How to save energy at home 33 tips and tricks

Tips to save energy and reduce spending energy at home

We all want to save energy at home with rising electric bills, but if you look at your around, every year we have more electronic devices in the housing.

They promise us that they are efficient, they consume almost no light, that we will have less energy expenditure , etc. Many tags! And few results.

To reduce energy consumption we have mainly two tracks; the first, change some things from the house and the other, change our habits or see how We work inside the house. To simplify…

An important role here is to analyze the price of the electricity. In most countries, throughout the day energy has a different price and it is there where we can reduce energy expenditure the most. For example, for Spain the following has been established hourly ratio:

You should always check if there is “discrimination” where you live hourly” in electricity consumption (Price variation electricity throughout the day). Before I begin, I would like add the following video with good explanations:

Since we are more or less clear about how we can act. Pay attention! It's time to see the tips to save energy in home and reduce household spending significantly blunt let's start!

How to save energy

In this section we give a quick review of the key points of how we save energy (Later, explains more extensively)

1. Analyze your habits at home a bit . By general rule, in home heating, heating the water hot along with household appliances, are the biggest focus of electricity consumption.
2. Look at the electricity bills, in what months you spend more. Those months are the ones we should be more watch out.
3. Take advantage of natural light . Although it seems obviously, there is a bad habit of opening lights when we still have enough sunlight.
4. Use less dense curtains and more transparent, it shows a lot! And avoid putting shelves intermediates in the living room. We don't take advantage of the light background.
5. Avoid dark colors on the wall, they absorb too much the brightness of natural light avoid them!
6. In rooms with little natural light, use light paint or white is perfect. The painting "satin" is low gloss and perfect to reflect more of the daylight.
7. Ceilings should always be matt white. There is many reasons why, but also contribute more luminosity to the rooms
8. It's a cliché though. The artificial lighting It must be from Leds those are important savings! AND buy good bulbs, in addition to lasting longer they have a better light quality, that is, we see things better.
9. It is best not to use "flush" lighting. ceiling» , that is, we are illuminating areas of the house we don't need Use pendant and floor lamps (Proven to be more effective with fewer watts – lumens of light)
10. If you buy a floor or pendant lamp. make sure that has a light intensity regulator (Almost all led lamps already have it incorporated) and there are even light bulbs that you can now regulate, you save on electricity!
11. There are many light switches that with movement perfect for hallways or entryways! home! And when we have little ones at home, even better.
12. Use weather stripping on windows and doors (It's that "foam" that you put on the frame.) Avoid very well passage of cold or heat. Put them all over the house, not just in the exterior doors.
13. Film to insulate glass window . It is a kind of "transparent plastic" that is added on the glass of the exterior windows (Prevents heat dispersion through the glass by 28% in single-glazed windows and up to 13% in double-glazed windows double glass).
14. Use blinds , they have multiple energy efficiency benefits in summer and winter, with Significant savings on electric bills.
15. In that facade that falls the Sun, you have to be attentive to raise the blinds to take advantage of the rays and that heat that it will bring us. And vice versa in summer, lower the blind in areas where the sun falls.
16. Unplug appliances that are not you need . The so-called silent “stand-by” consumption It represents 10% of everything you consume.
17. Ventilate the house for only 10 minutes, not all day. Avoid waste heat or enter summer.
18. Awnings are other elements that, especially in summer, will avoid the incidence of the Sun in the window, and, therefore, more heat.
19. For every degree more you increase the heating represents an economic increase of 7% in the consumption.
20. The maintenance of boilers is one of the topics main ones that we forget and that can save us up to 15% per year.
21. Don't let the furniture cover the radiators and these must be clean. We are making it difficult diffusion of heat.
22. In autumn, the radiators must be purged so they don't have air inside it will hinder the transmission of heat from the water to the air outside.
23. Use only the radiators in the bedrooms that you use , turn off the others.
24. Set the heating (thermostats) , It shows a lot on the electric bill. if you are not in home, don't turn them on.
25. In outdoor water heaters or thermos electrical. It is advisable to cover the pipes with some insulation so that the heat does not spread escape.
26. In water heaters or electric water heaters they should have thermostats (device that controls the temperature, as well as its on and off by programming). In modern devices, it is already incorporated standard, but can also be purchased separately.
27. Ceiling fans are a good alternative to they consume very little. Remember that they serve both summer and for winter, it depends on the movement of the blades.
28. With the air conditioning between 22 and 25 degrees is enough (Here you will have important savings). By the night, a little higher, that nothing happens and you will sleep the same.
29. It is necessary to clean the filters of the devices conditioned , both to avoid bad odors and dirt, so that the device works better and needs less electricity. If you see that the device expels little cold, you have to change the “gas” (It will be done by a technician)
30. Search appliances with labels efficient (The letter, the higher, the better) or you can change them, it shows a lot.
31. Use, especially the washing machine, during paid hours low.
32. There are mobile applications to reduce spending energetic very useful! For example «Save on Electricity. Hourly electricity price» shows the price per kilowatt hour (See at the end of the article).
33. Have a home automation system to control all devices (consumption meters energetic). It is very efficient, you will know where you spend and save, but remember that it is an important financial investment.

