To understand how to save energy in an apartment, you need to prepare for an integrated approach. There is no such option as just pressing a button to get minimum bills. And life without light is somehow not pleasant at all.
The importance of saving energy
Although energy resources were cheap, no one thought about the need to save energy. But since then, as the amounts in payments have risen sharply, there has been significant interest among the population in ways to save electricity and other resources. Villagers are worried about how to save electricity in a private house, while city residents are looking for information on how to save electricity in an apartment.
The increase in tariffs is completely justified, because the planet is rapidly reducing the reserves of inexhaustible energy sources, and the costs of their production - on the contrary, are growing. Unfortunately, the salaries of ordinary residents do not show such wild growth, so there is no other way out but to look for efficient ways to save electricity.
There is another reason to save - a huge load of transformer substations. Every year, more and more electrical devices appear in people's homes. Naturally, power lines and substations may not withstand, need to be repaired or replaced with stronger ones.
Also, due to energy savings, emissions of processed products into the atmosphere and water sources are reduced. People who save resources make a modest contribution to the preservation of rivers, lakes and forests and help protect the health of the nation.
Efficient and legal ways to save
Demand reduction
How can you reduce energy consumption without any devices and additional investments? It's very simple. We just need to think about how much light we really need and use the following tips from experienced innovators:
- Try using less electric light. This does not mean a return to primitive times, when life activities took place only in daylight. You can easily try to do all the things that require strong lighting during the day, and limit yourself to one lamp in the evening to illuminate the rest of the work.
- When studying the question of how to save light in the apartment, you need to know that the degree of illumination depends on the purity of the lighting fixtures. If the lampshade in the kitchen is covered with an "ancient" layer of grease and dust, then you should not expect strong light from it. And if the ceiling is clean, light penetrates through it perfectly, which means you can use a smaller light bulb.
- Windows should also be washed more often, as this will make your daylight last a little longer and you can turn on the electricity later.
- In chandeliers with several bulbs, you can turn on not all at once, but one or two. Use a table lamp in combination with low overhead lighting to work on the table.
- A very useful invention is dimming. Allows you to adjust the brightness level of each lamp.
- Replace standard bulbs for energy efficient models. Recently, many have begun to worry about the question: do LED lamps save energy? Experts are convinced that the future belongs to LED lamps, because they consume a meager amount of energy, emitting enough light.
- Turn off the light when you leave the room. This is, of course, quite difficult if there are children in the house that it is very difficult to get used to such a simple way of saving.
Using Multi-Tariff Meters
Electricity can cost differently at different times of the day. This is due to the fact that it is consumed in large quantities during the day, and at night the power plants operate practically at idle. Therefore, you can save electricity with a meter that consumes energy consumed during the day at the usual price, and for the night - it allows you to pay 30% less.
If the house has devices that are used day and night (refrigerator, electric heating, etc. ), then a multi-tariff meter will help reduce electricity bills. Washing can be started at night, and at the same time the power of the heating device can be increased to turn it off completely during the day.
Rational use of technology
There are devices in every apartment that are never unplugged. But not everyone knows that even in "sleep" mode, they draw electricity. Each individual device has a very small amount of such supporting power, but an impressive amount is obtained in a month. To prevent unnecessary waste, simply pull the plugs of all devices out of the sockets while they are "idle".
Note:Using old, poor quality wiring and lots of extension cords and various teers will also increase household electricity consumption.
Technical News
People who want to know how to intelligently reduce the cost of electricity in an apartment should evaluate each of their home appliances. After all, older models of refrigerators and TVs consume a lot of energy, twice as much as modern models. Gradually try to replace all obsolete devices with low-energy models. Labels usually indicate the degree of economy, class A is the most cost-effective.
More economical energy consumption classes have recently emerged, such as A +, A ++.
Smart devices have now started to appear on the market, they can independently calculate the amount of detergent or detergent based on the weight of dishes or bedding and control water consumption. Refrigerators can go into super frugal mode during the owner’s holiday.
Vacuum Cleaner
In order to prevent the vacuum cleaner from pumping more energy from the network than it should, it must be cleaned regularly and on time from the accumulated layers of dust, because its consumption, full, increases by 15-20%. Also, do not turn the vacuum cleaner on / off too often - it consumes the most energy to perform these actions.
Refrigerator
Probably a million articles have been written about the proper installation of refrigerators and thousands of videos have been recorded, but our people still stubbornly continue to place this device near the heating battery, stove and on the sunny side. But in this case, the cooler heats up quickly from nearby heat sources and consumes much more electricity. It is also recommended that a small free space be left between the refrigerator and the wall to ensure the necessary air circulation.
