Understanding Energy Efficiency For The Home
We all know that saving energy can help save money. Yet, it can seem hard to get the level of your energy efficiency under control—you try get your family to turn the lights off when you leave the room, you never heat up the entire oven to bake one small potato, and you try not to take tens of hour-long hot showers weekly. Still, however, it seems that your electricity bill continues to climb and you aren’t saving energy at all. Why? What are you doing wrong?
Here are some energy efficiency tips to help you get your energy expenditure in check so you can save money and help the environment all at once!
- In the winter, make sure you home is well-insulated. We here in Australia are lucky enough to have truly beautiful climate—it’s sunny well over 200 days a year, and the temperature rarely drops below zero. But it doesn’t have to be minus 20 outdoors for your home to get chilly. Instead of spending more money on heating bills, spend it on insulation instead to increase your energy efficiency and keep your home warm and cozy.
- In the summer, make sure you check your air conditioners regularly in order to remove any dust or dirt that could be stopping the air from flowing through the device as freely as it should. If your air conditioner works better, it is more energy-efficient.
- When you’re installing your air conditioner, make sure the outdoor part of the unit is not facing north, as that will expose it to much more sunlight and heat and make it use more energy to cool.
- Don’t wash single items of clothing—this is a waste of water as well as electricity. Wait until you have a full load of laundry, and then do it. Laundry is hardly an urgent enough matter to waste so much money and water on.
- On the other hand, don’t overload your washer, either. You may have good intentions, but this results in the clothes not being sufficiently cleaned, which means you’ll just have to wash them again anyway.
- Keep your lamps and shades clean. This will allow for better lighting and you won’t feel the need to keep getting stronger light bulbs .
- Empty and clean your fridge if you plan to be away for an extended period of time—the food would rot anyway, so what’s the point of keeping it in there? Plus, every fridge benefits from being aired out every now and then.
- Make sure your fridge is not running 24/7. According to the newest data, fridges should only be working about 30% of the time, so if your hums away all day and all night, it may be time for a checkup.
- Replace outdated, wasteful appliances. While this can seem expensive, having large appliances that are rated for their energy efficiency will save you in the end. For an even better solution, find appliances powered by alternative energy, such as solar water heaters.
- Thaw foods properly before cooking. Aside from the fact that it is easier to get food poisoning when attempting to cook frozen meat, doing this also takes up to 15 minutes longer for every 500 grams of product.
- Don’t always use the same dishwasher program—there are different programs that are suited to your needs. Some are shorter and use less hot water, etc. Not every plate needs to be blasted with hot water and hectoliters of dish liquid for 3 hours to get cleaned.
- Appliances use power all the time when they are plugged in, even if they aren’t being used and even if they are off. Unplug all appliances you’re not currently using until you actually need them.
Does this still not reduce your power bill enough? Even homeowners who use energy efficiency strategies still have to contend with the high cost of the electricity they do need. This is where then solar energy comes in. Why not install solar panels and create your own electricity with this renewable energy? Solar Panels Melbourne can help you save on the cost of solar, by helping you find the best price solar power systems to lower your monthly electric bills.
Contact us here at Solar Panels Melbourne today and find out what your options are!