As well as energy savings in the company, also for the home we have to look at where we spend…

Look where we spend more energy and light

The following diagram indicates the electrical consumption in the home based on the services we use as well as what household appliances consume more at home for know where to act:

In average, the heating, heating the water hot along with household appliances , are the greater focus of electricity consumption , therefore less in Spain.

Even though air conditioning may seem like an expense important energy, actually, in most cases, it is plugged in for a short time; sometimes because we work in the office, others because we are on vacation or for a summer short and others, because it is not hot enough.

Disconnect for devices that you do not use in home

This is what is called consumption silent . Those electronic devices that we have in our house and they are not working but, in reality, it's working.

So that we understand each other, we can see that typical small light (LED) red on computers, TV, computer equipment, air conditioning, refrigerator, microwave...etc Are equipment expenses on standby that we do not perceive, but they are there.

Unplug directly from the electrical network everything that is remains on stand-by, on average, means saving approximately 10% of everything you consume. It is stipulated that with a consumption average of 3,500 kWh/year, we save about 52 euros.

How much electrical appliances consume on standby

Well, we actually have an excellent calculator for calculate how much the appliances consume on standby and the household appliances that we have in the home from the OCU… HERE. what if we have them all lit with the phantom consumption of the stand by , we would have average expenses of:

How to reduce energy expenditure in lighting

I think by now we all know that saving lighting energy is no longer just try to change habits and turn lights on or off when he plays, I think I understand that we already practiced it!.

In addition, we must be aware of what lights we buy and we use at home to know how much we are saving on lighting.

In the following graph we can see an example of how much you save if we change the lights of house for more efficient ones and how much does one spend bulb on all day :

We already know how to save electricity and without spending high. From the article on how to buy and choose one led bulb or the article of questions about LED lamps We give extensive information and all the necessary advice and infographics so that we are literally not fooled when we go to an establishment in search of the perfect lamp and some light saving tricks .

How to save expenses in heating

First you should take into account that a temperature of comfort oscillates between 19ºC and 21ºC. Being that in the zone to sleep, in the bedrooms, a little lower is recommended, above 15ºC and 17ºC (This advice is also applicable to the air conditioning we have at home).

How to save energy in heating is not easy, but first… What would be the ideal heating?

Although in the graph we can see how the heating radiant has the ideal comfort (Graph two), in this article we will delve into tricks for saving in heating by radiators. By the way, we have a article on the advantages and types of soil radiant where the suitability of this system.

Tips for saving on heating:

• For each degree more that the heating increases, it an economic increase of 7% in consumption.
• The maintenance of boilers is one of the topics main ones that we forget and that can save us up to 15% per year.
• It is important that the furniture does not cover the radiators and these must be clean. We are making it difficult diffusion of hot air over the dining room, living room, corridors, bedrooms…etc.
• At the beginning of the season, in the fall, the radiators They must be purged so that they do not have air inside that it will hinder the transmission of heat from the water to the air outside.
• The optimization of heating installations are important as well as its renovation or its isolation: (From we expanded the article on tips to save on heating much more this section)

• The use of weather stripping on windows and doors is a simple trick that directly plugs the air inlet and collaborates constantly in maintaining the temperature inside the house.

