To understand how to save energy in an apartment, you need to prepare an integrated approach. Simply pressing a button to get the lowest bill will not work. Life without light is not at all comfortable.
The importance of saving energy
Although energy resources are only worth a few cents, no one thought about the need to save electricity. But since then, because the amount of payments has increased significantly, there has been great interest in ways to save electricity and other resources. Villagers are worried about how to save electricity in private houses, while urban residents are looking for information on how to save electricity in apartments.
The increase in tariffs is completely reasonable, because the earth’s depletable energy resource reserves are rapidly decreasing, while its production costs are constantly increasing. Unfortunately, the salary of ordinary residents in our country has not shown such a crazy increase. Therefore, there is no other way but to find effective ways to save electricity.
Another reason for saving is the huge load of the substation. Every year, more and more electrical appliances appear in people's homes. Naturally, power lines and substations may not be able to withstand them, so they must be repaired or replaced with more powerful power lines and substations.
In addition, due to the saving of electric energy, the emission of processed products to the atmosphere and water sources is reduced. People who conserve resources have made great contributions to the protection of rivers, lakes and forests and help maintain the health of the country.
An effective and legal way to save
Reduce demand
How can you save energy at home without any equipment and additional investment? very simple. You just need to consider how much light we really need and use the following suggestions from experienced innovators:
- Minimize the use of electric lights. This does not mean going back to the primitive times, when life activities were only carried out during the day. You can try to accomplish all the things that require bright lighting during the day, but at night you can only use one light to illuminate the rest of the work.
- When researching how to save light in an apartment, you need to know that the level of lighting depends on the cleanliness of the lighting equipment. If the kitchen lampshade is covered with a "hundred-year-old" layer of grease and dust, then you should not expect it to emit a bright light. And, if the platform is clean, the light will penetrate it perfectly, which means you can use a smaller bulb.
- The windows also need to be cleaned more frequently, because in this way, your sunshine time will last longer, and you can turn on the power later.
- In a chandelier with multiple bulbs, you can turn on one bulb at a time, or you can turn on two bulbs at a time. For desk work, please use a combination of desk lamps and low spot lights.
- A very useful invention is the dimmer. It allows you to adjust the illuminance of each lighting device.
- Replace the standard incandescent bulb for the energy-saving model. Recently, many people have begun to worry about this question: Are LED lights energy-efficient? Experts firmly believe that the future belongs to LED lights, because they consume very little energy and emit a good amount of light.
- Turn off the lights when you leave the room. If there are many children in the house, it is difficult to get used to this simple way of saving, then it is of course quite difficult.
Use multiple price lists
Electricity usage may vary at different times of the day. This is due to the fact that a large amount of electricity is consumed during the day and the power plant is almost idle at night. How to save energy with an electric meter, which calculates the energy consumption during the day and night at the normal price, so that you can pay 30% less? If the house has all-weather appliances (refrigerators, electric heaters, etc. ), multi-rate meters will help reduce electricity bills. The cleaning can be started at night, and the power of the heating equipment can be increased to turn it off completely during the day.
Fair use of technology
In every household, there are devices that never turn off from the outlet. But not everyone knows that even in "sleep" mode, they consume electricity. Each individual device has very few such support capabilities, but a considerable amount is obtained within a month. In order to prevent unnecessary waste, it is sufficient to simply unplug all devices from the socket during the "idle time".
Note: The use of obsolete, low-quality wires and a large number of extension cords and various T-connectors will also increase household electricity consumption.
Technological innovation
People who dream of learning how to properly save electricity in an apartment should evaluate each of their household appliances. After all, old models of refrigerators and TVs consume a lot of energy, twice as much as modern models. Gradually try to replace all outdated appliances with low-energy models. The label usually indicates the degree of economy, and category A is the most profitable.
Recently, more economical power consumption categories have emerged, such as A+, A++.
Smart devices are now on sale. They can independently calculate the amount of detergent or washing powder based on the weight of the tableware or linen, and control water consumption. During the owner's holiday, the refrigerator can enter the super economic mode.
refrigerator
About 1 million articles have been written about the correct installation of refrigerators, and thousands of videos have been shot, but our people, despite this, still stubbornly place it on the heating battery, next to the stove, and on the sunny side. . But in this case, the refrigerator will heat up quickly from a nearby heat source and consume more electricity. It is also recommended to leave a small free space between the refrigerator and the wall to ensure necessary air circulation.
I also hope that the room where the refrigerator is located is cool. Don't forget to defrost the refrigeration unit as needed and release it from the accumulated ice, thus making the unit easier to operate and reducing its "energy requirement". Make sure the door is not damaged.
