Energy Saving Tips for Your Home and Office
When you’re the one paying the electricity bill, it’s only sensible to find ways to reduce consumption to save energy and also reduce those hefty bills that derail your entire monthly budget. Besides saving money, you also feel good about reducing your carbon footprint, contributing to a greener planet.
Achieving this is quite easy – you don’t have to go paranoid about your energy consumption and unplug every appliance or switch off everything. Find alternatives that reduce your energy consumption without compromising on your lifestyle. Here are five effective energy-saving tips you can implement in your home and office.
Use energy-saving equipment
It’s a no-brainer, yet many people avoid buying a new machine to save money. Look at it, not as a purchase, but as an investment for the long term. For example, if you’re living in a harsh climate area, having a well-functioning radiator is necessary. There are plenty of great energy-saving radiators on the market that you can buy and reduce your bill and maintenance bills by a significant margin.
Besides having well-functioning radiators you can also purchase WiFi controlled ones, which are great as they can be used from anywhere you want. Luckily, there are a dozen brands offering radiators with Wifi features: intelliHeat, HeatingStyle, Devolo, BestElectricRadiator, AdaxSolaire and many more. By investing in WiFi controlled radiators, you’ll have the convenience of controlling your radiator, further controlling how much power you consume every day. The same applies to any other machines you may have in your home or office.
Maximise use of natural light
The convenience of having a 24/7 electrical supply shouldn’t be an encouragement to use artificial light throughout the day. Making small changes to reduce your consumption, like using sunlight as a light source during the day, can reduce energy consumption in the long term. Using skylights or bigger windows for this purpose can massively help in improving the amount of natural light your room gets. If you’re yet to buy a house or office and are trying to make it more eco-friendly and cost-saving, look for one that gets plenty of natural sunlight.
Get an audit done
Getting an energy audit done in your home or office can massively improve your energy efficiency and reduce consumption. Many power supply companies provide free auditing services. A technician will come to check the power usage of each piece of electrical equipment and give you a detailed report. Using this report, you can understand what all pieces of equipment are using the most amount of power and how you can reduce their consumption. You could also use the report to remove or replace some of your equipment.
Consider using a laptop
Desktops consume relatively higher amounts of power in comparison to laptops. Instead of setting up a desktop at home or in your office, use a laptop instead. You can find a variety of different laptops on the market. If your work doesn’t require a lot of processing power, opt for a laptop that is smaller and lighter. Not only will you reduce the amount of power you consume each day, but you’ll also be able to carry your work with you.
However, keep in mind that using a laptop over a desktop will require a few changes to your setup to improve your workplace ergonomics. Avoid keeping your laptop constantly on charge and plug it in only when necessary.
Use LEDs and task lights
LEDs are super-efficient when it comes to power consumption, making them a better choice than incandescent bulbs. Using LEDs can reduce your light power consumption by as much as 80%, assuming you practice power-conscious habits as well.
You can further save energy by using smaller task lights in your house. LEDs are great for the purpose as they last long and come in a variety of sizes. Reading lamps and overhanging dining lights are some examples of task lights, which only illuminate a certain part of the room. Having these throughout the house can give your greater flexibility in controlling the power you consume while keeping your lights on.
Conclusion
Following and implementing these five tips in your home and office can massively reduce your home or office’s energy consumption. However, these methods can only be so effective. To maximize your energy consumption, you must always be energy conscious. Avoid using lights or equipment like printers or microwaves when not needed and switch off electrical devices when you’re done using them. Build an eco-friendly environment and you’ll notice your electricity bill getting lesser over time.