The need to save energy will never lose its relevance. Who does not want to reduce the electricity bill? And saving, it turns out, is not so difficult. You do not need ultra-modern household appliances and technologies, simple, proven methods will suffice.
At the same time, it is important to know not only how to save energy, but also why. And it's not just about saving the family budget. By turning off the lights behind you and using energy-saving solutions, you help protect nature. But let's talk about everything in order.
The importance of saving energy
Many people do not understand why they save energy. Firstly, this way you can save the family budget. Second, energy production consumes a lot of irreplaceable resources every day: emissions from coal, oil, gas, and thermal power plants pollute the atmosphere.
In recent years, the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the emission of carbon into the environment is increasing rapidly. Their accumulation causes global warming and natural disasters that affect every inhabitant of the Earth.
If all people on the planet think about how to save energy and start using resources efficiently, there is a chance to preserve nature for future generations. Let's look at the best ways to save energy at home.
4 simple ways to save energy
Everyone can take care of nature, it just takes a little time. Let's learn more about what makes it possible to save energy.
Using LED lamps instead of conventional lamps
LED lamps consume 6-10 times less energy than incandescent lamps. At the same time, their service life is up to 50 times longer. LED lamps are 1. 5-3 times more economical than energy-saving lamps and shine 10 times longer.
Types of energy-saving lamps:
- Mercury lamps. They consume 4 times less electricity than incandescent lamps. After use, they should not be thrown away, but should be thrown into special containers.
- LED light bulbs. These are new generation consumables. Compared to mercury, they work longer, consume less electricity and do not contain toxins. The only disadvantage of light bulbs is their high price.
Turn off lights when not needed
The first way to save energy is to use the resource properly. Sometimes the lack of good habit of hitting the switch causes the light to come on even during the day or when everyone is out of the house. You can place a reminder note in visible places to remember to turn off the power. For example: "Check the light, gas, water! "You can also turn off the power to the entire apartment using the general switch before leaving the house.
If you have one, heat the water in a pot on the gas stove.
This is another way to save energy at home. Boiling water in an electric boiler requires many kilowatts. This household appliance is quite powerful, some versions have a power of more than 2 kW. Compared to an LED bulb, it consumes about 10 watts per hour. This is 200 times less than a kettle.
If your apartment has a gas stove, you can heat the kettle on it. This will reduce electricity consumption.
Using motion sensors
If you have a large private home and an area that needs lighting, you can install motion sensors. They will turn on the lights when someone enters the area. Devices do not react to animals. In a private house, a lot of electricity is spent on lighting the area.
It is worth placing the sensors in such a way that the light turns on according to the movement of the person and turns off after passing further. The device works at a distance of three meters. Motion sensors are one of the effective ways to save energy in a private home.
Similar devices are also available for indoor use. They automatically turn on the lights when a person enters the room. The sensor registers changes in the capacitive component and the light turns on.
Zoning rooms is a great way to save energy
Organize effective lighting of buildings by properly zoning the space. Use different light sources in different functional parts of the room: chandeliers, table lamps, bedside lamps, sconces. Each zone has its own lighting methods. For example, install in the living room:
- A large chandelier in the center of the room with a two-way switch for adjustment.
- Floor lamp in the recreation area.
- Desk lamp on the desk.
If you need light in a separate area, instead of always using the main lighting, you can just turn it on there. In order to maintain normal vision, the room should not be dark when doing creative work or reading. Also, the lack of light has a negative effect on the nervous system, which causes depression or headaches.
Saving electricity using a multi-tariff meter
If you are thinking about how to save electricity in your apartment, you can install a multi-tariff meter. This will help reduce your electricity bills. Ordinary consumers can use two-tariff and three-tariff meters.
Two-rate electricity meters calculate energy consumption separately at night and during the day. The night tariff of electricity is lower than the daytime tariff. To save money, you can run washing machines and dishwashers after midnight with a delayed start.
Not all areas can switch to two tariffs. With this service, you can save up to 70% of your energy consumption.
Having a two-rate counter, you can use devices such as a bread machine or a multicooker, which will prepare delicious meals for you at night, and at the same time save energy.
For people who use a boiler to heat water, using a two-phase meter will be a good way to properly save energy. You can set a timer to run the device only from 11: 00 PM to 7: 00 AM.
