How to Save Power at Your Home
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Have you ever received your power bill & thought “what the heck happened here?!” or “who used all this power?!” I have. Gone are the days of when power was about 10c per Kw/h & your bill was a couple of hundred dollars. Depending on where you live, you might have peak, off peak, summer tariffs etc. & it’s a bit confusing how the utility company actually calculates your bill in the end. Well you know what? I detest ‘donating’ money to utility companies. One of my pet hates. I prefer to save power. They rake in millions of your hard earned dollars every year & at times when you most need it, there’s blackouts in summer & it’s 100 degrees in the shade! Or there may be ‘brownouts’ when you’re working on your PC or taping a TV show & it’s ruined what you were doing as your screen flickered off for a second. “Increasing burden on our infrastructure” they say, “the population explosion creates a high demand on resources” sprouts the government. It’s time to fight back! Stop ‘donating’!
Some of these tips are SO obvious but do you reckon your kids know to save power?…or practise them?
Probably not. Train them too.
Here are some things to do to save power:
~ Switch the light off when you leave a room.
~ Switch off appliances at the powerpoint when you’re not using them. (yes even a tiny bit of power is being used when the PP switch is on)
~ Turn off your TV/stereo/video/DVD player standby switch when it’s not in use as it’s using a lot of power in standby mode.
~ Toss your incandescent light bulbs & use energy saving bulbs (CFLs)- their cost has nose dived in recent years & they last for 1000’s of hours – a real no brainer that a lot of people are using to save power.
~ If your home has them or you’re considering it – LED downlights are a terrific substitute to halogen type bulbs, use a fraction of the power & are an attractive alternative to conventional room lighting.
~ Looking at new whitegoods? Check out their ‘star’ rating for energy efficiency.
~ Front loading washing machines use less power than top loaders, plus most modern units just use cold water & heat water themselves when required.
~ Have a clothes dryer? Only use it if you have to – hang your clothes up (or better still, get the kids to do it!)
~ Insulate your home – your roof space is a critical area to keep in the warmth in winter & cool in summer as well as draught proofing windows & doorways. Do you have old sash type windows? These are very draughty so a reasonable fix is heavy drapes or replace them – go for the extra expense of double glazed or laminated windows. Your energy savings will pay for them in the long run.
~ Utilize thick roofing & wall batts if possible. Or choose an alternative – recycled paper based insulation can be ‘pumped’ into your roof or wall space. I’ve used this in my daughter’s bedroom roofspace & it made a massive difference. I wound up getting this for free from the government & the result was 2 great things – I got to save power & my favourite – save money!
~ Seal any gaps there might be on the exterior of your home like window & door architraves, eaves & loose roof tiles.
~ Set your air conditioner to 75 to 80 instead of 65 to 70 in summer. If you’ve got a split system A/C, make sure your inverter or compressor unit is housed in the shade or a cooler area if possible. A great system I did see once was a very high pressure misting device used in the vicinity of the inverter to cool the area around it utilizing “latent heat of vaporization” as used in some greenhouses. A great way to save power in your home as it doesn’t have to work as hard.
~ Hot water heaters. Set them at 140 – 150 this will be fine for adults & decrease it to 120 – 130 if you’ve got kids. Switch it off if you’re going away for a while. Solar H/W systems are great but critically need to be fixed north facing. Depending where you live & how much sunlight you get per day, you’ll still need to use the H/W boost on short winter days & obviously cloudy days too. “Heat pumps” are a relatively new innovation utilizing latent heat in the atmosphere to warm your water as well as an ‘air conditioner in reverse’ to heat the water on cool days or to your desired temperature. I’ve just had 1 installed & it’s fantastic + incredibly it’s cheaper to run than my old solar H/W system! What’s this system done for me? Another chance to save power – 1 of my favourite hobbies! They are expensive but I feel really good about it because it’s energy efficient AND I’m using rain water for it – win win.
~ Cooking. Your microwave oven is a proficient energy user as it only cooks your food compared to just heating your conventional electric oven. But, try to avoid using it to defrost something – plan ahead & let nature do it. If you can upgrade, get a fan forced oven as they’re more efficient too. Try to use wise practises like using a lid on your pots & pans. If you’re a carnivore, you can use other methods to cook now & then like having a BBQ & if you don’t have 1 – go out & get yourself a kettle oven. They are fantastic, the flavour is to die for & you’ve got many options to use for fuel like briquettes, charcoal, wet & dry wood etc. Bonus – it’s a way to save power & money.
~ Solar power. An expensive option for sure. Those who proclaim it can be done cheaply are probably pulling your leg. Get a system up & running for $200? I’d question the quality of such a system. We all know that going this way could take a sizable chunk out of your wallet if you want to take a sizable chunk out of your power bill. But you’d have to weigh up the pros & cons. Do you live in a particularly sunny area? Are you handy enough given the right tools, materials & know-how to build your own solar panels & install the array & infrastructure? Or do you get it done professionally? Do you just want to save power or will your system have the capacity to make your meter spin backwards? Power grid feed in tariffs vary widely dependent on where you live & are an excellent incentive. One other thing, if you’re lucky enough to have a shed, workshop or barn with a separate electricity meter, then that’s a great opportunity to produce your own power purely to make money with feed in tariffs & help your community as well.
~ Wind power. There are many different systems & turbine designs out in the market & again can be built by the home handyperson from kits or scratch. Obviously producing electricity is reliant on the consistency of breeze in your locality & if it’s not quite up to scratch then combining them with a solar powered system could be an option. Scout around on meteorological sites & the like to determine if it’s viable to power your home by these means.