It is also desirable that the room where the refrigerator is located is cold. Don't forget to defrost the refrigeration unit as needed and get rid of the accumulated ice, making it easier to operate the device and reducing its "energy appetite". Make sure the door is not damaged.
If you are thinking about how to reduce your electricity bills, then when buying a new refrigerator, do not "swing" the largest and most spacious model if 2-3 people live in the house all the time. After all, such a "colossus" consumes a lot of energy.
Electric stove
An electric stove is a device that consumes a lot of energy. You can reduce energy costs by following these guidelines:
- If the recipe for the dish does not mean that the oven should be preheated the moment the dish is placed in it, then you should not turn it on in advance.
- Turn off the hob 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking time. There will be enough residual heat to cook.
- Pots should always be covered with lids.
- When boiling eggs and vegetables, add enough water just to cover the food.
- It is important to use good flat-bottomed containers. Ideal for electric stove - pots and pans with a thick bottom.
- To make water for tea or coffee, do not use a stove, but an electric kettle, as it will consume much less electricity for this process.
- For quick meals, use a microwave or multi-cooker, not an oven.
Washing machine
It’s very hard to imagine a modern life without a washing machine, but it also “eats” a lot of electricity - about 15% of total consumption. To save money, use these tricks:
- Wash in fast and economical mode.
- Don't wash 2-3 items at once, but undermine the laundry until it is completely full. But you can't overload a car either.
- Use low temperature settings for normal washing.
Air conditioners
To prevent the air conditioner from consuming too much electricity, use it properly:
- Set the optimum temperature just enough to cool the room, not freeze it.
- Do not use air conditioning with windows or doors open.
- When buying an air conditioner, be sure to calculate the area of the room in which it will be cooled. Don't take too much for a small room, because this is a loss of electricity.
- Be sure to clean the fans, filters and grilles of the air conditioner so that it does not have to run at high speeds.
Heaters
In the fall, winter and early spring we often have to get various heaters from our buckets. After all, the heating is often turned on and off for a very long time. So, we use heaters that consume energy, although such heat is very expensive.
To reduce the need for heaters, even in relatively hot weather, make sure to insulate everything you can: windows, walls, floors. It is best to replace old windows with plastic ones. And if that is not possible, then at least try to close all the cracks and microcracks in the frames and next to the glass. Up to 50% of heat passes through them. Do the same manipulations with the front door.
If the heating is already on and the batteries are still cold, you should call a wizard to check for water.
Using solar energy
Solar energy has long been actively used in many countries with warm climates. Some even managed to completely abandon all other sources. The technology is very attractive, but without government support it often proves to be a huge task for individual households, because solar panels and other structural elements are expensive and pay off for many years.
It is recommended to read the special literature and determine the necessary characteristics of the solar station in the design phase. Many people try to make the whole structure themselves, but do not take into account all the nuances and difficulties, so they often fail.
Wind energy
Domestic wind generators in regions with high air mass activity can significantly reduce electricity costs, and if there is a special meter, they can also make money on the electricity produced. But such devices, as well as solar stations, cost a lot of money and require installation by experts.
It happens that the owners of such power plants miscalculate the strength of wind flows, and this leads to forced downtime of expensive equipment.
Smart Home System
Everyone has probably seen movies in which the hero claps his hands or calls out the word password, and at that time the lights turn on or off, the curtains on the windows open, the fireplace starts working. This is the "Smart Home" system.
Special equipment and a computer program that also controls the level of energy consumption are used to automate the operation of all devices in the house. Sensors are placed throughout the house that take readings and determine the amount of electricity used in each room. The computer analyzes and suggests solutions for optimizing energy use.
The system will not work on its own, it should be programmed for a specific house or apartment. But when all the residents of the house leave in the morning for their work, the system will turn off the air conditioning or lighting in the kitchen, block the door or start washing.
Motion sensor installation
Instead of buying a rather expensive "Smart House" system, you can deal with "a little blood" and install motion sensors in the premises. After all, we often simply forget to turn off the light when we leave home or fall asleep with it. But if the rooms are equipped with motion sensors, then they will turn off the lights themselves.
They can be adjusted so that the light turns off only 5-10 minutes after the person leaves the room. After all, children are constantly running back and forth, and adults can move around the house very quickly.
Such a sensor is very useful in the hallway, where light is only needed to pass to another room. In order not to constantly switch the switch or constantly keep the light on in the hallway, you can put a sensor and live comfortably. Energy-saving lamps with built-in motion sensors are now on sale.
It is not very difficult to save electricity, you just need to adjust and agree on it with all members of the household. The main obstacle is us and our beliefs. As soon as the realization of the need to save money comes to us, it turns out that we make sure the light bills are small.