10 Things You Can Do To Save Energy at Home
November 25, 2022
If left unchecked and unmonitored, an average home can spend significant amounts of energy. As a result, we, as responsible homeowners, must look for different ways of lowering our energy usage and implement them in our daily lives to save money and energy.
It is relatively easy for us to make minor, everyday changes in our energy consumption. Even though they do not cost much, you can rest assured these small changes can add up to significant energy savings.
Four energy efficient appliances for the kitchen
Over the last few years, climate change and energy saving have become a constant matter of discussion. Buzzwords such as “renewable energy,” “energy saving,” and “climate crisis,” are often featured across local political campaigns, ads, and news articles.
If you care about the environment and the planet and wish to protect it, you must unquestionably take a keen interest in saving energy. Of course, while we all try to play our part, it’s hard to determine what these terms mean individually.
For instance, we all know we must change how we live, but what exactly can we do as individuals, and how can it be done?
If you receive an energy bill on a monthly basis, you’re most likely already aware of how much energy you consume and are being charged. Still, it might surprise you when you find out about the energy consumption in your home and how it compares to the national average.
The average annual electricity consumption in 2021 for a US residential utility customer totaled 10,632 kWh (kilowatt hours), which breaks down to an average of roughly 886 kWh/month. Hawaii had the lowest annual electrical consumption at 6,369 kWh per residential customer. In comparison, Louisiana had the highest at 14,302 kWh per residential customer.
By understanding the extent of energy consumption in your home and how it compares to an average individual or household, you can look for any differences and figure out what might be causing them. Once you have detected what has the most significant impact on your home energy usage, you can look for various ways of minimizing your consumption.
Why Managing Your Energy Usage Beneficial?
The majority of people are now keen on saving energy in their homes by managing energy consumption, and it all comes down to two key reasons:
- To minimize the extent of damage caused to the environment
- To help with financial costs and save money
If a significant number of households start managing their energy usage more efficiently by switching to a cleaner and greener energy source, we can observe a considerable reduction in damage to the ozone layer.
In addition, we can minimize our dependence on non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels, which are also harmful to the environment. As individuals, we must be cautious about how we spend energy and manage energy consumption effectively.
Living an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle doesn’t necessarily mean you have to drastically change your way of living. But, the act of taking small steps to live more responsibly and dutifully can help make all the difference you need to see in this world, as well as undo the damage caused to the environment to some extent.
One of the best ways of managing your energy usage is to try incorporating an energy-efficient lifestyle by switching to energy saver electronics and appliances. For several reasons, living an energy-efficient lifestyle is the key to sustainable living. For starters, it can help prevent the costs of escalating prices from going further up.
Energy companies are constantly increasing their rates, partly to make up for the expenses and gain profit but also to motivate people to minimize or maintain their energy usage. Saving energy can also aid in addressing climatic changes and air pollution. These factors are associated with soaring temperatures, wildfires, intense hurricanes, and severe droughts.
In a nutshell, maintaining your energy usage can help our environment, save considerable financial costs, and benefit us individually, such as:
- It can save money by lowering your gas utility and electric bills.
- It can help lower pollutants and greenhouse gasses, benefiting the environment.
- Switching to a renewable source of energy saves a ton of money and power.
- With increasing energy usage comes the demand for additional generation and transmission assets. Take advantage of renewable energy plans to lower the peak demand.
- Managing your energy usage can minimize uncertainty for various risk factors.
- It improves the quality of indoor air your family and pets breathe.
- It can maintain your home’s temperature and make it more comfortable.
Besides relieving you from high financial costs, managing energy usage also helps you be more organized and cautious about how you spend energy. It allows you to save considerable money and take one step ahead toward living a safer, cleaner, greener, and more sustainable lifestyle.
10 Tips for Saving Energy
Saving energy is just as essential for our wallet as it is for the environment. Every watt of electricity you can save is a minor contribution towards your overall budget.
We’ve compiled a list of 10 tips on how to save energy at home. These small yet significant daily changes in our power consumption require little effort and are relatively easy to implement.
While some of these ideas are quite obvious, these simple and easy-to-implement energy-saving tips are good for the environment. Moreover, they can potentially help with your energy bills too.
1. Change light bulbs to led energy-efficient light bulbs
The lighting in our home makes up roughly 10% of all home energy costs. Traditional incandescent light bulbs use a tremendous amount of electricity compared to CFLs (compact fluorescent bulbs) and LEDs (light-emitting diode bulbs), which use only a fraction of that energy.
