The biggest culprits of excessive energy consumption in an average home are lighting, cooling, and heating.
If you can reduce your household energy consumption, you will save money, improve your home’s comfort levels, and significantly reduce the effects of global warming. Unfortunately, most energy-draining appliances provide your home with basic utilities that you cannot wish away. So how can you successfully make your house more energy efficient?
Lucky for you, there are basic household changes that you can affect, coupled with new smart home tech, to drastically reduce energy usage in your home. Read on to find out 5 key tips on how you can reduce your utility bills by improving your home’s energy efficiency.
1. Adopt better kitchen practices
Your cooking habits have a significant contribution to your home’s overall electricity costs. If you cook meals in the kitchen every day and have not been living a green lifestyle, then a lot of your home’s electricity has been going to waste. It is time you started making more energy-efficient choices such as using ceramic or glass dishes as opposed to metallic dishes. Some ceramic materials such as porcelain can cook most meals in the oven at a temperature 25 degrees Fahrenheit lower than other dishes, without needing more time. If you are a regular baker, acquiring these dishes would be a great place to start.Kitchen remodeling is also necessary for a more energy-efficient home. You can, for example, add an extra kitchen window or enlarge the existing ones in order to allow more natural light in the kitchen, thus saving you a lot in terms of lighting energy. As for the heating energy in the kitchen, you can save a lot of it by developing a habit of unplugging appliances whenever they are not in use. The coffee machine, toaster oven, blender, and most kitchen appliances are notorious for wasting energy even when their power buttons are off.
2. Switch to energy-efficient light bulbs
Energy efficient bulbs are particularly ideal for the areas where people tend to hover around at night, such as the kitchen and the bedrooms. The exteriors, on the other hand, need constant lighting throughout the night for security reasons. Using standard model bulbs around these areas will hike your bill by up to 75% if you are to compare them with modern energy efficient bulbs.3. Upgrade your heating systems
Heating and cooling are top on the list of the biggest energy-gobblers in most homes, and for an understandable reason. Of course, you need to keep your living spaces warm during the night and cool on summer mid-days. But did you know that you can reduce your power bills without needing to turn the heat down? Well, you will do that by installing a smart thermostat and equipping it with motion sensors that adjust it automatically. When no one is in a given room, the sensors turn off the HVAC system.4. Energy proof your home
This includes switching off your computer monitor when you know you will spend a long period away from your computer. Leaving the screens on for a whole night hikes your bills at an unimaginable rate. If you love to leave battery chargers plugged, be it laptops, phones, or tablets, please quit doing that. As we mentioned earlier, leaving devices plugged-in wastes a lot of energy, whether or not they are on/charging. Energy proofing your home also means turning off the lights whenever you step out of a room.5. Seal and insulate your home
This is probably the best option because it is both affordable and convenient. You will not have to compromise your comfort by turning off the air conditioner. All you need to do is assess the energy leakage situation in your home and sealing all leakages tightly. If the windows close tightly, for example, the amount of warm air that enters your home from the outdoors is reduced significantly, so the cooling system isn’t overworked.Conclusion
As a homeowner, it is your duty to effect energy-saving changes in your household. Please note that energy-saving practices will always be worth more than the effort and sacrifice you make to make them happen. And because saving is everyone’s goal these days, you need to perform a comprehensive assessment of your home and find ways to maximize its energy-saving potential.
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