To understand how to save energy in an apartment, you need to prepare for an integrated approach. There is no push-button option to get the minimum bills. And living without light is somehow not comfortable 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 payment amounts have grown a lot, there has been a significant interest among the population in the methods of saving electricity and other resources. Villagers are concerned about how to save electricity in a private house, while city dwellers are looking for information on how to save electricity in an apartment.
The increase in tariffs is fully justified, because the planet is rapidly diminishing reserves of exhaustible energy resources and, on the contrary, the cost of their production is increasing. Unfortunately, the salary of ordinary residents does not show such frantic growth, so there is no other way out than to look for effective ways to save electricity.
There is another reason to save: the colossal load on transformer substations. Every year more electrical appliances appear in people's homes. Naturally, power lines and substations may not withstand, must be repaired or replaced with more powerful ones.
In addition, by saving electricity, emissions of processed products to the atmosphere and water sources are reduced. Resource Savers make their humble contribution to conserving rivers, lakes and forests and helping to preserve the health of the nation.
Effective and legal ways to save
Decrease demand
How can energy consumption be reduced without additional appliances and investments? It's very simple. We just have to think about how much light we really need and use the following tips from seasoned innovators:
- Try to use less electric light. This does not mean a return to primitive times, when life took place only in daylight. You can try to do all the things that require bright lighting during the day and at night limit yourself to one lamp to illuminate the rest of the work.
- When studying the question of how to save light in an apartment, you should know that the degree of illumination depends on the cleanliness of the lighting fixtures. If your kitchen lampshade is covered with a layer of "centuries-old" grease and dust, you shouldn't expect bright light from it. And if the ceiling is clean, then the light penetrates perfectly through it, which means you can use a smaller bulb.
- The windows also need to be washed more frequently, because this way the daylight hours will last a bit longer and you can turn on the electricity later.
- In chandeliers with several bulbs, you can light them not all at once, but one or two. For desk work, use a desk lamp in combination with low ceiling lighting.
- A very useful invention is the dimmer. It allows you to adjust the degree of illumination of each lamp.
- Replace standard bulbs with energy-saving ones. Recently, many began to worry about the question: do LED lamps save energy? Experts are convinced that the future belongs to LED lamps, as they consume a low amount of energy, emitting enough light.
- Turn off the lights when you leave the room. This, of course, is quite difficult if there are children at home who are very difficult to get used to such a simple way of saving.
Using multiple rate meters
Electricity can cost differently at different times of the day. This is due to the fact that during the day it is consumed in large quantities, and at night power plants operate practically idle. Therefore, you can save electricity with a meter that calculates the energy consumed at the usual price during the day, and allows you to pay 30% less at night.
If the home has appliances that are used around the clock (refrigerator, electric heat, etc. ), then a multi-rate meter will help reduce the electricity bill. Washing can be started at night and at the same time the power of heating devices can be increased to turn them off completely during the day.
Rational use of technology
In every home there are devices that never turn off the plugs. But not everyone knows that even in "sleep" mode they consume electricity. Each individual device has a very small amount of such supporting power, but you get an impressive amount in a month. To avoid unnecessary waste, simply remove the plugs for all devices from the sockets during their "idle time".
Note:Using old, poor quality cords and lots of extension cords and assorted T-shirts will also increase household electricity consumption.
Technical news
People who dream of learning how to intelligently reduce the cost of electricity in an apartment should evaluate each of their appliances. After all, old models of refrigerators and televisions consume a lot of energy - 2 times more than modern models. Try gradually to replace all outdated appliances with energy efficient models. The labels usually indicate the degree of economy, class A is the most profitable.
Recently, cheaper power consumption classes have appeared, such as A +, A ++.
Smart devices have started to appear on sale now, they can independently calculate the amount of detergent or laundry detergent based on the weight of dishes or clothes, and monitor water consumption. The refrigerators can go into super economy mode during the owners' holidays.
Vacuum cleaner
To prevent the vacuum cleaner from drawing more energy from the mains than it should, it should be cleaned periodically and punctually of the accumulated layers of dust, since when it is full, its consumption increases by 15-20%. And don't turn the vacuum cleaner on / off too often either; spends the most energy performing these actions.
Refrigerator
Probably a million articles have been written on the correct installation of the refrigerator and thousands of videos have been filmed, but our people stubbornly keep placing this unit near the heating coil, the stove and on the sunny side. But in this case, the refrigerator heats up quickly from nearby heat sources and consumes much more electricity. It is also recommended to leave a small free space between the refrigerator and the wall to provide the necessary air circulation.
