Many of us, having received the next electric bill, decide that it is time to save on utility bills. However, often such a decision remains unrealized. This is primarily due to the lack of information on how to reduce electricity consumption without resorting to charlatan methods. In fact, there are quite feasible, and most importantly, legal methods by which you can significantly reduce the expenditure of the family budget. We invite you to familiarize yourself with them.
Turn off the lights when leaving the room
Make a habit of the following rule: leaving the room, turn off the light in it. It doesn't matter for how long you leave the room - for an hour or just five minutes. Sometimes these same five minutes can stretch for quite a long period. Teach your household to this order, especially children, who usually cannot stay in the same room for a long time.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving ones
The cost of energy-saving light bulbs (LED and fluorescent) is higher than incandescent light bulbs, but it pays off with many of their benefits. First, they have a much longer service life. Secondly, such bulbs consume 4-5 times less energy. Thirdly, they have a higher light output: a 12 W energy-saving lamp has a light intensity equal to a 60 W incandescent lamp. Fourthly, fluorescent and LED lamps emit less heat energy, which makes it possible to use them in small lighting fixtures.
Unplug electrical appliances you don't use
Even those appliances that you are not currently using consume a certain amount of electricity. Office equipment (scanners, printers, etc.) in standby mode also consumes energy, so it must be turned off completely. Chargers for cell phones and other gadgets, batteries, as well as laptop power should not be left connected to the mains. Unplug the cords of TVs, music centers, microwaves, electric coffee makers and other devices from the sockets, as they all “pull light” even when they are not working. Timely turning off all appliances in the house makes it possible to reduce energy consumption by more than 20%.
Save on extra heaters
In the cold season, we often do not have enough heat from central heating batteries. The first thing that comes to mind is to use additional electric heaters, but such devices consume a lot of energy. See if there is enough space in the room between furniture and radiators - sometimes warm air simply cannot enter the room freely. In addition, check if the windows and doors to the balcony are well insulated.
Turn off the TV
Some people leave the TV on for extended periods of time while doing household chores. Some people are afraid to be alone, others like to cook while listening to chatter or music. In this case, it is better to replace the TV with a radio, which will create the same background, but at the same time requires much less energy.
Save money on an electric kettle
We use this device quite often, without thinking that it consumes a large amount of electricity. Follow some operating rules that will help you save your money. Heat only the amount of water you need in the kettle. Monitor the formation of scale in the appliance and remove it in a timely manner. The thermal conductivity of the scale is very low, so the water in such a container heats up slowly, which means more electricity is consumed. For those who consume a lot of tea or coffee during the day, a thermopot is a good solution - an electrical appliance that heats water to the desired temperature and maintains it for the required amount of time.
Use your electric stove correctly
To save energy, use cookware with a flat bottom that is equal to or slightly larger than the diameter of the hotplate. The dish that is being prepared must be covered with a lid. Rapid evaporation of the liquid extends the cooking time by an average of 25% and, accordingly, increases energy consumption. Don't forget to switch the stove to low temperature after boiling food.
Don't Forget the Refrigerator
The refrigerator is more likely to turn on to cool if it is exposed to heat. If possible, place the appliance away from the stove and battery. If the ambient temperature reaches 30 ºС, the amount of electricity consumed by this device is doubled. It is equally important to defrost the freezer in a timely manner. A thick layer of ice on its walls increases the freezing time of food, resulting in high electricity bills. Also, do not put warm food in the refrigerator - it is better to let it cool to room temperature.
Wash it right
Please note that the energy consumption of the washing machine increases both when underloaded and when it is overused. It is better to use the economical washing mode: at the same time, things are washed no less efficiently, and less electricity is consumed. Be sure to sort dirty laundry - lightly soiled items can be washed by hand (or skip the pre-wash cycle). 4.7 out of 5 (30 votes)
By following just a few simple tips, you can significantly reduce the amount of energy consumed by household appliances.
Manufacturers, as a rule, do not try to set TVs, NAS drives and other computer and multimedia equipment for the most economical power consumption. Factory settings are more likely to demonstrate the capabilities of the device as best as possible: for example, if a TV broadcasts a dizzyingly bright picture, the likelihood that the user will single it out from the mass of competitors increases. Network drives (Network Attached Storage, NAS) provide the functions of a media player and file server, video surveillance and management of photo collections.
