The need to save energy will never lose its relevance. Who wouldn't want a reduction in their electricity bill? And saving, it turns out, is not so difficult. You do not need ultramodern household appliances and technologies, simple, proven methods will be enough.
At the same time, it is important to know not only how to save energy, but also why you should do it. And it's not just about saving the family budget. By turning off the lights behind you and using energy-efficient solutions, you help protect nature. But let's talk about everything in order.
The importance of saving energy
Many people do not understand why they save energy. First, this way you can save money in the family budget. Second, many irreplaceable resources are used up every day to produce energy: coal, oil, gas, and emissions from thermal power plants pollute the atmosphere.
In recent years, the volume of greenhouse gases that appear due to the release of carbon into the environment has increased rapidly. Their accumulation leads to global warming and natural disasters, which affects every inhabitant of the Earth.
If all people on the planet think about how to save energy and start using resources efficiently, there is a chance to preserve nature for future generations. Let's take a look at the best ways to save energy at home.
4 simple ways to save energy
Anyone can take care of nature, it only takes a little. Let's find out more about what allows you to save energy.
Using LED lamps instead of conventional ones
LED lamps consume 6-10 times less energy than incandescent lamps. At the same time, their service life is up to 50 times longer. LED lamps are 1. 5-3 times more economical than energy-saving bulbs and shine 10 times longer.
Types of energy-saving lamps:
- Mercury bulbs. They consume 4 times less electricity than incandescent lamps. After use, they cannot be thrown away, but must be disposed of in special containers.
- LED bulbs. These are consumables of a new generation. They work much longer than mercury, consume little electricity and do not contain toxins. The only disadvantage of light bulbs is their high cost.
Turn off lights when not needed
The first way to save energy is to use the resource as needed. Sometimes the lack of a good habit of pressing the key leads to the fact that the light is on even during the day or when everyone has left the house. To remember to turn off the power, you can put a reminder note in visible places. For example: "Check the electricity, gas, water! "You can also turn off the power to the entire apartment using a common switch before you leave the house.
Heat water in a kettle on a gas stove if you have one.
This is another way to save energy at home. It takes a lot of kilowatts to boil water in an electric kettle. This household appliance is quite powerful, some options have more than 2 kW. Compared to an LED bulb, it consumes about 10 watts per hour. That's 200 times less than a kettle.
If you have a gas stove in your apartment, you can heat the kettle on it. This will reduce electricity consumption.
Use of motion sensors
If you have a large private house and an area that needs to be lit, you can install motion sensors. They will turn on the lights when someone enters the area. The devices do not react to animals. In a private house, a lot of electricity is used to illuminate the area.
It is worth placing the sensors so that the light turns on according to the movement of the person and turns off after he passes further. The device works at a distance of three meters. Motion sensors are one of the effective ways to save energy in a private home.
Similar devices are also available for indoor use. They automatically turn on the light in the room when a person enters it. The sensor detects changes in the capacitive component and the light turns on.
Room zoning as a great way to save energy
Organize effective lighting of the premises through proper zoning of the space. Use different light sources in different functional parts of the room: chandeliers, table lamps, bedside lamps, sconces. Each zone has its own lighting methods. For example, in the living room install:
- A large chandelier in the center of the room with a two-key switch for adjustment.
- Floor lamp in the recreation area.
- Desk lamp on the desktop.
If a light is needed in a separate area, you can simply turn it on there instead of always using the main light. To maintain normal vision, the room should not be dark when you are engaged in creative work or reading. Also, the lack of light negatively affects the nervous system, which leads to depression or headaches.
Saving electricity using a multi-tariff meter
If you are thinking about how to save electricity in your apartment, you can install a multi-tariff meter. This will help you reduce your electricity costs. Ordinary consumers have access to two-tariff and three-tariff meters.
Two-tariff electricity meters calculate energy consumption for the day and night separately. The night tariff for electricity is lower than the daytime tariff. To save money, you can turn on washing machines and dishwashers after midnight by setting them to a delayed start mode.
Not all areas have the option to switch to two tariffs. With this service you can save up to 70% of your energy consumption.
Having a two-tariff meter, you can use devices such as a bread machine or a multicooker that will prepare delicious meals for you at night, while saving energy.
For people who use a water heater for heating water, using a two-phase meter will be a good way to properly save energy. You can set a timer for the device to work only at night from 11: 00 PM to 7: 00 AM.
