The need to save energy will never lose its importance. Who wouldn't want to lower their electricity bill? And saving, it turns out, is not so difficult. You don't need ultramodern household appliances and technologies, simple, proven methods are enough.
At the same time, it is important to know not only how to save energy, but also why it should be done. And it's not just about saving the family budget. By turning off the light behind you and using energy-efficient solutions, you help preserve nature. But let's talk about everything in order.
The importance of saving energy
Many people do not understand why it saves energy. First, this way you can save money in the family budget. Second, many irreplaceable resources are used up every day to produce energy: coal, oil, gas and emissions from thermal power plants pollute the atmosphere.
In recent years, the amount of greenhouse gases, which are caused by the release of carbon into the environment, has been growing rapidly. Their accumulation leads to global warming and natural disasters, which affect every inhabitant of the Earth.
If all people on the planet think about how to save energy and start using resources efficiently, there is a chance to save nature for future generations. Let's look at the best ways to save energy at home.
4 simple ways to save energy
Anyone can take care of nature, it just takes a little. Let's find out more about what allows you to save energy.
Using LED lamps instead of conventional ones
LED lamps consume 6-10 times less energy than incandescent lamps. At the same time, their service life is up to 50 times longer. LED lamps are 1. 5-3 times more economical than energy-saving bulbs and shine 10 times longer.
Types of energy saving lamps:
- Mercury bulbs. They consume 4 times less electricity than incandescent bulbs. After use, they cannot be thrown away, but must be placed in special containers.
- LED bulbs. These are consumables of the new generation. They last much longer than mercury, consume little electricity and do not contain toxins. The only disadvantage of light bulbs is their high price.
Turn off lights when not needed
The first way to save energy is to use resources as needed. Sometimes the lack of a good habit of pressing the switch leads to the light being on even during the day or when everyone has left the house. To remember to turn off the power, you can set a reminder in visible places. For example: "Check the electricity, gas, water! "You can also turn off the electricity for the whole apartment using a common switch before leaving the house.
Heat the water in the boiler on the gas stove, if you have one.
This is another way to save energy at home. Boiling water in a kettle requires a lot of kilowatts. This household appliance is quite powerful, some options have more than 2 kW. Compared to an LED bulb, it consumes about 10 watts per hour. This is 200 times less than a kettle.
If you have a gas stove in your apartment, you can heat a kettle on it. This will reduce electricity consumption.
Using the motion sensor
If you have a large private house and a space that needs lighting, you can install motion sensors. It will turn on the lights when someone enters the space. The devices do not react to animals. In a private house, a lot of electricity is spent on lighting the space.
It is worth placing the sensors so that the light turns on in accordance with the movement of the person and turns off after he has passed on. The device works at a distance of three meters. Motion sensors are one of the effective ways to save energy in a private house.
Similar devices are available for indoor use. They automatically turn on the light in the room when a person enters it. The sensor registers changes in the capacitive component and the light turns on.
Room zoning as an excellent way to save energy
Organize efficient room lighting through proper space zoning. Use different light sources in different functional parts of the room: chandeliers, table lamps, night lamps, lamps. Each zone has its own lighting methods. For example, in the living room, install:
- A large chandelier in the middle of the room with a switch with two keys for adjustment.
- Floor lamp in the recreation area.
- Table lamp on the work surface.
If a light is needed in a separate area, you can simply turn it on there, instead of always using the main lighting. To preserve normal vision, the room should not be dark when doing creative work or reading. Also, the lack of light has a negative effect on the nervous system, which leads to depression or headaches.
Saving electricity by using a multi-tariff meter
If you are thinking about how to save electricity in your apartment, you can install a multi-tariff meter. This will help you reduce your electricity costs. Ordinary consumers have access to two-tariff and three-tariff meters.
Two-tariff electricity meters calculate energy consumption for day and night separately. The night tariff for electricity is lower than the daytime tariff. To save money, you can turn on washing machines and dishwashers after midnight by setting them to a delayed start mode.
Not all areas have the option of switching to two tariffs. With this service you can save up to 70% of your energy consumption.
With a two-tariff meter, you can use devices such as a bread machine or multicooker, which will prepare delicious meals for you at night, while saving energy.
For people who use a boiler for heating water, using a two-phase meter will be a good way to properly save energy. You can set the timer so that the device works only at night from 11 pm to 7 am.