All these tools are active by default, which, according to the creators, is designed to ensure that they can be used immediately after turning on the device. The apartments of most users are still crammed with many electrical appliances, each of which performs a single function, although a large number of universal devices are available on the market that combine their capabilities. For example, DLNA-enabled wireless routers can act as a media server if you connect an external hard drive to them via the USB interface. In practice, this function is used very rarely, however, it is usually activated by default. This attitude creates energy overruns, which in turn result in prohibitively high electricity bills.
The lower the electricity consumption, the greater the savings
In many cases, to reduce power consumption, it is enough to simply adjust the factory settings of home devices. To do this, the user does not need to make extra efforts at all, because most computers, routers and network storages can be easily transferred to an economical mode of operation. In addition, reducing the load can extend the life of home devices.
TVs and PCs
The computer and TV are the most "gluttonous" of all household devices. However, we know how to moderate their appetite.
1 LEARNING THE SUSPEND TO RAM MODE The average computer requires more than 70 watts just to display an image on the monitor. Therefore, it is recommended to turn off the PC more often, using the "Suspend to RAM" mode (suspend mode using memory) for this. Our tests have shown that in Suspend to RAM mode, power consumption is reduced to 1.4 watts. To configure the economy mode, select "Power Options" in the Control Panel, then "Setting the power plan" and set the interval after which the PC will automatically go to sleep - for example, 15 minutes.
2 MONITOR AUTO SHUT OFF Windows can put peripherals such as a monitor to sleep. As soon as the user touches the mouse or keyboard, the monitor immediately wakes up. The model we tested consumed 30 watts in active state, and only 0.1 watts in sleep mode. The task of the user in this case is to find a reasonable compromise between economy and convenience. Practice has shown that the optimal interval for turning off the monitor should be from three to five minutes. Shorter intervals, as a rule, only cause irritation.
3 DISCONNECT THE HARD DISK By setting up a power plan, you can also turn off the HDD at a time when it is not needed. Tests show that a standard 3.5-inch drive consumes in this case not 5-7, but less than 1 watt. However, frequent stops and starts of the hard drive create an additional load for the device. Modern hard drives can easily handle this challenge, but older HDD models can be seriously damaged by overloads. In this regard, it is recommended to set a relatively large interval before switching off - at least 20 minutes. Click on the menu item "Set up a power plan", then on "Change advanced power settings" and click on the plus sign next to the hard drive. Then select "Turn off hard drive after" and set the value you want - say the aforementioned 20 minutes.
4 WE USE ENERGY EFFICIENT COMPONENTS If you are going to repair or upgrade your PC, you need to choose new system components based on their energy efficiency. If you are not fond of computer games or video editing, we advise you to refuse to buy a separate video card, because the graphics cores built into modern CPUs and chipsets can easily cope with all other tasks. The monitor connector is in this case directly on the motherboard. Particular attention should be paid to the power supply: the efficiency, which is usually indicated on the case, should not be lower than 80%. In addition, for optimal performance, the power of the power supply must match the power of the entire PC.
5 DOWN THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE TV SCREEN Most TVs have their screen set too bright by default. At maximum backlight brightness, the TV we tested consumed exactly 100 watts. At an average brightness level, the device "ate" 78 watts, and at a minimum - only 44 watts. If your TV device has an ambient light sensor, you should activate it, then the screen brightness will be adjusted automatically. Our test TV only needed 56 watts in this mode.
Home Network Peripherals
Peripheral equipment often consumes unnecessarily much power due to the large number of activated unnecessary functions.
1 DISCONNECT THE NAS HARD DRIVES Since most NASes are in operation almost constantly, they consume quite a lot of electricity. For example, Synology DS213air in standby mode (“Idle” mode) with two working hard drives “eats” as much as 16 watts. If you put both drives into sleep mode, then power consumption will be exactly halved. The user can set the time interval after which the disks "fall asleep" in the absence of activity - for example, half an hour.
2 GIVING A REST TO THE NAS Most people don't use NAS at night, so we recommend setting the system so that it turns itself off late at night and wakes up automatically in the morning. For example, in the QNAP NAS settings menu there is a Power Management item. Check the checkbox "Enable / Disable by schedule" and select the desired time interval.
3 DEACTIVATE QUICK START TV RECEIVERS Another device that makes it possible to save electricity is a television receiver. In most models, the quick start function is activated by default, which allows you to start booting in a matter of seconds. However, this useful option also has a drawback: as a rule, only the display of the device turns off, which means that the receiver consumes a lot of electricity even in standby mode. A test of the Smartbox CX10 model showed that the receiver “eats” about 15 W in Standby mode, which is unreasonably high for an inactive state. Therefore, for those who do not mind spending an extra 30 seconds to start the device, we advise you to switch to energy-saving mode: loading will take a little longer, but the amount of energy consumed will drop to 0.2 W.
