To understand how to save energy in an apartment, you need to prepare for an integrated approach. Just pressing a button to get the minimum invoice will not work. Living without light is not easy.
Importance of energy saving
Although energy sources were worth a penny, no one thought it was important to save electricity. But since then, as payments have grown, there has been a growing interest among the population in ways to save on electricity and other sources. Villagers are worried about how to save electricity in a private home, while city dwellers are looking for information on how to save electricity in an apartment.
The increase in tariffs is completely justified, because the planet's reserves of depleted energy sources are rapidly declining, and the cost of their production - on the contrary, increases. Unfortunately, the salaries of ordinary people in our country do not show such a crazy increase, so there is no other way but to look for effective ways to save electricity.
There is another reason to save - huge loads on transformer substations. Every year, more and more electrical appliances appear in people's homes. Of course, power lines and substations can not stand, need to be repaired or replaced with a stronger one.
At the same time, due to energy savings, emissions of processed products into the atmosphere and water sources are reduced. People who save resources make a modest contribution to the protection of rivers, lakes and forests and help protect the health of the nation.
Effective and legal ways to save
Reducing the need
How can you save energy at home without any equipment and additional investment? It's very simple. We need to think about how much light we really need and use the following tips from experienced innovators:
- Try to use less electric light. This does not mean going back to the primitive times in which life took place only during the day. You can try to do everything that requires bright lighting during the day and limit yourself to one lamp to illuminate the rest of the work in the evening.
- By learning the question of how to save light in an apartment, you should know that the degree of illumination depends on the cleanliness of lighting fixtures. If the lampshade in the kitchen is covered with a layer of "century-old" oil and dust, you should not expect a bright light from it. If the ceiling is clean, it penetrates perfectly into the light, so you can use a smaller light bulb.
- The windows also need to be washed more often, because this way the daylight will last a little longer for you, and you can turn on the electricity later.
- In chandeliers with several bulbs, they can be lit not once, but once or twice. For table work, use a table lamp with low surface lighting.
- A very useful invention is obscurity. Allows you to adjust the brightness of each fixture.
- Replace standard incandescent bulbs for energy-saving models. Recently, many have begun to worry about the question: Do LED lamps save energy? Experts are convinced that the future belongs to LED lamps, because they consume less energy by emitting a decent amount of light.
- Turn off the lights when leaving the room. If you have children at home who find it very difficult to get used to such a simple saving method, it is certainly very difficult.
Use of multi-tariff meters
Electricity prices may vary at different times of the day. This is due to the high consumption during the day and the fact that power plants are almost empty at night. How to save energy with a meter that calculates the energy consumed during the day at a normal price and allows you to pay 30% less for the night? If you have appliances in the house that are used around the clock (refrigerator, electric heating, etc. ), a multi-tariff meter will help reduce electricity costs. Washing can be started at night and at the same time the power can be increased to turn off the heaters completely during the day.
Effective use of technology
Every home has appliances that never go out of the socket. But not everyone knows that they draw electricity even in "sleep" mode. Each individual device has a very small amount of such support, but an impressive amount is achieved within a month. To prevent unnecessary waste, it is enough to remove the plugs of all devices from the slots "in their spare time".
Note: The use of old, low-quality wires and a large number of extension cables and various tees also increases electricity consumption in the home.
Technical innovations
People who dream of learning how to properly save electricity in an apartment should evaluate each of the household appliances. After all, old refrigerators and TV models consume a lot of energy, twice as much as modern models. Gradually try to replace all obsolete devices with low-power models. Labels generally indicate the degree of savings, Class A is the most profitable.
Recently, more energy-efficient classes such as A +, A ++ have emerged.
Smart devices are already on the market, they can independently calculate the amount of detergent or laundry detergent based on the weight of dishes or linens and control water consumption. Refrigerators can switch to super saving mode on the holidays of their owners.
Refrigerator
Probably a million articles and thousands of videos have been written about the proper installation of the refrigerator, but our people continue to put this unit on the same side as the heating battery, stove and sunny side. However, in this case, the refrigerator heats up quickly from nearby heat sources and consumes more electricity. It is also recommended that you leave a small gap between the refrigerator and the wall to ensure the necessary air circulation.
It is also desirable that the room where the refrigerator is located is cool. Remember to remove the refrigerator from the ice and free it from accumulated ice if necessary, which simplifies the operation of the appliance and reduces the "energy appetite". Make sure the door is not damaged.
