Save Energy At Home Without Spending Money

You don't have to install solar panels on your roof, and windmills in the garden to be environmental. Here are some ways to save energy at home, and also save money on your fuel bills.

1. If like me you drink a lot of tea, boiling the kettle could be a good way to save energy. My kettle takes 1.32 minutes to boil 2 cups of water, and 4.22 minutes to boil a full kettle. Assuming someone filled a full kettle when they only needed 2 cups, and brewed up 3 times a day, that's about 52 hours of wasted kettle boiling over a year.
2. Switch lights off when you leave the room. If you have children that leave lights on, find some kind of incentive for them to always switch lights off when they leave the room. 
3. Have showers instead of baths. There is much more hot water needed for baths which will add considerably to your energy bill if you have them regularly.
4. Switch off all electrical goods when not in use. Most appliances still use energy when plugged in at the wall. This chart shows some comparisons of stand by power consumption. The set-top box is one of the highest power consumers in stand by mode.
5. Use energy saving light bulbs. The Are LEDs The Future article goes a bit more in depth about LEDs as an alternative to CFLs. Energy saving bulbs cost more initially, but over their lifetime will save a lot in power, and longevity.
6. Only have your central heating on when needed, and keep it as low as you feel comfortable with. 
7. Don't half fill the washing machine and tumble dryer. It is much more efficient to do a full load, than lots of little loads. Unless you have really dirty clothes, wash at 30 or 40 degrees. Or go extreme environmentalist and wash your clothes in a stream using biodegradable soap.

Published - Wed 21st Oct 2009 11:32:17