How to Cut Energy Consumption at Home

With increasing fuel cost and its implied economic burden, here are a few ways by which you can decrease your energy consumption and increase your savings.

Natural thermostat: The most effective heating device is the sun. Many people think that there is no temperature control but it is not exactly true. The sun cannot serve the function of a centralized heating system for a house, neither can the temperature be adjusted in single point Fahrenheit, but it is definitely an efficient energy management option. The best way to control a room's temperature is by using you window blinds. By opening them completely, we allow a lot of light to enter the house, thereby increasing the green house effect and in turn increasing the warmth of the house. Note that this is not effective when the windows are open on a cold day or where you have a cooling system running. The temperature can be moderated by adjusting the blinds, there by restricting the amount of sunlight entering the room.

Switch off unwanted electronic appliances: The highest consumption of power is due to unnecessary consumption of electricity by electronic appliances not in use. A typical example is leaving the personal computer, laptops and routers switched ON for hours together when not in use. Though these appliances do not consume a large amount of energy, their overall consumption on a monthly basis is significantly higher. Try to switch OFF these appliances when no one will be in the house for the longer part of the day.

Water heating: This is another source of high power consumption. It takes a lot of energy to heat water to higher temperatures and to maintain it at that temperature. Under most common circumstances, the chance of using hot water is very low and human consumption is constitutes of warm or mildly hot water. In cases like this we can set the water temperature in the heater to somewhere between 100-130F. This will keep the water warm enough for human consumption. Solar water heaters are another source of efficient water heating. They allow continuous supply of warm or mildly hot water during most parts of the day, but cannot be used during nights. They can be used as a backup for electric water heaters, who use can thus be minimized.

Fluorescent light bulbs: You can try to use fluorescent light bulbs rather than white or yellow light bulbs. The fluorescent light bulbs are more efficient in the sense they are brighter compared to its counterparts also more energy efficient, consuming relatively lower power than the other kinds. Even if you are using fluorescent lights, it is still advantageous to switch off these lights when not in use.

Bulk usage of dishwasher and laundry: Try to do most of the laundry and dish washing in bulks as and when possible. Frequent use of laundry and dish washers lead to heavy consumption of power and water resources. This does not mean that we will have to live with dirty clothes and dishes, it merely translates that we should do it as bulk when and where possible.