Home DIY
Orbi home mesh wifi system: Pros, cons and tips
Home If you are planning to move to a large house or apartment for the first time, you will
Menu
How to save electricity
Proven ways to lower your electricity usage and save on your electricity bills.
Every case is different but the chart below can give you an idea on where the average household uses electricity the most and where to focus if your aim is to save electricity at home.
Save electricity by using energy efficient LED light bulbs
Switching to energy efficient bulbs it is most probably one of the easiest and quickest way to reduce the electricity consumption.
LEDS are by far the most efficient type of bulbs and swapping from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs it is the most cost efficient solution, even after taking in consideration that the LED bulbs are more expensive than the incandescent bulbs.
The table below shows the total cost of having to buy the bulbs and the electricity cost over their lifespan. Have in consideration the following:
> The more efficient, the more expensive buying a light is. This may change in the future but for the moment the initial cost of having to buy the bulbs is an important factor.
> For the calculations ,we are assuming that over 10 years*, the bulbs will be used for 12,500 hours
> For the calculations, we are assuming that we have to the electricity provider we have to pay 0,17 euro per every kWh** that we consume.
Light bulb electricity usage and electricity cost calculator
If you would like to easily calculate the electricity usage of your bulbs, click on any of the icons below to use our online bulbs electricity usage calculators.
What is a Watt?
Not everybody it is familiar with terms like Watts, Kilowatts or Kilowatt hours so if you would learn more about them, have a look to this YouTube video that we have prepared about this topic.
Or you can have a look to this electricity measurement units calculators to get a better understanding of:
> What is a Watt (W) and how to transform Watts into Kilowatts
> What is a Kilowatt (kW) and how to transform Kilowatts into Kilowatts hour
> What is a Kilowatt hour (kWh) and how to transform Kilowatts hours to other units
> What are Power (P), Voltage (V) and Current (I)
Save electricity by reducing the standby power consumption
Some devices continue to use power even if they are not being used actively, while they are in standby mode.
Those devices that use electricity while they are not being used they are called phantom loads or vampire loads
And there it is the problem, we are wasting valuable electricity and money without knowing about it. This is why it is so important that we get to know what the standby power consumption is.
If you want to reduce or eliminate the standby power consumption, consider the following options:
Switch your devices off while they are not in use
> If your appliance or device has an ECO function, make sure that it is enabled
> Use a power strip to power off several standby devices with the flick of a single switch
>Use a smart power strip to measure and control the standby loads
> Use a visually friendly smart socket to avoid unnecessary standby times
Save electricity by using energy efficient appliances
Fridge, dishwasher, tumble driers, electric ovens… are some of the home appliances that use the most of the energy.
This is why one of the most common piece of advice when it comes to saving energy it is to replace old and power hungry appliances for newer and more efficient ones.
But you need to very very careful, you must be sure that the cost of buying that new appliance it is not higher than the energy savings it will bring.
Have a look to the table below where we compare the costs of buying and running over time two Energy Star rated fridges.
> The more efficient fridge, A+++, is more expensive but uses less electricity.
> The most economic fridge, A++, is cheaper but uses more electricity.
> Assuming an electricity cost of 0.17 euro* per kWh, the yearly electricity cost of the most economic fridge is much higher than the electricity cost of the most efficient fridge.
> Still, given the purchasing cost of the most efficient fridge and the yearly electricity cost, it does take 20 years to recover the initial investment of buying the most efficient fridge.
Appliance electricity usage calculators
If you would like to easily calculate the electricity usage of your home appliances, click on any of the icons below to use our online appliances electricity usage calculators.
Previous image
Next image
Appliance electricity usage monitor
Still, if you want to know the exact electricity usage of your appliances, your best option is to use a plug in power meter to measure the electricity consumption.
Clicking on the image below it will redirect you to the Amazon page where you can have a look to the specifications of the power meter we use for our measurements.
All of our house appliances and devices like the washing machine, the dishwasher, the TV or the printer are plugged to a wall socket.
So, with a power consumption meter we can determine how much electricity our appliances or devices are using and, more importantly, we can measure the electricity usage over a period of time.
Save electricity by using tumble dryer balls
The theory behind the dryer balls is that they accelerate the drying process because the balls prevent the laundry from sticking together so the warm air can circulate more easily.
Also, the dryer balls have additional benefits like softening the fabric and preventing static.
Tumble dryers will no work efficiently if they are packed because without room for the air to circulate, it will take a very long time for the load to dry.
So, having into account this advice and by just adding dryer balls to the load, it may be possible to reduce the drying time up to 20%.