If you are considering how to reduce electricity bills, when buying a new refrigerator, if there are 2-3 people permanently living in the house, do not "swing" with the largest and most spacious model. After all, such a "colossus" consumes a lot of energy.
A vacuum cleaner
In order to prevent the vacuum cleaner from starting to absorb more energy from the network, the accumulated dust layer must be cleaned regularly and promptly, because the vacuum cleaner consumes 15-20% of the dust when it is full. And don’t turn on/off the vacuum cleaner too frequently-it spends the most energy on these actions.
Electric oven
Electric furnaces are very energy-consuming equipment. You can reduce energy costs by following the recommendations below:
- If the recipe does not indicate that the oven should be preheated when placed in the oven, do not turn on the oven in advance.
- Turn off the electric stove 5-10 minutes before the end of the cooking time. There will be enough residual heat for cooking.
- The pan should always be covered.
- When cooking eggs and vegetables, add an appropriate amount of water to cover the food.
- It is important to use a good pan with a flat bottom. Ideal for electric stoves-pots with thicker bottoms.
- To boil water for tea or coffee, do not use the stove, but use an electric kettle, because it will consume less electricity in the process.
- For fast food, use a microwave or multi-function cooker instead of an oven.
washer
It is hard to imagine modern life without a washing machine, but it will also "consume" a lot of electricity-about 15% of the total electricity consumption. To save money, please use the following tips:
- Clean in fast and economical mode
- Do not wash 2-3 clothes at a time, but destroy the clothes until they are completely full. But you can't overload the car.
- Use low temperature settings for regular washing.
Air conditioner
To prevent the air conditioner from consuming too much power, please operate it correctly:
- Set the temperature to the optimal temperature sufficient to cool the room instead of freezing it.
- Do not operate the air conditioner with the doors and windows open.
- When purchasing an air conditioner, be sure to calculate the area of the room to be cooled. Don't use too much force in the small room, as this will waste electricity.
- Make sure to clean the fan, filter and grill of the air conditioner to prevent it from running at high speed.
Electric heater
In autumn, winter, and early spring, we often have to get various heaters from household waste bins. After all, heating usually turns on and off for a long time. Therefore, we use energy-consuming heaters, even though this heat is very expensive.
In order to reduce the need for heaters, even during relatively warm hours, insulate as much as possible: windows, walls, floors, etc. It is better to replace old windows with plastic windows. If this is not possible, at least try to close all cracks and micro-cracks in the frame and beside the glass. The heat removed by them is as high as 50%. Do the same for the front door.
If the heating device has been turned on and the battery is still cold, you need to call the host, and the host will check if there is water in it.
Use of solar energy
For a long time, solar energy has been actively used in many countries with warm climates. Some even managed to completely abandon all other sources. This technology is very attractive, but in the absence of government support, it is very expensive for solar panels and other structural components, and it takes many years of return. Therefore, for a single family, this technology is often a problem. A difficult task.
To understand how to use the sun to save electricity, it is recommended to read special literature and determine the necessary characteristics of the solar station during the project phase. Many people try to make the whole structure by themselves, but they fail to take into account all the nuances and difficulties, so they often fail.
Wind energy
Household wind turbines in areas with high air activity can significantly reduce electricity costs, and if there are special meters, they can also profit from power generation. However, such equipment and solar power stations cost a lot of money and require professionals to install them.
The owner of such a power plant may incorrectly calculate the power of the wind, which can lead to the forced shutdown of expensive equipment.
Smart home system
In order to automate the operation of all equipment in the house, special equipment and computer programs are required, which can also control the level of energy consumption. Sensors are scattered throughout the house and are used to take readings and determine the electricity consumption in each room. The computer analyzes and proposes solutions to optimize energy use.
The system will not be able to operate independently and needs to be programmed for a specific house or apartment. However, when all the residents in the house spread their business in the morning, the system will turn off the air conditioner or the lighting in the kitchen, lock the door or start cleaning.
Install motion sensor
No need to buy an expensive "smart home" system, you can take a "small amount of blood" and install motion sensors in the venue. After all, we often just forget to turn off the light when we leave home or fall asleep and fall asleep. However, if the room is equipped with motion sensors, they will turn off the lighting by themselves. It can be adjusted so that the light can be extinguished only 5-10 minutes after a person leaves the room. After all, children often run back and forth, and adults can move around the house very quickly.
This kind of sensor is very useful in corridors, where only light is needed to pass through another room. In order not to toggle the switch often or keep the lights in the hallway from always on, you can place sensors and live comfortably. The energy-saving lamp with a built-in motion sensor is now on sale.
Saving electricity is not very difficult, you just need to listen and reach a consensus on this with all family members. The main obstacle is ourselves and our beliefs. Once we realized the need to save money, we immediately did it so that the cost of the electric light was small.