LEDs and CFLs are deemed much better alternatives to traditional lighting options because they are energy-efficient, last longer, and can save over $100 over their lifetime. These energy-efficient lighting alternatives last 3-25 times longer than traditional options and use anywhere between 25 to 80% less electricity.
Despite being more expensive off the shelf, their efficient use of energy and longer lifetimes mean they cost less in the long run. So, save considerable energy and money on replacements by switching incandescent light bulbs with Energy-Star-rated LED and CFL bulbs.
2. Change older appliances to new ones
Another effective way to save on energy usage is to replace your old and outdated home appliances with energy-efficient models. Switching to newer, energy-efficient equipment and devices in the top six product sectors will likely decrease global power consumption by 10%.
Modern-day appliances are considerably more efficient than they ever were. Whether in your office, lounge, laundry room, or kitchen, Energy-Star-rated options make it relatively easy to compare and determine what will work efficiently and consume minimal electricity.
Gaming systems, computers, televisions, printers, and other home electronics and appliances tend to significantly demand your home energy use. From coffee makers to air-conditioners and many other household essentials, you will come across numerous ways to save energy and valuable money once you switch to Energy-Star-rated products.
3. Take quick showers
Hot water showers are bad and harmful to your skin and consume considerable energy. The best and most effortless way to curb energy usage is to take shorter, cooler showers. A quick, cool shower can drastically minimize the energy used by your hot water heater. Moreover, shorter showers are more energy-efficient than longer showers.
For instance, a typical shower uses roughly 2.5 gallons of hot water a minute. Decreasing your daily shower time by 4 minutes can save up to 3,650 gallons per annum. Another effective way to save energy usage is to install low-flow showerheads.
A showerhead that provides good water pressure with fewer gallons per minute (under 2.5 gallons per minute) is best for minimizing energy and water consumption.
So, replace old showerheads with new, energy-efficient low-flow showerheads designed to prevent excess hot water and the energy used for heating that water from going down the drain.
4. Do not let the water run when brushing your teeth
The majority of us are habitual of letting the water flow at full speed as we do the brushing bit. You will be surprised to see the amount of water wasted in such a short amount of time. So, if you want to conserve considerable energy and water, make it a habit to turn off the sink while brushing your teeth.
5. Unplug unused electrical devices
Leaving your electronic equipment, such as laptops and computers, on throughout the day while idle can shorten its life expectancy as well as waste a significant amount of energy. The same goes for other household essentials such as printers, battery chargers, televisions, air conditioners, and other electronics.
An average desktop computer uses between 65-250 watts, while a laptop typically consumes between 15-60 watts of electricity. The components of your electronic equipment and the purpose you use it for play the most significant role in determining the overall energy costs.
Hence, as a responsible homeowner, you must make it a habit to switch off your electrical devices or unplug unused electrical devices or appliances completely if they light up or use energy even when powered down. So, the next time you see the indicator light on, think of it as a reminder that you are burning power unnecessarily and unplug the device immediately.
This task can be made easier with multiple-outlet strips, which can turn all your electronics and appliances off with the flip of a switch. Turning off unused power strips can save you substantial money and energy.
6. Use smart devices
Smart-home devices make it relatively easy to secure your home, close the garage door, and much more. In addition, they can help you save a large sum of money and energy, provided you use them wisely and correctly. As the US population spends around $130 billion annually on wasted energy, we need all the help we can get.
Smart home devices can be easily set up using a smartphone. On top of that, you can control them even from a distance, connect them to a smart speaker, put them on a schedule, or even configure them to perform actions on their own.
By letting you have more control over the things in your home that consume power, you must consider incorporating smart-home devices as part of an effective energy-saving plan.
7. Wear warmer clothes instead of turning up the heat
When the cold season hits and the weather outside is bone-chilling, you might often encounter an internal struggle of whether or not to turn up the heating system in your home to keep yourself warm. But back when we didn’t have the modern-day convenience of central heating, we humans survived just fine.
Even though you wouldn’t want to give up heat completely, the idea of layering up and wearing warmer clothes is an excellent way of saving energy while keeping yourself warm. If you wear multiple layers of clothing, you can easily maintain a comfortable temperature at home and outside.
Instead of spending on increased energy bills by turning up the heat, invest in thermal undergarments and wear them under your clothes in and out. With these layers, you will no longer need to set your thermostat to tropical temperatures to stay warm indoors and save a ton of money.