This means a potential electricity usage saving of up to 20%.
If you would like to easily calculate the electricity usage of your tumble dryer, click on any of the icons below to use our online tumble dryer electricity usage calculator.
Save electricity by using less hot water
Heating water uses a significant amount of electricity. Still, it is possible to enjoy a nice hot shower without unnecessarily wasting hot water.
Also, it is possible to have nice hot water to wash our hands, face or teeth without having too use tens of liters per minute.
Just install a very inexpensive water saving tap aerator.
Or, also, decrease your shower water flow by installing an also very inexpensive flow reduction valve.
If you would like to easily calculate the electricity usage of your water heater, click on any of the icons below to use our online water heater electricity usage calculator.
Save electricity by eliminating heat losses
No house it is 100% efficient and one way or another some of the heat will be wasted through the roof, through the walls,…
Still, we should keep an eye on unnecessary sources of heat losses and prevent them when possible. It may be enough with adding some insulation to our wall heaters or covering our old windows with some inexpensive window film.
There are many possibilities to reduce our electricity consumption by decreasing our heating consumption without having to spend large amounts of money.
Note that it has been estimated that around 25% of all the heat loss from an average house it is lost by draughts so looking after draught proofing windows and doors has a big influence on reducing energy consumption.
For more information on how to find heat leaks at home using a thermal camera, have a look to this video that have prepared about this topic.
Save electricity by using your appliances efficiently
Nowadays it is not that expensive to buy energy efficient appliances, like dishwashers or washing machines, that use much less electricity than older appliances.
Still, it is proven that for getting the most from our energy efficient appliances we must use them correctly.
We have put our own home appliances to the test and compared the results between using an standard program or the ‘ Eco’ program.
Out of our tests, we have noticed than we use the ‘Eco’ programs the cycles take much longer, well over three hours, but we are saving both in electricity and water.
Now, the question here is if it is worth to wait for over three hours for the dishwasher or the washing machine to finish one single cycle?
Well, it depends on the perspective. Even if you only use once your dishwasher and washing machine per week you will still be saving electricity. Maybe it is only 10 cents per cycle but if we multiply those 10 cents per hundreds of cycles per year, then we are already speaking about savings worth to consider.
For those of us who use the dishwasher and washing machines around 5 times per week, we are already speaking about saving 40 liters of water every week and around 1600 liters of water every year.
From the economic perspective, for those of us who pay 2 euro per cubic meter, 1600 liters only amount to save 2,5 euros per year. But from the environmental impact perspective, if we multiply 1600 liters by thousands of households, using the ‘Eco’ function really makes a big impact into reducing water usage.
In our house, we always use the ‘Eco’ programs and having to wait 3 hours does not bother us because we have just adjusted our daily routines a little bit. A little bit of awareness and a broader perspective really makes the difference.
Blog
Read More »
How to earn Crypto
How to earn crypto with PRESEARCH in 2022
Home Presearch is an open, censorship-resistant, and decentralized search engine powered by Blockchain technology. While some of the most
How to earn Crypto
How to earn crypto with COINBASE in 2022
Home Coinbase is the platform that most beginners choose to start trading cryptocurrencies. This is because Coinbase is one
How to earn Crypto
How to earn crypto with NEXO in 2022
Home Nexo users can earn crypto and passive income with daily compounding interest on cryptocurrency, stablecoins, and fiat. Depending
How to earn Crypto
How to earn crypto by reading and writing in 2022
Home There are a few platforms where it is possible to earn some cryptocurrencies by reading or writing articles:
How to save electricity
Energy efficient appliances: Are they worth the money?
Buying an energy effcient appliance or device is going to save electricity, water and decrease your energy and water bills, but at what prize?
Find out if you have paid a reasonable prize for that efficient device or appliance.
How to save electricity
What does save more electricity, water, time and effort, washing the dishes by hand or using a dishwasher?
There is no need to guess… let us show you what are our results and conclusions.
How to save electricity
Do rechargeable batteries save money?
Home Rechargeable batteries Vs disposable batteries: Is it really worth the trouble of buying a battery charger and charging our
How to recycle and save
Home After watching a few videos on the internet about how to build a simple DC electric motor, I
How to save electricity
Home An appliance that uses less power is going to consume less electricity, there is nothing to argue here…
5/5
This site contains affiliate links and we will earn an affiliate commission for any purchase you make, without any cost to you.
All content found on this website is intended for informational and educational purposes only.
For more information, read the ‘terms of use‘ and ‘disclaimer‘.
The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or consultation.
Menu
© 2022 Effiworkx. All rights reserved