Electricity saving tips in the home

Don’t Leave Electrical Appliances on Standby

Many of us with use the remote to switch off the TV or stereo, leaving the appliance running on standby.

This actually means the appliance is still using up electricity and wastes a considerable amount of energy.

By switching off at the main power button, or even the socket, you could be saving both energy and money.

Items left on standby use up to 85% of the energy they would use if fully switched on. An extra million tonnes of carbon will be released into the atmosphere through this power wastage.

Tumble Dryer

Electric tumble dryers are commonly the second biggest energy user in the home, after the fridge. They are obviously used a lot less, but still use a huge amount of electricity when switched on.

You can avoid using the dryer so often by line drying clothes whenever possible or using an indoor clothes dryer when the weather is bad.

If you do need to use the dryer, then ensure the clothes are as dry as possible after washing, eg, they have gone through a fast spin so that there is minimum excess water. This will reduce drying time considerably.

Lighting

In most homes, about 10-15% of the electricity bill is for lighting so energy saving light bulbs can cut your costs considerably.

Traditional bulbs waste a lot of energy by turning it into heat but energy saving bulbs work in the same way as fluorescent lights, the tubes coating glows brightly as an electric current passed through gas in the tube.

They may be more expensive to buy than traditional bulbs, but they are worth the investment as last over 10 times longer and use up to 4 times less energy. Where you would use a 100w ordinary bulb, you would only need a 20-25w energy saving bulb. With savings like this, changing bulbs throughout your house could really cut your electricity costs.

No matter what type of lighting you are using, always turn the lights off when you leave a room.

Solar Garden Lights

There are a number of different solar powered lights available at the moment for use in the garden. These lights are highly energy efficient and convenient as do not require external extension leads or special electric fittings.

These lights contain solar cells which convert the suns energy into electricity.

They charge up during the daylight and light up as it gets dark. They are not usually hugely bright but are less intrusive than electric lights and look nice in the flowerbeds.