There are meters that divide the day into three periods: "night" - from 23. 00 to 7. 00, "peak" - from 7. 00 to 10. 00 and from 17. 00 to 21. 00 hours, "semi-peak"- from 10. 00 to 17. 00 and from 21. 00 to 23. 00. Electricity costs are lowest at night and most expensive during peak hours. Installing multi-tariff meters has a number of advantages:
- Use of electricity when costs are minimal.
- The price of the device is justified if the correct distribution of the load in the network is observed.
- Tri-rate meters cannot be hacked and reconfigured.
- Possibility to transmit the readings via the Internet.
The possibility of using two-tariff meters is often found. Tri-tariff devices should be purchased by those who spend a lot of electricity during the daylight hours. By avoiding grid load during peak hours, you can save electricity, as morning and evening hours are the most expensive according to the tariff - the price increases by 70%.
People who live in private houses and heat them with electric boilers must reduce the power of the device during peak hours, otherwise they will not be able to reduce energy costs.
Ways to save energy with a boiler and an electric water heater
All owners of cottages and private houses are concerned with the question of how they can save electricity if heating is done with an electric boiler, and water is heated using a boiler. It looks like the boards are going to be huge. It all depends on your efforts.
It is necessary to carefully consider the heating and hot water system.
- Good home insulation. For this purpose, various thermal insulation materials are used. Insulated walls, floors and roofs will retain heat better and you will have to spend less electricity.
- Installation of an additional heat accumulator. The device is built into the heating system so that it accumulates thermal energy during the period of minimum consumption of electricity and releases it when the boiler is turned off in the phase of maximum peak energy consumption. The system operates with automatic on and off controls.
- Installation of ventilation systems with recovery, which helps to retain heat and return it to the room, as well as prevent cold air from entering from the street.
- Maintaining normal temperature in the apartment at the same level. To do this, it is necessary to install special equipment that will automatically control the temperature in the room when the indicators change outside.
- Use of double-circuit boilers, which allows you to heat the water in the boilers to a comfortable temperature without overheating it, as this increases the load on the electrical network.
- Installation of a boiler with good thermal insulation, which will keep the water warm for a long time. As a result, water can be heated at night, saving energy costs.
Is it possible to save energy from A+ class household appliances?
Household appliances for the home are divided into energy efficiency classes. The ad states that an A+ class fridge or washing machine will help you save on electricity costs. Is it really?
It is worth comparing the actual energy consumption of equipment from different categories to ensure that all models consume approximately the same amount of electricity during operation. The only advantage of the higher class appliances is that for the same amount of kilowatts, the refrigerator freezes more and the oven heats up faster. Thus, replacing the equipment will not globally solve the problem of how to save energy at home.
That is, with the same energy consumption, high category models use electricity more efficiently in terms of their work.
Let's look at an example. A Class B refrigerator uses 485 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. A model of equipment with the same volume and number of cameras with class A+ consumes 272 kilowatt hours per year.
To find out how much money you save if you install a high-end refrigerator, you need to multiply the kilowatt hours by the average tariff rate, for the capital it is 5. 38 rubles. It turns out that you can save 1146 rubles per year.
If a new refrigerator costs 30 thousand rubles, it will pay for itself in 30 years. If you already have equipment that was purchased many years ago but is working properly, buying another one will not bring you any savings. In case of serious damage and the need to replace the refrigerator with a new one, choose models taking into account your own financial capabilities. Buying a more expensive, high-energy-efficiency option does not guarantee a reduction in electricity costs.
Consequences of illegal energy saving
Illegal actions can lead to problems:
- If the electricity meter is damaged or magnetized, the owner will be obliged to pay for the energy consumption according to the rates and tariffs adopted by the Resolution. As a result, the cost of electricity will be much higher than when paying with a meter.
- The owner will have to purchase a new electricity meter at a cost of one and a half to four thousand rubles.
- The violator is subject to an administrative fine of 10-15 thousand rubles (Article 7. 19). If a person steals electricity worth more than 250 thousand rubles, he faces a criminal penalty.
- The owner will be civilly liable if the claim of the energy supply organization is satisfied, and he will have to pay penalties and interest.
Advertisements for special devices that help reduce energy consumption by 25–30% are published in various information resources. But you should not think that there is a device that can do this using legal methods. There are real facts confirming that this device will not help you save electricity:
- This is not beneficial for resource delivery organizations; they won't allow that.
- According to the laws of physics, this is impossible - you spend as much energy as the kilowatt is consumed by the network from your equipment.
You must not mislead and commit crimes in pursuit of profit. Better use legal energy saving methods. In this way, you will spend less money on electricity bills and also help reduce the harmful impact on the environment. To do this, you just need to be smart about your resource consumption.