4 BUY MULTITASKING DEVICES DSL modem, switch, Wi-Fi router, DECT station - there are so many devices in our apartments! In total, all of these gadgets consume about 20 watts. Often, changing the provider can improve the situation, because many Internet service providers, when concluding a contract, provide their customers with an All-in-One device - “all in one” for free.
5 CHANGE OLD POWER SUPPLIES Many devices, such as modems and LAN switches, are connected to legacy power supplies. Recognizing old power supplies is quite easy: they are massive and heavy, and there are metal transformers inside. However, bulky appearance is far from their main drawback. Even at idle, that is, without connected devices, they work tirelessly, converting electrical energy into heat. For example, the model we tested consumes more than 3 watts, but this is still far from the limit. A modern power supply requires only 0.1 watts.
According to the standards in force in Russia for the consumption of utilities, a family of three living in a three-room apartment spends approximately 119 kWh of electricity per month. In this case, the average monthly bill will be 480 rubles, and the annual bill will be 5.8 thousand rubles. 9 simple tips from AiF.ru will help reduce these numbers by almost a third.
Method one. Energy-saving lamps
Lamps of Ilyich are slowly disappearing into oblivion, instead of them there are lamps of a new type. According to experts, each energy-saving light bulb can save up to 170 kWh per year.
Of course, in order to change all the lamps in the house, a considerable amount of money will be required, because energy-saving ones are much more expensive than ordinary ones. At the same time, they work 6-8 times longer, and consume 3 times less electricity.
Method two. When you leave, turn off the light
Continuing the theme of artificial light, let's remind everyone of the well-known, literally imposed on the teeth rule: do not leave the chandelier on if you do not need lighting at the moment. If there is enough daylight in the room or if you have moved to another room. According to statistics, about 30% of electricity is spent on lighting empty spaces.
The Russians, frankly, are not used to turning off the lights. When acquaintances from Eastern Europe visited us, we kept hearing remarks from them:
Why don't you turn off the light when you leave the room? Those are the costs!
Method three. Instead of one chandelier - two table lamps and a sconce
Experts advise using spotlights and avoiding bright lights. Lamps take much less energy than a bright chandelier, even if there are several of them in the room. Arrange the lamps at the key points of the apartment - it will be both convenient and cheap.
This does not mean that chandeliers should be abandoned. But in this case, you can use less powerful lamps in them. Chandelier lamps will compensate.
Also, do not install powerful lamps in the bathroom or in the hallway.
Method four. Don't Forget Daylight
This advice for a modern Russian is probably the most difficult, because it threatens with big changes in the usual daily routine. What if you go to bed earlier and use less electricity in the evenings and at night?
However, even during the day the rooms are not always light enough. To do this, it is necessary to clean the window sills from too high pots with houseplants, simply wash the window panes and choose light-colored wallpapers for the room.
Method five. Some things can and should be abandoned.
There is not always a need for an electric kettle - it can be replaced with an ordinary nickel-plated one. If you have a gas stove, is it worth spending money on a slow cooker? There are a number of household appliances that consume a lot of electricity, but are not very necessary in everyday life. Think about which of these things you have at home?
Method six. Use technology less often
You don’t want to give up the washing machine, but you can use it more efficiently. Firstly, each time try to download it to the maximum, and secondly, turn it on less often. Wash, for example, once a week, not two or three.
As for the vacuum cleaner, it should not overfill the dust bag, otherwise the device will start to consume more energy.
The iron does not have to be “driven” at extreme temperatures. In addition, it retains heat for a long time, so you can continue ironing by unplugging the appliance.
Method seven. Energy efficiency class
Modern household appliances do not always consume a lot, some, on the contrary, are designed to please the economical consumer. Sometimes it turns out that old refrigerators and TVs “eat up” more electricity than new models. When choosing equipment in a store, ask the seller which energy efficiency class the device belongs to.
Method eight. Such an uneconomical "waiting" mode
In this mode, the computer or TV does not seem to work, but they continue to consume energy. If you leave your computer for a long time, but decide to leave it on, then turn off the monitor screen and speakers.
If the mobile phone is charged, unplug its sockets, but do not forget to remove the charger as well, because it works even in idle mode.