8. Track energy usage
Primarily, the only way to save energy and reduce your electricity bills is to understand what you are already spending on it, and this requires tracking your energy usage. Doing this enables you to determine how to minimize your energy bills and carbon footprint. Here is how you can find out how much energy you are already using at home:
- Get a smart meter so you can track it from the display
- Monitor your daily energy usage by taking readings from your meter
- Check your recent energy bills, as they include your monthly power usage/consumption and your annual estimated usage
Monitoring your daily usage of energy contributes to the following:
- A reduction of energy bills and/or financial costs
- A drop in energy usage by 15-30%
- Reduction in carbon dioxide (CO), which significantly and positively impacts global warming
- Enhanced company image amongst suppliers, relations, and employees
- Checking energy suppliers’ invoices against authorized data
- Mapping of incorrectly configured systems
- In-depth insights into distinct types of energy consumed (reactive and active energy)
By tracking how much power you use, you can get hints about your consumption patterns and determine what is energy hungry. Then, you can take the necessary steps and implement them effectively to be more energy-efficient.
You can even experiment and see how minor changes impact your energy bills. For instance, try washing your clothes at 30 degrees instead of the usual 40, hang your clothes over the radiator or out on the clothing line instead of tumble drying, etc.
9. Wash in colder temperatures
Laundry detergents and clothes washers are designed explicitly to work well with cold water. If you wash your clothes with hot water only when you want to disinfect your clothes, you can save up to $60 or more annually.
Almost 75-90% of the energy consumed by the washing machine during laundry is accounted for by heating the water. By not heating the water in the washing machine, you can minimize your energy costs with each load of laundry washing.
So, switch to cold-water washing to eliminate a significant amount of this energy, cut down your energy bills, and make both your clothes and the planet happier.
10. Get solar for your home
With global warming at its peak and our planet Earth heating up at this rate, we all need to consider switching to renewable energy sources such as solar panels to meet the rising energy needs. In fact, solar panels are the best investment you can make this year!
Solar electricity panels capture the sun’s energy and convert it into electricity used in your home. They are the most rapidly advancing means of renewable energy, and there are various reasons solar panels are so popular and in high demand.
For starters, they enable you to save energy that would, in normal circumstances, be taken from the grid and generate electricity for less without paying hefty electricity bills. As a result, they can provide a remarkable financial return. Going solar comes with an array of benefits, such as:
- Equity: Solar helps increase the equity between 2 to 20% in your home. However, it allows homes to sell 20% faster on average.
- Savings: Solar can be of remarkable aid in mitigating those monthly utility costs.
- Green: Solar can provide our homes green energy while minimizing the need for harmful energy resources such as fossil fuel and coal.
- Ownership: The best part about solar is that numerous individuals get ownership of their power. This means you are your own energy boss and can use it as you deem fit. Learn more about the benefits of going solar.
In all essence, with solar installations having an average lifespan of 20-30 years, you can rest assured solar financing works. Installing solar panels and using the power generated from them is relatively cheaper than purchasing electricity from the utility for all those years.
Since the total cost of a solar installation can be incredibly expensive, a $0 Down Solar Program can be a great way to switch to solar. The $0 Down Solar Program is a solar loan program that was founded to help homeowners transition into becoming owners of their own sources of energy.
This program enables you to install solar and pay $0 upfront for your solar system. Moreover, no payments are required until the installation is complete.
When looking for the best place to buy solar panels, Solgen Power is the first name that should come to your mind. Deemed to be one of the biggest and most renowned companies in the Northwest, we at Solgen Power are growing at an unmatched pace with our solar power installations.
Solar is the new trend. It is SMART, and it can help you save money. Our company offers powerful solar panels, inspections, and installations. Click here to find out if you are eligible to sign up for the $0 Down Solar Program at Solgen Power in just minutes.
Wrapping Up: The Goal of Putting More Money in Your Pocket
Unsurprisingly, energy costs a substantial sum of money. Still, the bills often shock the majority of people when they see how much their energy usage is costing them. Any small and insignificant step towards conserving energy and putting a bit of that money in your pocket can be considered a step in the right direction.
Without a doubt, these 10 simple, valuable, and effective tips to save energy can significantly benefit homeowners and help them add more money to their pockets on a monthly basis. These small steps ultimately lead to significant savings because energy saving conserves limited and valuable energy resources and saves money.
The attempts to save energy from now onwards can have positive implications for your wallet and the overall environment. Also, teach your kids ways to save energy and introduce them to energy-efficient alternatives from an early age to establish lifelong habits. These easy and hassle-free changes are bound to preserve a healthier and happier world for generations to come.
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Solgen Power is a solar energy equipment company that sells and installs solar for homeowners. Solgen Power has been recognized by INC. 5000 as one of the fastest growing companies in the nation. Solgen Power has grown nationwide and continues to provide excellent customer service to homeowners.