel reserves but also helps the environment by reducing carbon emissions and greenhouse gases. There are many ways we can save electricity at an individual level.

1. Use natural light instead of bulbs

The biggest issue is using artificial appliances to light up our house during daytime. We should save electricity by using daylight and naturally illuminate our houses while saving money.

2. Get a new eco-friendly version of your appliances

Most of the appliances these days are made with eco-friendly technology which consumes less energy to give the same or even better results than old appliances. Old appliances require more energy to work the same way as years go by. Their batteries or circuits get old and there is greater energy waste. It is simpler to exchange old with the new; a one-time investment would save years of money. You can also send the old one to be recycled for money!

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3. Unplug active gadgets

The most basic task is to unplug inactive gadgets. Gadgets such as printers are still using energy when plugged in; to save electric energy we must simply unplug them.

4. Insulated Heaters

One appliance that we use constantly is heater during winters; most of the heat produced by heaters is wasted to the surrounding. In comparison to this, insulated heaters use less electric energy as the heat is not wasted by the surrounding environment. Solar heaters are another great option.  

5. Caulking

Another method is caulking which is to apply seal on all doors and windows to insulate the house and decrease the usage of heaters and coolers.

6. Seal the house

Just like car maintenance and inspection to check that there are no broken parts or leaking pipes, we can also get our home heating and ventilation infrastructure inspected to see if they are at their peak condition with no leaks or wastage of energy. Along with this we can seal and insulate all ducts to avoid any wastage and save as much energy as we can.

7. Install solar panels

Many people are converting their homes to solar panel homes. Even though the initial installation is costly, the amount of energy required to run the heating or cooling system with heavy appliances can easily be managed by solar energy which is free and plentiful.

8. Turn off appliances not in use

People living in the countryside or with open land nearby can install a windmill that can easily supply electricity to a small neighborhood. Most of the time we leave our TV switch on and the news or sports is playing in the background, or the children are playing elsewhere with cartoons on TV in the background. Simply turning off the TV would be an excellent energy-saving method.

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9. Switch to LED lights

Most of the lighting equipment is old and uses incandescent light. Switching it to light-emitting diodes or compact fluorescent lamps has proved to save up to 50% of energy.

10. Tank-less Water Heaters

Another method is to convert to a tank-less water heater, which does not waste energy by storing the water but only heats it when warm water is in use. Other than tank-less water heaters, Solar water heaters are also another great option for you.

11. Replace Desktops with Laptops

Old desktops have multiple parts with requiring a high amount of energy constantly, instead, a single laptop could give the same amount of output with less energy required to charge it.

12. LED TVs

Old TV should be replaced with newer LED TVs that use way less energy.

13. Be conscious about Energy-saving

Even changing daily habits like turning off fans or using a medium setting on the washing machine to launder clothes can reduce energy usage by many folds.

14. Hang clothes to dry

Clothes should be hanged to dry rather than using dryers that consume a ton of energy for a single spin. Many people living in apartments have a concern of not having backyard to hang their clothes. A few solutions to that would be hanging the clothes to dry on a balcony, in a well-ventilated room with a window or two while you go to office and the clothes dry by the time you come back or find another such ventilated room which is not that much in use and hang the clothes there.

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15. Cook quicker

Instead of cooking in ovens, convection stoves or microwaves should be used as they cook food at higher temperatures for a shorter period. Obviously some dishes do require an adequate amount of heat to be cooked properly and so for that a simple solution would be to use pressure cookers. Pressure cookers use the same amount of heat but cook the food much earlier than regular cooking pots, thereby saving energy and utility bills.

It can be observed that even slight changes in our daily life can have a great impact on energy saving; Moreover, they are highly effective cost-cutting methods as well.

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