If you are thinking about how to reduce energy costs, when buying a new refrigerator, do not "swing" in the largest and most powerful model, if 2-3 people live in the house permanently. After all, such a "big" consumes a lot of energy.
Vacuum cleaner
The vacuum cleaner should be regularly and timely cleaned of accumulated dust so that it does not start to receive more energy than it needs from the mains, as it consumes 15-20% more than when it is full. Also, don't turn the vacuum cleaner on and off too often - it consumes the most energy for these movements.
Electric oven
An electric oven is a device that consumes a lot of energy. You can reduce energy costs by following these tips:
- If the recipe does not indicate that the oven needs to be preheated as soon as it is placed in the oven, you should not preheat it.
- Turn off the hot plate 5-10 minutes before the end of the cooking time. There will be enough residual heat to cook.
- Pots should always be covered with lids.
- When boiling eggs and vegetables, add enough water to cover the dish.
- It is important to use good pans with a flat bottom. Ideal for electric ovens - pots and pans with a thick bottom.
- Use electric tea, not a stove to boil water for tea or coffee, as this process will use very little electricity.
- Use a microwave or multi-burner, not an oven, for fast cooking.
Washing machine
It is very difficult to imagine modern life without a washing machine, and at the same time "eats" a lot of electricity - about 15% of total consumption. Use these tricks to make some money:
- Rinse with quick and saving modes
- Do not wash 2-3 items at a time, but damage the laundry until it is fully loaded. But you can't overload the car either.
- Use low temperature settings for normal washing.
Conditioners
To prevent the air conditioner from consuming too much electricity, operate it properly:
- Set the temperature to the optimum temperature to cool the room so as not to freeze.
- Do not operate the air conditioner with windows or doors open.
- When buying air conditioning, make sure you calculate that the room will cool down. Do not be too strong for a small room, because it is a loss of electricity.
- Be sure to clean the air conditioner fans, filters, and grilles to prevent them from running at high speeds.
Heaters
In autumn, winter and early spring, we often have to buy different heaters from home boxes. After all, the heat is often turned on and off. So we use energy-consuming heaters, although such heating is very expensive.
To reduce the need for heaters in relatively hot weather, pay attention to the insulation of everything you can: windows, walls, floors, etc. Old windows are best replaced with plastic ones. And if that's not possible, at least try to close all the cracks and micro-cracks in the frames and next to the glass. Up to 50% of the heat is removed through them. Do the same manipulations with the front doors.
If the heater is already turned on and the batteries are still cold, you should call a technician to check if there is water in it.
Use of solar energy
Solar energy has long been actively used in many countries with hot climates. Some even managed to give up all other sources altogether. The technology is very attractive, but without government support, solar panels and other structural elements are very expensive, making it a very difficult task for individual households, as it has yielded results for many years.
To know how to save electricity with the help of the sun, it is advisable to read special literature at the design stage and determine the necessary characteristics of a solar station. Many people try to do the whole structure on their own, but do not take into account all the nuances and difficulties, so they often fail.
Wind energy
In areas with high air mass activity, home wind generators can significantly reduce electricity costs and, if they have a special meter, can also save money on electricity generated. However, such devices and solar stations cost a lot of money and require installation by specialists.
The owners of such power plants miscalculate the strength of wind currents, which leads to the forced shutdown of expensive equipment.
Smart home system
To automate the operation of all devices in the house, special equipment and computer software are used to control the level of energy consumption. Sensors are installed in the house to read and determine the amount of electricity used in each room. The computer analyzes and makes suggestions to optimize energy use.
The system will not work by itself, it must be programmed for a specific house or apartment. However, when all the occupants of the house are scattered about their work in the morning, the system will turn off the air conditioner or kitchen lights, close the door or start washing.
Installation of motion sensors
Instead of buying a "Smart Home", which is a very expensive system, you can go "with less blood" and install motion sensors in the rooms. After all, when we leave home, we often forget to turn off the lights or go to sleep with the lights on. However, if the rooms are equipped with motion sensors, they will turn off the lighting themselves. These can be adjusted so that the light goes out 5-10 minutes after the person leaves the room. After all, children are constantly running back and forth, and adults can move very fast at home.
Such a sensor is very useful only in the hallway, where light is needed to move to another room. You can live comfortably by placing a sensor so that the switch does not turn constantly or the light in the hallway does not turn on constantly. Now on sale are energy-saving lamps with built-in motion sensors.
It is not difficult to save electricity, you just need to agree with the whole family. The main obstacle is ourselves and our beliefs. The moment we need to make money, we immediately realize that the payments for electricity are small.