With so many electrical appliances at home, maintaining them all in good shape can be a tricky business. Here are some advices on how best to do that!
General tips:
1. Place insulation on the outside of the external walls – this will increase the internal temperature by ~2 degrees.
2. Improve the insulation of your floor and ceiling – it will increase the internal temperature by ~1 degree.
3. When choosing a new home always make sure that the most used rooms are getting maximum sunlight.
4. When acquiring a new appliance always take a careful look at its water and energy consumption.
5. One slightly leaking water tap can waste over 170 liters of water per month.
6. Lowering the internal temperature of your home usually leads to 5-6% energy decrease.
7. Phone chargers consume electricity when they are plugged-in even if they are not charging anything. Always plug them off when you’re not using them!
8. TVs, audio systems, and DVD players can be big energy consummators even when you’re not using them. If possible, turn them off entirely. A TV on stand-by can consume ~73kWh yearly.
Saving energy when heating your home:
1. Place your heating devices (radiators, storage heaters, etc.) exactly under the windows – this will conserve ~5% energy.
2. Maintain the reflective surfaces of appliances with radiant heating clean – the effect can save you more than 2% energy.
3. Mount thermostats for automatic adjustment to your heating devices in order to maintain the preset room temperature – this way you can save up to 15% energy.
4. Underfloor heating is not suitable for every home, but often times it can not only drastically increase your comfort, but also lead to a 15%+ decrease of energy consumption. Always keep it into consideration when choosing the heating system of your new home.
5. Do your best to regularly replace your older and less efficient heating devices and systems with newer ones that have higher efficiency – the effect in energy-saving can be astonishing.
Saving energy when cooking:
1. Oven doors can quite often undistinguishably fail to make good contact. This can lead to a 5-7% energy loss.
2. You can save energy by not only preheating the oven, but by also switching it to minimum power several minutes before you’re done cooking (the amount of time depends on what you’re cooking of course).
3. The dishes most suitable for cooking in an oven are ceramic ones or those made out of thick metals. Also use cooking foil.
4. It’s best to use the full capacity of the oven. Also use it for several subsequent dishes if possible to avoid reheating it.
5. Don’t put things you’ve just taken out of the fridge into the oven – let them warm up to room temperature first.
6. Use pots with thick and completely flat bottoms on the stove – a 1 mm bump on the bottom leads to ~15% excess electricity.
7. Always make sure that the diameter of the cooking pot is not smaller than that of the stove plate – otherwise you’re wasting energy.
8. Pressure cooking pots are very energy efficient.
Saving energy from the fridge:
1. Choose the fridge that best suits your needs – using a needlessly big fridge is a waste of energy.
2. A refrigerator should never be placed near an oven or any other heating device.
3. Don’t heat the kitchen more than needed – fridges are affected by the temperature of the room they are in. The ideal humidity of the kitchen is ~80%
4. Install the refrigerator vertically and slightly tilted backwards (this ensures perfect sealing). Provide free air circulation at the back. This will achieve 1-2% savings.
5. Don’t put warm things in the fridge.
6. Open the fridge as rarely and as quickly as possible.
7. Unfreeze and clean your refrigerator as often as possible – half an inch of ice in it can equal much higher electrical expenses.
8. Regularly clean the back of your fridge where the heating components are.
9. Make sure that the fridge door is always in good condition – change the rubber covering if needed to avoid excess energy expenses.
Saving energy from the bathroom boiler:
1. Before acquiring a boiler for your bathroom carefully estimate how big you need it to be – a needlessly big boiler is a waste of energy.
2. Turn off the boiler when you have enough heated water – keeping it turned on is a waste of energy.
3. Insulate the hot water pipes of your boiler – this will save you ~5% energy.
4. Make sure to set the thermo-regulator right – preferably to 122-158 ºF
5. Regularly cleaning your bath boiler lowers its energy consumption, prolongs its life, and optimizes its power.
Saving energy from lighting:
1. Make sure that the walls in your home are painted in bright colors – this will save you quite a lot of energy from lighting in the long term.
2. Make sure that there are not any tall trees close to your windows – not closer than 15-20 feet.
3. Make sure to keep your windows clean at all times. Same goes for your lamps and light bulbs – dust on your lamp or light bulb can drastically decrease its efficiency.
4. Change your light bulbs as soon as they start glimmering – the fact that they are still working doesn’t mean that they are still efficient.
5. Turning energy-preserving light bulbs on and off too often drastically shortens their lifespan.
6. Use energy-preserving light bulbs.
7. Turn off the lights in rooms when you are not in them – you can save up to 10% energy by doing so.
Saving energy from the washing machine:
1. Use automated washing machines – they save a lot of water and electricity.
2. With non-automated washing machines make sure to regulate their temperature and water consumption.
3. Ensure optimal loading of the washing machine – it should be neither too full nor too empty.