Method nine. Take a look at the counter
The model of the counter, it turns out, is also important. Especially in the case of social norms. In the presence of two- or three-tariff meters, the standard is distributed among the zones of the day in proportion to consumption. At night, electricity is the cheapest, but a single-tariff device does not take this into account. Two- and three-tariff meters are useful for those who are going to turn on household appliances at night.
If your energy costs do not bother you and you do not want to save rubles and pennies, these tips will not be useful to you. This article will help the responsible owner to find out whether everything on the farm is optimized for the rational use of electricity.
If you don't burn lights day and night and don't try to cool the entire neighborhood with an air conditioner, your electricity bill won't go down that much. However, as a result of reasonable savings, a good amount accumulates over the year.
To follow some of the tips, it will be enough to carefully analyze and change some habits. Other recommendations will require some refurbishment of the apartment and additional expenses. For example, to buy new lamps. But the costs will quickly pay off and save money.
Lighting
It is one of the main consumers of electricity. We use light every day. But how rational?
Economic lamps
Let's find out how economical such lamps are. Armed with a calculator and count.
A conventional 100 W incandescent lamp can be replaced with the same brightness with a power consumption of 12 W. Let's find out how much these 88 watts help to save if, on average, a light bulb burns 4 hours a day during the year:
0.088 kW x 4 h x 365 days = 128.5 kWh.
Or in monetary terms at a tariff of 3.5 rubles / kWh:
128.5 kWh × 3.5 rubles / kWh = 450 rubles.
Please note: we calculated the economic effect of using just one lamp. And if there are ten of them in the house? The amount immediately increases to 4,500 rubles. Impressively.
local lighting
A chandelier hanging in the center of a large room is a beautiful thing, but as a light source it is ineffective. Far corners are not well lit. Often the owners try to compensate for this by using more powerful lamps in the chandelier. The counter spins faster, but the corners are still in shadow.
It is much more reasonable to use local lighting. A small floor lamp or even a clothespin lamp does the job much better, and consumes less electricity. A comfortable table lamp on the bedside table, a floor lamp near the chair, portable lamps - all this saves electricity and protects your eyesight.
Clean shades
This advice is banal, but always relevant. Dusty plafonds can absorb up to 30% of the light flux. Choose: spend 10 minutes dusting, or work on.
Appliances
Often you can find radical and therefore impracticable advice. For example, to buy only economical class A ++ equipment. But this is far from always possible, if only because of the crazy prices for these devices. They will pay off only in 50 years. Agree, not an option.
Let's take a better look at how to reduce energy consumption with the technology that we already have.
Fridge
This is one of the few household appliances that are on 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The refrigerator is a heat pump. It pumps heat from the interior of the refrigerator to the outside. Therefore, the operation of the device will be the more economical, the less heat gets inside it. That's why:
- Try to use the refrigerator with the door open as little as possible. Lay out the products inside in a convenient order so that it does not take half an hour to search.
- Do not put hot pans inside, let them cool down first.
- All food containers must have lids. Water vapor, during condensation, releases enormous energy, then it settles on the walls and turns into ice. It also releases heat. The defrosting system melts the formed ice, for which additional electricity is consumed again. The steam in the refrigerator is evil.
- If the refrigerator is next to a heating pipe, buy thermal insulation in a construction hypermarket and wrap the pipe with it. External heat only harms the refrigerator.
- In the cold season, you can reduce the load on the refrigerator and store some of the products on the balcony.
Modem and all sorts of little things
It would seem, real trifles. But let's count first.
The power consumption of most modems is about 6–10 watts. 0.007 kW x 24 h x 365 days = 61.3 kWh is spent per year. This is more than 200 rubles.
How long have you been using the modem? During the day you are at work, and in the evening you surf from your smartphone. As a result, the modem is practically not needed, but it works all the time. It is better to turn it on only with the computer.
Such unused devices that are continuously connected to the network can be found in every home: radios, stereos, game consoles, satellite receivers. Walk around the house and turn off the things you rarely use.
Regular maintenance of equipment
The task is not to scrupulously implement the recommendations. It is much more practical to keep the equipment in optimal condition. Here are some obvious measures that contribute to the rational use of electricity:
- Periodically descale the washing machine, kettle and coffee maker.
- Regularly remove dust from the computer system unit.
- Shake out the accumulated dust from the vacuum cleaner before it is filled to capacity.
- Clean air conditioner filters.
- Defrost refrigerator.
