For most people monthly utility costs are the second greatest expense only to the mortgage. By finding ways to reduce energy consumption, you’ll not only make the most eco-conscious investment but help to bring your household within a reasonable budget.
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The prices have grown exponentially for electricity, with the costs ranging from roughly $1500 annually for an average household only five years ago. Cutting these prices would relieve a financial burden that makes affording monthly expenditures difficult.
You can cut electric use in the home using two concepts:
- Energy efficiency: Making improvements around the house that makes it unnecessary to rely so heavily on energy for comfortability. Efficiency would involve installing a programmable thermostat for automatic temperature adjustment or upgrading the HVAC system to require less energy to maintain the household at the same comfort level.
- Conserving Energy: Avoiding unnecessary use of energy including keeping lights off when no one is in the room, unplugging electronics not being used, limiting standard usage like keeping the heat low at night in favor of more blankets.
Efficiency is more involved and expensive compared to conserving, but these are long-term and result in increased property value. Some efficient methods are simple and inexpensive like switching out lightbulbs to those with greater efficiency. Large or small, there’s much you can do to save on energy costs.
How Can You Save On Your Electricity Costs
You can either make improvements to your home in an effort to cut back electrical costs or conserve the amount you use. The most effective, longest lasting and greatest savings will come from energy efficiency.
This can be as expensive as installing new windows to ensure a great seal, adequate insulation, and no loss of heat or cold through the windows or changing out incandescent bulbs in favor of LED energy-efficient options.
The switch can be cost-efficient to suit a tight budget, but it will make an impact no matter how small the change. Here are some tips to get you started with how to save electricity or hvordan spare strøm in your home. These will help you save considerably on annual charges.
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Do an energy assessment
When reaching out to an electricity professional with the utility company, the representative will go through the house with you to do an “energy audit, a complimentary service.” This will tell you the amount of energy you use and reveal your efficiency.
While going through the house, the utility representative will offer guidance on areas where you can make changes to conserve energy, leading to greater efficiency. They could offer suggestions on projects within the house you could consider to make the home more energy efficient.
You don’t need to jump on each suggestion straight away, but these are ideas to ponder and perhaps take steps to do one thing at a time.
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Phantom or vampire energy should be cut
Phantom or vampire energy is used when you’re not even present or using the electronic or appliance emitting the energy. In fact, a large percentage of energy burned in a home is caused by electronics that are shut off.
A small appliance can run as much as “876 watts of energy” when it’s on, but if you turn it off and unplug it will produce zero energy.
However, the other kitchen appliances, internet routers, TVs, and laptops will continue to increase the electric bill. That’s because they work constantly even when not in use. A suggestion to cut the bill drastically is to employ power strips and turn these off when electronics are not functioning.
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Dimming the lights is a solution
Another good way to decrease electricity use and cost is to use dimmer switches. The indication is that these will restart after two minutes which is something not visible with the naked eye.
Unless you’re reading or engaging in an activity that requires full light, you can save considerable energy and expenses by dimming those in the room you’re in. You should also make sure to shut off the lights in the rooms not currently occupied.
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Do you really need the dryer
Some people prefer to air dry their clothes. It can save shrinkage, stretching, fading the color, and so many other things that a dryer can do to clothing. Plus, a dryer is flat-out an “energy hog.” If you can cut it out as much as possible from your laundry, you’ll save considerably on electricity costs.
It’s indicated that a dryer on its own can consume as much as “5000 watts for each load of laundry.” Instead of loading up the dryer, use a house rack or install a line outside and air dry the linens. They’ll smell awesome and the expense will be so much less.
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Load up the fridge and freezer
Everyone is aware the freezer and fridge doors should remain closed at all times; otherwise, the cool air will escape. That means the appliance needs to work that much harder to achieve the desired temperature again.
With some people opening and closing a refrigerator multiple times is a habit, but this behavior can result in roughly 7 percent of household energy use.
Another way to keep a fridge/freezer functioning with lower electricity output is to ensure it’s loaded full of food and drinks. These serve as insulation preventing the appliance from working as hard to keep things cool.
Final Thought
This is far from an exhaustive list of electricity saving costs. You can do many more things to efficiently reduce your electricity use. Not all of them will save a considerable amount but by incorporating a few measures, you can make a significant difference in your expenses.
The idea is to start with easy, less invasive projects and work to the next level until you get to the larger tasks. Once your home has become energy efficient, have another energy audit to see where you stand with energy usage to see if you can make any other improvements. Visit this link to see how Norway hydro plants are taken measure to be more energy conscious.
None of us will ever be perfect but if you can cut your costs in half, that’s an achievement.
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