It is also desirable that the room where the refrigerator is located is cool. Be sure to defrost the refrigeration unit as needed and free it of accumulated ice, making the appliance easier to operate and reducing your "energy appetite". Make sure the door is not damaged.
If you are thinking about how to lower your electricity bills, then when shopping for a new refrigerator, don't move to the larger, more spacious model if there are 2-3 people permanently living in the house. After all, such a "colossus" consumes a lot of energy.
Electric cooker
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 a dish does not state that the oven should be preheated at the time the dish is placed, then it should not be turned on in advance.
- Turn off the cooktop 5-10 minutes before the end of the cook time. There will be enough residual heat to cook it.
- Pots should always be covered with lids.
- When boiling eggs and vegetables, fill with enough water to cover the food.
- It is important to use good saucepans with a flat bottom. Ideal for an electric stove: pots and pans with a thick bottom.
- To boil water for tea or coffee, do not use a stove, but an electric kettle, because it will consume much less electricity for this process.
- For quick meals, use the microwave or multi-cooker, not the oven.
Washing machine
It is very difficult to imagine modern life without a washing machine, but it also “consumes” a lot of electricity, about 15% of the total consumption. To save some money, use these tricks:
- Wash with Quick and Economy modes.
- Do not wash 2-3 clothes at a time, take the clothes out until they are fully loaded. But you can't overload the car either.
- For a normal wash, use low temperature settings.
Air conditioners
To prevent the air conditioner from consuming too much electricity, operate it properly:
- Set the optimal temperature just enough to cool, not freeze, the room.
- Do not operate the air conditioner with the windows or doors open.
- When buying an air conditioner, be sure to calculate the area of the room that will be cooled. Do not take too powerful for a small room, because this is a waste of electricity.
- Be sure to clean the air conditioner fans, filters, and vents so they don't have to run at high speeds.
Heaters
In the fall, winter, and early spring, we often have to remove multiple heaters from our containers. After all, heating often goes on and off for a long time. That's why we use energy-consuming heaters, although that heat is very expensive.
To reduce the need for heaters, even in a relatively warm season, take care to insulate everything you can: windows, walls, floors. It is better to replace old windows with plastic ones. And if this is not possible, at least try to seal all the cracks and microcracks on the frames and next to the glass. Up to 50% of the heat passes through them. Do the same manipulations with the entrance doors.
If the heating is already on and the batteries are still cold, then you need to call an assistant who will check for water in them.
Using solar energy
Solar energy has long been actively used in many countries with a warm climate. Some even managed to completely abandon all other sources. The technology is very attractive, but without government support, it is often a daunting task for individual households, as solar panels and other structural elements are expensive and pay off over many years.
It is advisable to read special literature and determine the necessary characteristics of a solar station at the design stage. Many people try to do the whole structure on their own, but they do not take into account all the nuances and complexities, so they often fail.
Wind Power
Home 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 from the electricity generated. But these devices, as well as solar stations, cost a lot of money and require installation by specialists.
It happens that the owners of such power plants miscalculate the power of wind flows, and this leads to forced downtime of expensive equipment.
Smart home system
Everyone has probably seen the movies in which the hero claps or utters a password, and at that moment the lights go on or off, the window curtains open, and the fireplace starts to work. This is the "Smart Home" system.
To automate the operation of all the devices in the house, special equipment and a computer program are used that also controls the level of energy consumption. Sensors are placed throughout the home that take readings and determine the amount of electricity used in each room. The computer analyzes and proposes solutions to optimize energy use.
The system will not work on its own, it must be programmed for a specific house or apartment. But when all the inhabitants of the house are scattered in the morning about their affairs, the system will turn off the air conditioning or kitchen lighting, lock the door or start the wash.
Installation of motion sensors
Instead of buying a fairly expensive "Smart Home" system, you can get by on "little blood" and install motion sensors on the premises. After all, we often just forget to turn off the light when leaving the house or fall asleep with the light. But if the rooms are equipped with motion sensors, they will turn off the lighting themselves.
They can be set so that the light turns off only 5-10 minutes after a person leaves the room. After all, children are constantly running around, and adults can move around the house very quickly.
A sensor of this type is very useful in a hallway, where light is only needed to pass into another room. In order not to constantly press the switch or keep the light on in the hall all the time, you can place the sensor and live comfortably. Now on sale there are energy saving lamps with integrated motion sensors.
It is not very difficult to save electrical energy, you just need to tune in and agree with all members of the family. The main obstacle is ourselves and our beliefs. As soon as the realization of the need to save money comes to us, it immediately turns out that it is done so that the electricity bills are small.