Not a single person today imagines his life without various electronic devices. Technology does not stand still, every year their number in the house only increases. Consequently, the number increases significantly, which negatively affects the family budget. So the question is now how to save electricity, as relevant as ever.
There are many ways to use electricity rationally, ranging from options that do not require financial costs to measures that involve the purchase of special equipment.
How to save on lighting?
It's no secret that conventional incandescent lamps are the last century. With a low quality of lighting, they are able to use up to a third of the total amount of electricity consumed. That's why saving electricity at home should begin with the replacement of light bulbs with less "gluttonous" specimens. Better than others, LED bulbs will cope with the task of saving. They have a minimum consumption of electricity, which is up to 10 times less than that of incandescent lamps. Another undoubted advantage is the long service life of such light bulbs. One LED lamp with proper use can last more than 15 years.
Natural lighting also helps save electricity. Therefore, it is optimal to use translucent tulle on windows, roller blinds or blinds, which should not be closed during daylight hours, allowing light to enter the room.
Rational use of electricity in the kitchen
The kitchen is the place of maximum accumulation of household appliances - absorbers of precious kilowatts. No need to look for some abstruse energy saving schemes in order to cut costs. It is enough to arm yourself with a number of tips to help reduce energy consumption:
- When buying household appliances, you need to give preference to appliances with consumption class "A"
- The correct location of household appliances can be considered as energy saving method. So, do not place the refrigerator near radiators or stoves.
- The diameter of dishes for cooking on an electric stove must be equal to the size of the burner, otherwise electricity overruns are inevitable.
- Minimize the operating time of the electric kettle, and in case of use, do not boil water for future use.
- After cooking, cool food to room temperature before placing it in the refrigerator. To do this, you can use a bowl of cold water.
Proper use of household appliances as a way to save energy
It is possible to reduce the number of kilowatts consumed without limiting the operating time of household appliances. Their use simply needs to be rationalized.
You can reduce the electricity consumption of a washing machine by washing things in large volumes, namely in the amount of the maximum allowable number of kilograms declared by the manufacturer.
In order to save energy, an appliance such as a TV, laptop or computer monitor must be set up correctly. You should select a small brightness in the parameters.
Not everyone knows that the answer to the question is how save electricity at home, is not as complicated as it seems. Indeed, for this it is enough to turn off all household appliances from the network at night, to ensure that chargers do not remain in sockets after work is completed. All this is necessary to do, because even at a time when the devices are not working, the consumption of electricity does not completely stop.
Equipment to reduce electricity consumption
There are many different devices that, according to manufacturers, can reduce energy consumption by almost half. But there is no scientific basis for their effectiveness. What energy saving device really works?
Lighting elements with motion sensors are an excellent solution for such premises as corridors, as well as for adjacent areas. These devices do not allow wasted electricity.
Alternative energy sources such as solar panels, windmills or water generators are becoming increasingly popular. True, it is almost impossible to install such a device in an apartment. Each of these types requires not only monetary costs, but also appropriate natural conditions and areas. Residents of high-rise buildings can use solar-powered chargers for phones and tablets to save electricity.
How to reduce the number of kilowatts used without investment
In order for public services not to hit the pocket, it is necessary to carry out accessible to all energy saving measures:
- When leaving a room, even for a few minutes, be sure to turn off the lights. This rule for the whole family should be brought to automatism.
- Before turning on the air conditioner, make sure that all windows and doors in the room are closed. This will help to cool the room faster and, as a result, reduce the duration of the device.
- Every time after using the vacuum cleaner, it must be cleaned. A machine with a full waste bin is less productive and consumes at least 10% more energy.
- Iron clothes in large batches after spraying them with water. This advice helps not only save electricity, but also greatly facilitates the process.
- To speed up cooking on the electric stove, use containers with lids.
How to upgrade your home to pay less for electricity
The question of how to save electricity in an apartment has many answers, one of which will be the modernization of housing. Making repairs in the house, you should pay due attention to the wiring and, if necessary, replace it.
When planning lighting in living rooms, you should resort to zoning. To do this, work areas must be equipped with additional spotlights. Thus, there will be no need to turn on a massive chandelier when working or reading.
Houses that are heated by electricity must be insulated from the outside and, if necessary, replace the windows. This will significantly reduce your energy bills.
Installing adjustable light switches will allow you to adjust the light to different needs and reduce its consumption.
Energy saving- this is a whole range of measures, following which will help to significantly reduce the cost of utilities.