Tips to save money on energy consumption

Besides being good to your wallet, saving money on energy consumption is good for the environment. If you consume less energy, this will prevent the global warming from getting worse; thus, avoiding all the consequences this has.

For this reason, we will now provide some tips for you to save energy, and money.

Heating:

-Don’t keep the windows open if the heating is on (ventilating the house only takes around 15-15 minutes)

-Install a thermostat, and keep it in about 20°C during winter (for every additional grade, you will spend 5% more of energy).

-Do not cover the heating sources with curtains, or the like.

- Close the radiators you don’t use, and turn off the heat if there is no one at home.

- Check the boiler periodically, in order to raise its efficiency and duration.

- The best heating systems go in the following order: solar, biogas, or bio-mass, wood, natural gas, propane gas, and butane.

Light:

- Use sun light as much as you can

- Don’t let the light on, if there is nobody in the room

- Use fluorescent or low-consumption lights (they may be a bit more expensive, but they consume 5 times less than the regular ones)

- Clean the lights periodically, in order to have better light.

- Use white or light-colored painting on your ceilings, walls and furniture (they reflect and distribute the light better)

Electrical appliances:

- Check the instructions manual of the appliance, and it will tell you how much it consumes. This is important when buying a new one.

- Is the appliances are old, check them, since they can generate energy loses that will be registered (and charged).

- TVs and radios consume energy even when they are off. If they have a light on, they are on stand-by mode. For that reason, it is better to unplug them.

- Fridges must be located on a low-temperature environmet, and 15 cm from the wall. If they loose the cold, the excluder should be changed, and you must avoid accumulation of too much ice (more than 2mm, will consume 10% more of electricity). Moreover, the average temperature of the food should be 3-5°C; lees than that will raise the (unnecessary) consumption. And, avoid opening it all the time.

- If you have an electric hot water tank, it will consume a lot. Choose the right capacity according to the amount of people that live in the house, and keep it to a temperature of 55°C.

- Air conditioners consume a lot, as well. On the other hand, vents (ceiling vents, on a low-medium speed, specially) don’t.

- Irons consume a lot of energy.

- If you have a dishwasher, wait until it is completely full. A full load of the dishwasher spends lees water than doing it manually. Moreover, lower the water temperature.

These are some of the things you can do to save money and energy. They are small things, that can do a lot.