
Energy-saving tips can be a difficult thing to implement in your home. You may have heard that they are good for the environment, but when you start looking at the bigger picture, things get a little more complicated.
It seems like there is always some sort of trade-off with energy-saving tips and it’s difficult to know what really works best.
In this article, Mark Johnson, leading home design expert at ByPurify will look at 7 practical ways that you can save energy around your house without sacrificing your comfort or convenience.
Energy Conservation: 7 Ways to Save Energy
With the rapidly increasing cost of energy, it is important to take steps in our homes that will reduce our bills. The following tips are designed to help you save money and protect your family from unnecessary exposure to high levels of electricity.
1. Make Changes to Your Day-to-Day Habits
You don’t have to go out and buy energy-efficient appliances to cut down on your home’s energy consumption. Turning off lights and appliances when they are not in use is a simple way to save energy. You can also save energy by doing household duties by hand, such as hanging your clothes to dry instead of putting them in the dryer or hand-washing your dishes.
2. Use Energy Efficient Appliances
Appliances account for around 13% of total household energy use on average. While looking for an energy-efficient appliance like a canister vacuum, search for one that has the Energy Star designation, which is a federal assurance that the appliance will use less energy while in use and when not in use than regular models.
3. Replace Your Light Bulbs
Traditional incandescent light bulbs use a lot of energy and need to be replaced more frequently than their energy-efficient counterparts. Although energy-efficient bulbs are initially more expensive, their efficient energy use and longer lifespan result in lower long-term costs.
4. Reduce Water Heating Expenses
Water heating accounts for a significant portion of your total energy consumption. You can save money on water heating by simply using less hot water, turning down the thermostat on your water heater, or insulating your water heater and the first six feet of hot and cold-water pipes, in addition to getting an energy-efficient water heater.
5. Use Smart Power Strips
By turning off the power to gadgets when they are not in use, smart power strips, also known as advanced power strips, alleviate the problem of phantom loads. Smart power strips can be programmed to turn off at a specific time, after a period of inactivity, via remote switches, or in response to the condition of a master device.
6. Install Energy Efficient Windows
Windows are a major source of energy waste, accounting for 10 to 25% of your entire heating expense. You can replace single-pane windows with double-pane goods to prevent heat loss via your windows. Heat gain through windows can be an issue in hotter regions. Low-e window coatings reduce heat gain by reflecting lighter and limiting the amount of thermal energy that enters your home, in addition to minimizing heat loss.
7. Upgrade Your HVAC System
Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment make up an HVAC system. Heating accounts for more than 40% of total home energy consumption. Because residences in Northern regions are subjected to substantially colder temperatures throughout the year, Energy Star gas furnaces in the northern and southern parts of the United States have differing criteria.
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