There are meters that divide the day into three periods: "night" - from 23. 00 to 7. 00, "peak" - from 7. 00 to 10. 00 and from 17. 00 to 21. 00, "semi-peak" - from 1000 to 17. 00 and from 21. 00 to 21. 00 Electricity costs are the lowest at night and the most expensive during peak hours. Installing a multi-tariff meter has a number of advantages:
- Using electricity when the cost is minimal.
- The cost of the device is justified if proper load distribution is observed on the network.
- Three-tariff meters cannot be hacked and reconfigured.
- Ability to transmit readings via the Internet.
The option of using two-tariff meters is often encountered. Three-tariff devices should be purchased by those who consume a lot of electricity during the day. By avoiding network load during peak hours, you can save on electricity, because morning and evening hours are the most expensive according to the tariff - the cost increases by 70%.
People who live in private houses and heat them with electric boilers must reduce the power of the devices during peak hours, otherwise they will not be able to reduce energy costs.
Ways to save energy using water heaters and electric water heaters
All owners of cottages and private houses are concerned about the question of how they can save electricity if heating is done with an electric boiler and water with a boiler. It looks like the boards are going to be huge. It all depends on your effort.
It is necessary to carefully consider the heating and hot water system.
- Good home insulation. For this purpose, different materials are used for thermal insulation. Insulated walls, floors and roofs will retain heat better and you will spend less on electricity.
- Installation of an additional heat accumulator. The device is built into the heating system so that it accumulates thermal energy during the period of minimum electricity costs and releases it when the boiler is turned off during the phase of maximum peak energy consumption. The system operates using automatic on and off controls.
- Installation of ventilation systems with recuperation, which helps retain heat and return it to the room, as well as prevents the entry of cold air from the street.
- Keeping the normal temperature in the apartment at the same level. To do this, it is necessary to install special equipment that will automatically control the temperature in the room when the indicators change outside.
- Using boilers with two circuits, which allows you to heat the water in the boilers to a comfortable temperature without overheating, as this increases the load on the electrical network.
- Installing a boiler with good thermal insulation that will keep the water warm for a long time. As a result, water can be heated at night, saving energy costs.
Is it possible to save energy on A+ class home appliances?
Home appliances for the home are divided into energy efficiency classes. The ad states that an A+ class refrigerator or washing machine will help you save on electricity costs. Is it real?
It is worth comparing the actual energy consumption of equipment of different categories to make sure that all models consume approximately the same amount of electricity during operation. The only advantage of a higher-class appliance is that for the same amount of kilowatts, the refrigerator freezes more and the oven heats up faster. Therefore, replacing the equipment will not globally solve the problem of saving energy at home.
That is, with equal energy consumption, high category models use electricity more efficiently in terms of performing their work.
Let's look at an example. A class B refrigerator consumes 485 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. An equipment model of the same volume and number of class A+ chambers consumes 272 kilowatt-hours per year.
To find out how much money you save if you install a high-end refrigerator, you need to multiply the kilowatt-hours by the average tariff rate, for the capital it is 5. 38 rubles. It turns out that you can save 1146 rubles a year.
If a new refrigerator costs 30 thousand rubles, it will pay for itself in 30 years. If you already have equipment that was purchased years ago but is working properly, buying another one will not save you any money. In the case of serious damage and the need to replace the refrigerator with a new one, choose models taking into account your own financial capabilities. Buying a more expensive high energy efficiency option does not guarantee a reduction in electricity costs.
Consequences of illegal energy saving
Illegal actions can lead to problems:
- If the electricity meter is damaged or magnetized, the owner will be obliged to pay for the use of energy according to the rates and tariffs determined by the Decision. As a result, the cost of electricity will be much higher than when paying by the meter.
- The owner will have to buy a new electricity meter, which costs from one and a half to four thousand rubles.
- The violator will be punished with an administrative fine of 10-15 thousand rubles (Article 7. 19). If a person steals electricity worth more than 250 thousand rubles, he faces a criminal penalty.
- The owner will be held civilly liable if the request of the energy supply organization is complied with, and will have to pay penalties and interest.
Advertisements for special devices that help reduce energy consumption by 25-30% are published on various information resources. But you should not think that there is a device that can do this by legal methods. There are real facts that confirm that this device will not help save electricity:
- This is not cost-effective for resource-supplying organizations; they won't allow it.
- According to the laws of physics, this is impossible - you consume as much energy as the kilowatts consumed by your equipment from the network.
One should not be deceived and commit crimes in search of profit. Better use legal methods to save energy. In this way, you will spend less money on your electricity bills and you will help to reduce the harmful impact on the environment. To do this, you just need to be smart about your resource consumption.