Everyone consumes electricity but not all of us may be aware of how we waste it needlessly. A visit to BC Hydro’s page can reveal how much it costs to run an electrical device in the home; grasping it is entirely different. While we pay for use in kilowatt-hour (kWh) billing units, we may not understand how much we unknowingly use in daily home consumption.
Certainly, most of us don’t have the time or, face it, the patience, to calculate all our electrical costs. Therefore, it’s convenient to be aware of simple, practical changes you can make right now to conserve electricity. Anyone can overcome the outdated habit of wasting electricity.
- Unplug electric heaters when not in use. This is possibly the biggest item homeowners forget about in terms of energy waste. According to the BC Hydro Power Smart site, a heater that draws up to 1,500 watts constantly cycling, can cost $150 over two months. That’s a significant waste of cash if it’s left on in a room with no one using it; turn it off.
- Furthermore, if you constantly neglect to turn the furnace down at night or when the family leaves the home for the day, you’re paying to heat an empty house. Paying to heat an empty house just doesn’t make much sense.
- If your home has a second fridge that’s rarely in use, perhaps in the garage, it’s costing you double the electricity. Why not unplug it over winter?
- Electronic devices left on all night, every night, add up to a substantial amount of squandered electricity. Have every family member power down at night and save.
- An electric fan left on while you step out is definitely an energy waster. Take the few seconds it takes to turn it off and unplug it when no one is in the home.
- Furthermore, plugged-in appliances and electronics you seldom use, even when not in use, are still sucking electricity 24/7. Unplug electrical vampires, such as unused lamps and toaster ovens.
- Do you live with a significant other who constantly leaves lights on in every room they leave? Although some of us are forever turning off lights throughout the home, it saves major dollars in electrical costs over a year.
- Do you love natural lighting in the home you are not in during the day? Leaving the blinds open all day throughout the hot summer months can heat up the home and guarantee expensive air conditioning bills to cool it down every evening. Leave the blinds down on sunny days and watch air conditioning bills decrease.
- Do you automatically reach for the hot water tap each time you run water? This habit can cost unnecessary heating bills to heat water when cool water is adequate.
- In addition, overlooked leaky faucets are a major source of needless heating charges. Tightening leaky taps is an easy and energy saving fix.
- For families who love to cook, let budding young chefs know that lids on pots greatly reduce cooking time, and thereby, energy costs.
- Experiment using cooler water settings on the dishwasher and washing machine. Indeed, if you’re washing laundry devoid of heavy dirt or stains, clothes come out perfectly clean in colder (less expensive) water.
- Finally, if you’re still using old retro lights, while they have an aesthetic and sentimental value, they’re also sucking energy like there’s no tomorrow. Better to plug them in less often and invest in newer, energy efficient lighting for the main light show.
Certainly, most of us are eager to know how we can conserve more electricity and reduce high electrical bills. The certified and experienced team at Walls can help with their decades of experience in electrical upgrades. Join the rest of the modern world in conserving energy while simultaneously making a huge impact on preserving our precious resources. Your wallet and future generations will appreciate it.
