Energy wastage occurs when you use up too much water, electricity, or gas without a definite purpose. It’s estimated that almost $250 million of electricity alone is wasted every year. Here are some excellent tips to help you stop wasting energy at home.
Insulate your pipes
Water loses heat as it moves through your pipes. Using self-seal pipe insulation can help your pipes retain heat as water travels through it to your faucets. This helps you save energy since you won’t have to use your hot water heater so often.
Ensure that your appliances are Energy Star-certified
An Energy Star certification guarantees that your appliances have been tested and guaranteed to be energy efficient. Washers, dryers, lightbulbs, and refrigerators are just some appliances that should be certified.
Utilize a smart thermostat
Smart thermostats can help you optimize the temperature on your heater or air conditioner. You can also set smart thermostats to turn off these appliances after a certain amount of time has passed or if you aren’t in the room anymore. This ensures that your usage is regulated and you aren’t wasting valuable energy.
Time your showers
Set a timer to tell you when to get out of the shower. Keep your showers under five minutes and make sure to lower the temperature on your water heater.
Tint your windows or install shades
Tinting your windows and installing solar shades means that your home will stay much cooler during the summer months, limiting your air conditioner use. It’ll also help retain heat during the wintertime.
Replace damaged doors and windows
Cold or warm air can leak out of doors and windows that are damaged. Make sure to sea up any gaps or cracks, and use a weather strip to patch up any more openings where air could get out.
Use an extension cord
Rather than leaving chargers and gadgets plugged into different outlets, it’s easy to have them plugged into one extension cord instead. This makes it easier to unplug all of them in one go.
Draw your curtains in the morning and afternoon
Rather than using light bulbs to illuminate your house in the morning and afternoon, let natural light do the job instead. It’s not only good for your energy savings, it’s good for your health and well-being too.
Use smart light bulbs
You should always make it a point to remember to turn off the light when not in use, but it’s easy to forget. A smart light bulb can connect to an app on your phone. It’ll be much easier for you to remember to turn it off this way even if you’re not in the room.
Wash clothes in lukewarm water
Rather than heating up water to wash your clothes, you can reduce the energy consumption on your washing machine by switching to lukewarm or even cold water instead. This is good enough to thoroughly clean clothing and bedsheets.
Switch out your air filters
Dirty and clogged air filters can make your HVAC unit work twice as hard to pull in air. It’s important to clean it out or regularly change it to make sure it’s working properly.
Do your part in saving the planet and reducing the size of your carbon footprint with these practical tips to stop energy wastage.
