Energy efficiency reduces the effects of pollution and is also seen as a solution to the problem of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency isn’t just easier on the environment; it also saves you money!
Here are some things that can be used to make our home more environment friendly and energy efficient.
Smart Power Strips: Cut down standby power with Smart Strips, it allows you to connect multiple appliances to a single electrical outlet. Though with traditional power strips, devices plugged in often consume electricity even when you aren’t using them. This results in larger electrical bills and poor home energy efficiency. Smart power strips solve this problem by cutting power to connected items in standby mode.
LED Lighting: If you’re still using regular fixtures and bulbs, switching to LED lighting could greatly reduce your monthly energy bills. Aside from increasing your energy-efficiency and containing none of the toxic chemicals that most other light bulbs do, LED bulbs have a much longer lifespan and can be used for up to 100,000 hours before they need to be replaced.
Smart Thermostats: The thermostats work by adjusting the temperature in your house based on whether or not you’re home, and which rooms are in use. Smart thermostats help users take anywhere from 10 to 15 percent off their heating and cooling bills.
Energy Efficient Plumbing: Energy efficient toilets provide another excellent way to reduce your energy consumption, this time by saving water. If your toilet was made earlier than 1994, replacing it with a high-efficiency model can save you more than 4,000 gallons of water per year.
Energy Saving Apps: Energy Saving Apps like Homeselfe ask a few quick questions about your energy habits, and then generate a comprehensive report that provides ideas on how to improve your efficiency.
If one wants to embrace sustainability into their homes, here are some ways to make homes energy efficient:
Try daylighting as an alternative: Daylighting is a way in which natural light can be used to illuminate the home’s interior. This helps in saving energy that is usually used to brighten up living spaces. Most of the energy used in residential areas is mainly due to the need for cool living spaces. Designing homes in a way where there is plenty cross ventilation and windows help in reducing the usage of electronic devices for cooling. If used correctly, it is key to avoiding leakages of electricity since the lesser devices used, the simpler it is to manage energy. One can also go for clerestory windows which are short, wide windows set high on the wall that protect from the summer sun and allow winter sun to come through for natural lighting, warmth and comfort.
Install energy efficient appliances: A full-fledged summer season is upon us where humidity along with hot air causes everyone to use multiple cooling devices wherever they are. These are the times where cooling devices like fans etc. are always switched on in almost every room of the house 24/7 causing tremendous use of energy. Typically, in Indian households the most common type of cooling device used is a ceiling fan. This is a great opportunity to make homes energy efficient by switching from normal ceiling fans to energy saving fans as they can contribute to more than 25% of the overall electricity bills. Nowadays, there are BLDC ceiling fans which not only provide superior cooling experience but also help in saving 50% more energy than a conventional fan. Thus, they not only increase power savings and help save precious energy but also lead to cutting your electric bills in half which helps in maximizing electricity cost savings.
Cook smart: An enormous amount of energy is wasted while cooking. To reduce this energy consumption, one can attempt a simple yet energy-efficient way of eating food when freshly prepared and avoiding reheating of food to save energy. Matching a utensil’s size to the flame can help in limiting wastage of energy that goes unused when the flame is bigger than the utensil; using lids on pots and pans helps heat food more quickly than cooking in uncovered pots and pans since steam causes thorough cooling of food.
Seal and insulate your living spaces: If your homes are sealed properly it makes for one of the most affordable ways to achieve comfort and energy-efficiency, and one can even do it themselves if they choose to. Try communicating with an energy auditor – someone who assesses leakages of energy in the building or individual houses by checking the pathways of electricity from the local electric board to one’s home. They ensure to envelope and recommend fixes that will dramatically decrease energy consumption up to 5-30% and help achieve monetary savings too.
Energy efficiency reduces the effects of pollution and is also seen as a solution to the problem of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. Energy efficiency isn’t just easier on the environment; it also saves you money!
Here are some things that can be used to make our home more environment friendly and energy efficient.
Smart Power Strips: Cut down standby power with Smart Strips, it allows you to connect multiple appliances to a single electrical outlet. Though with traditional power strips, devices plugged in often consume electricity even when you aren’t using them. This results in larger electrical bills and poor home energy efficiency. Smart power strips solve this problem by cutting power to connected items in standby mode.
LED Lighting: If you’re still using regular fixtures and bulbs, switching to LED lighting could greatly reduce your monthly energy bills. Aside from increasing your energy-efficiency and containing none of the toxic chemicals that most other light bulbs do, LED bulbs have a much longer lifespan and can be used for up to 100,000 hours before they need to be replaced.
Smart Thermostats: The thermostats work by adjusting the temperature in your house based on whether or not you’re home, and which rooms are in use. Smart thermostats help users take anywhere from 10 to 15 percent off their heating and cooling bills.
Energy Efficient Plumbing: Energy efficient toilets provide another excellent way to reduce your energy consumption, this time by saving water. If your toilet was made earlier than 1994, replacing it with a high-efficiency model can save you more than 4,000 gallons of water per year.
Energy Saving Apps: Energy Saving Apps like Homeselfe ask a few quick questions about your energy habits, and then generate a comprehensive report that provides ideas on how to improve your efficiency.
If one wants to embrace sustainability into their homes, here are some ways to make homes energy efficient:
Try daylighting as an alternative: Daylighting is a way in which natural light can be used to illuminate the home’s interior. This helps in saving energy that is usually used to brighten up living spaces. Most of the energy used in residential areas is mainly due to the need for cool living spaces. Designing homes in a way where there is plenty cross ventilation and windows help in reducing the usage of electronic devices for cooling. If used correctly, it is key to avoiding leakages of electricity since the lesser devices used, the simpler it is to manage energy. One can also go for clerestory windows which are short, wide windows set high on the wall that protect from the summer sun and allow winter sun to come through for natural lighting, warmth and comfort.
Install energy efficient appliances: A full-fledged summer season is upon us where humidity along with hot air causes everyone to use multiple cooling devices wherever they are. These are the times where cooling devices like fans etc. are always switched on in almost every room of the house 24/7 causing tremendous use of energy. Typically, in Indian households the most common type of cooling device used is a ceiling fan. This is a great opportunity to make homes energy efficient by switching from normal ceiling fans to energy saving fans as they can contribute to more than 25% of the overall electricity bills. Nowadays, there are BLDC ceiling fans which not only provide superior cooling experience but also help in saving 50% more energy than a conventional fan. Thus, they not only increase power savings and help save precious energy but also lead to cutting your electric bills in half which helps in maximizing electricity cost savings.
Cook smart: An enormous amount of energy is wasted while cooking. To reduce this energy consumption, one can attempt a simple yet energy-efficient way of eating food when freshly prepared and avoiding reheating of food to save energy. Matching a utensil’s size to the flame can help in limiting wastage of energy that goes unused when the flame is bigger than the utensil; using lids on pots and pans helps heat food more quickly than cooking in uncovered pots and pans since steam causes thorough cooling of food.
Seal and insulate your living spaces: If your homes are sealed properly it makes for one of the most affordable ways to achieve comfort and energy-efficiency, and one can even do it themselves if they choose to. Try communicating with an energy auditor – someone who assesses leakages of energy in the building or individual houses by checking the pathways of electricity from the local electric board to one’s home. They ensure to envelope and recommend fixes that will dramatically decrease energy consumption up to 5-30% and help achieve monetary savings too.