There are meters that divide the day into three periods: "night" - from 23. 00 to 7. 00, "peak" - from 7. 00 to 10. 00 and from 17. 00 to 21. 00, "half peak" - from 10. 00 to 17. 00 and from 21. 00 to 23. 00. Electricity costs are lowest at night and highest during peak hours. Installation of multi-tariff meters has several advantages:
- Use of electricity when the cost is minimal.
- The cost of the device is justified when the correct distribution of the load in the network is observed.
- It is impossible to hack and reconfigure three-rate meters.
- Ability to transmit readings via the Internet.
The option of using two-rate meters is often found. Three-rate devices should be purchased by those who consume a lot of electricity during the day. By avoiding the load of the network during peak hours, you can save electricity, because according to the tariff, morning and evening hours are the most expensive - the cost increases by 70%.
People who live in private houses and heat them with electric boilers must reduce the power of the device during peak hours, otherwise they will not be able to reduce energy costs.
Ways to save energy with boiler and electric boiler
All owners of cottages and private houses are interested in the question of how they can save electricity if an electric heating boiler is used and water is heated with a water heater. Looks like the boards are going to be big. It all depends on your efforts.
It is necessary to carefully consider the heating and hot water supply system.
- Good home insulation. For this purpose, various thermal insulation materials are used. Insulated walls, floors and roofs will retain heat better and you will have to spend less on electricity.
- Installation of an additional heat accumulator. The device is designed in the heating system in such a way that it collects heat energy during the period of minimum electricity cost and releases it when the boiler is turned off during the period of maximum energy consumption. The system operates using automatic on and off controls.
- Installation with restoration of ventilation systems, which helps to retain heat and return it to the room, as well as prevent the entry of cold air from the street.
- Keeping the normal temperature in the apartment at the same level. To do this, it is necessary to install special equipment that will automatically control the temperature in the room when the indicators change outside.
- The use of two-circuit boilers, allows you to heat water in boilers to a comfortable temperature without overheating, as this increases the load on the electrical network.
- Installing a boiler with good thermal insulation that will keep the water hot for a long time. As a result, water can be heated at night, saving energy costs.
Is it possible to save energy in A+ class household appliances?
Home appliances are divided into energy efficiency classes. The advertisement states that an A+ class refrigerator or washing machine will help save electricity. Really?
In order to make sure that all models consume approximately the same amount of electricity during operation, it is worth comparing the actual energy consumption of different categories of equipment. The only advantage of higher-end appliances is that for the same amount of kilowatts, the refrigerator freezes more and the oven heats up faster. Thus, changing the equipment will not solve the problem of how to save energy at home on a global scale.
That is, with equal energy consumption, high category models use electricity more efficiently in terms of performing their work.
Let's look at an example. A class B refrigerator uses 485 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. An A+ class equipment model with the same volume and number of cameras consumes 272 kilowatt-hours of energy per year.
If you install a high-end refrigerator, you need to multiply the kilowatt-hour by the average tariff to find out how much money you save, for the capital it is 5. 38 rubles. It turns out that you can save 1146 rubles a year.
If a new refrigerator costs 30 thousand rubles, it will pay for itself in 30 years. If you have equipment that was purchased many years ago but works properly, buying another one will not save you any money. In the case of serious damage and the need to replace the refrigerator with a new one, choose models taking into account your financial capabilities. Buying a more expensive high energy efficiency option does not guarantee a reduction in electricity costs.
Consequences of illegal energy saving
Illegal actions can cause problems:
- If the electricity meter is damaged or magnetized, the owner is obliged to pay the fee for the use of energy in accordance with the rates and tariffs adopted by the Decision. As a result, the cost of electricity will be much higher than the meter payment.
- The owner must buy a new electricity meter, which costs from one and a half to four thousand rubles.
- The offender will be subject to an administrative fine in the amount of 10-15 thousand rubles (Article 7. 19). If a person steals more than 250, 000 rubles of electricity, he faces a criminal penalty.
- If the claim of the energy supply organization is upheld, the owner will be civilly liable, he will have to pay fines and interest.
Advertisements of special devices that help reduce energy consumption by 25-30% are posted on various information resources. But you should not think that there is a device that can do this using legal methods. There are real facts that confirm that this device will not help you save electricity:
- This is not profitable for the resource supply organizations, they will not allow it.
- According to the laws of physics, this is impossible - you consume as much energy as one kilowatt from the grid is consumed by your equipment.
You should not be deceived and commit a crime for the sake of profit. Better use legal methods to save energy. This way, you'll spend less money on your electricity bills and help reduce your harmful impact on the environment. You just need to be smart about resource consumption.