Home Energy Use: Where does it go and how can I save?
Home Energy Use: Where does it go and how can I save?
Did you ever wonder where does your electric consumption go? And did you ever wonder how are you going to save on your electric bill? Well, you need not to ask these questions without getting the right answers anymore. This article will tell you the answers to these 2 questions.
The largest portion of your electric consumption goes to space heating, 47% to be exact. This is almost half of the cost of our electric bill. The other half is shared by lighting and appliance with 24%, water heating with 17%, air conditioning with 6%, and refrigeration with 5%.
With this information at hand, we can easily determine when to start our move to keep the our electric consumption low.
Since the largest part of our electric consumption goes to space heating, we will start here.
Insulating the parts of your home particularly the ceiling and walls save you as much as 30% on heating expenses that equates to 15% savings on total electric cost. Doing this will of course require you to invest on materials that will be placed around your home but it is worth the money. Imagine a 0 savings per year just by insulating your home.
Also, you can further save on heating expenses if you superinsulate your home if you are living in cooler environment.
Doing some changes around your home will certainly make a difference on your electric bill. If you live on warm climate, a shade of a deciduous tree will cool down your area that will save you on air conditioning. An appropriate roof and wall painting will further give you extra savings.
Covering your window with plastic coating will provide extra insulation. This will help to keep the heat from going outside as well as the cold air from going inside the house.
Sealing all the leaks around your home will ensure that the heat will stay inside. Leaks will often come from windows, doors, sills, joints and walls.
A regular maintenance check on the furnace will keep it running efficiently, thus, ensuring you get space heat equals the electricity consumed. A clean air filter will also ensure that you get efficient air recycling as well as clean air. Leaking ducts will make your heating system work 30% more, thus, you are using power and spending more on wasted energy.
A quarter of our electric bill goes to the lighting and appliances. Here, we would concentrate on the control and responsible use of lights and electronic devices.
Make sure that you turn the lights off when not in use. Turn off the lights when you leave the room even for a few minutes. Turn off the stereo and television if you are not using them.
Reduce the thermostat of your refrigerator. It constitutes 20% of your household electric consumption.
Wash your clothes with cold water. You can save as much as 90% on washing machine’s electric consumption if you will not use the heating. You do not need warn water so kill the germs on your clothes. The detergent will do.
Only use the dishwasher if you intend a full load dishwashing. Dishwasher uses the same amount of power and water whether you full load them or not. Also, prefer air-drying your dishes instead of heating them inside the dishwasher.
Reducing the temperature of your water heater will also help you to further reduce the cost of your home energy bill. If the thermostat of your water heater is set on 140 degrees Fahrenheit, lower it down to 120. It will be enough to give you warn water. Invest on water heater jacket. It is cheap but will certainly yield to bigger savings.
If you are going to replace your appliance, make sure you select energy efficient ones. Energy guide details can be seen on the label of each new appliance.
Compact energy bulbs are cheaper and more energy efficient than incandescent lights. Compact lights also last 8-10 times longer than incandescent bulbs so you will also save yourself from buying incandescent bulbs 8-10 times.
Replace your regular showerheads with low-flow ones. This will reduce your water consumption by as much as 40%.
