Many people are, therefore, seeking to reduce their energy consumption to save money.
How about you?
Here are three areas in which you can make a few minor adjustments to reduce your electric bill:
Cut Off the Phantom Power
Also known as “standby energy”, phantom power is the energy electrical appliances use just by the mere fact of being plugged in, that is, even when they are not in use. According to Ontario’s Hydro One, the average Canadian home has at least 25 appliances that use standby power. This can make up to 10% of a household’s electric bill, thus adding approximately 150$ to their yearly electric bill.
Would you like to save this amount of money on your energy bill? If so, all you must do is unplug any electrical appliance that you are not currently using. For example, toasters, coffee makers, chargers, televisions and game consoles are all appliances that can be unplugged until the next time you are ready to use them. You can further reduce your phantom power consumption by using power bars to group electronics such as computers, monitors, and printers, and by shutting the power bar off when you are done using them.
Hot Water
According to Natural Resources Canada, “water heaters account for 19% of the energy used in the average Canadian home”. This means that almost 1/5th of your electric bill goes towards heating water that you will use, among other things, for baths and showers, for preparing food, for washing clothes and for doing the dishes. So, here are four things you can do to save money in those areas:
- Take showers instead of baths, which use much more water.
- Replace your regular shower head for a low-flow kind. By doing this you can reduce the hot water you use when you take a shower by up to 30%.
- Wait until your dishwasher is full before starting it, and then use the shortest cycle possible.
- Wash your clothes in cold water.
- If possible, lower the temperature of your water heater.
Timing is Everything
Use timers to help effortlessly reduce your energy consumption. For instance, outdoor lights, safety lights, swimming pool filters, and numerous other appliances can all be put on timers to shut them off at a certain hour. Additionally, to save money on electric heating costs, you can replace regular thermostats for programmable ones, then regulate them so that they lower automatically at night when you are sleeping and won’t notice the difference in temperature.
These are just three of the areas in which energy consumption can easily be lowered. All you need to do is to make a few adjustments to the way you are used to doing things. A small effort indeed, when you consider all the money you will be saving.