• Another useful tip is to see that facade that the Sun falls on and be attentive to raise the blinds to take advantage of the rays and that heat that it will bring us.
• In some cases there are people who use colored curtains dark or carpets that absorb solar radiation helping to raise the temperature of the rooms.

These are small tips that together will save us some euros at the end of the month remembering that boilers and stoves biomass with pellets or aerothermal installations are a good alternative option to the traditional radiator that they save money.

Placing protections solar

Among the different tricks to save light , using some type of protection solar in the exterior carpentry of the façade of our home or even on the terrace where we have access to the house – especially in summer – we will provide an energy benefit while spending less electricity .

We have to be clear that we must use the one that best suits our needs and our budget. Starting from this, we mainly have three systems of sun protection :

• The awnings . What can be of type conventional, extendable awnings, hoods or some type of curtain. (You can learn more from the article on advantages of awnings and their types)
• The blinds . what can they be Venetian blinds, folding, Alicante blinds, adjustable...etc. It must be taken into account that there are different systems that make up the slat itself, among which It is worth highlighting those with horizontal and vertical slats, fixed or mobile. (You can learn more from the article on advantages of blinds and their types)
• The blinds and curtains . they are another adequate and effective solution. There are several blind options and those with technical fabric such as the screen blind they work very well.
• And the pergolas . that even if they are more terrace-oriented, it does have its function and importance as we can see in the article on the types of pergolas for the garden.

To understand it better we add the following scheme:

These sun protection measures prevent the overheating of our home and reduce spending on refrigeration that according to statistics we would find between 5 and 30%. As we have seen in the graph, there are four key points for its effectiveness; the disposition, the orientation, color and ventilation.

Now we know a little more about marketing strategies. how to save electricity at home , but… there is still more!…

Save energy in the kitchen with hobs and ovens

If we practice some simple habits applied with regularity in our kitchens and ovens allow important energy savings:

• It is essential to choose the right container for cook, the better the smaller and more adapted to the amount of food to cook.
• Covering cooking vessels saves energy.
• Taking advantage of residual heat from stoves and ovens to finish cooking. This advice is especially useful in the case of ceramic hobs that remain hot for a while after being turned off.
• Choose the container that best suits the stove or stove on which we are going to cook. The gas flame or the ceramic hob must not exceed the diameter of the container as this is a waste of energy.
• Use quality cookware. those of thick bottom are more efficient because they spread heat better and make much better use of the energy transmitted by the electric plates and ceramic hobs.
• Use pressure cookers as they speed up cooking time. cooking and allow energy savings of up to 75%.
• Do not open the oven door until it is finished cooking food, thus avoiding the waste of energy.

Remember that using the microwave to reheat the food instead of the traditional oven. Although its consumption energy is high, the short operating time that require makes them more efficient.

Save energy with the washing machine, dishwasher and dryer

If we look at these appliances, they are in the Top Ten of those that consume the most energy in the kitchens. Therefore, it is essential to carry out a good choice of model.

In Europe, consumers have a very effective that provides them with information when choosing a household appliance: the energy label of the household appliances, which indicates energy consumption, the level noise and water consumption of the appliance. seven are set efficiency categories that are named from the letter A to the G, with A being the most energy efficient.

Based on this information, some tips are proposed to save energy from these appliances:

• Always choose efficient appliances, preferably category A. Normally the savings in the electricity bill will compensate a possible cost more elevated.
• Choose as far as possible the training programs wash at lower temperature or wash cold.
• Choose washing machines and dishwashers that consume the least amount of water possible, and better if they have outlets differentiated for hot and cold water.
• Avoid pre-wash programs and use the shorter washing programs.
• Put the appliance on when is fully loaded.
• Use the right doses of detergent.

Dryers are inefficient appliances energetically so it is always better to dry clothes at air than in this apparatus. To reduce the energy consumption of It is best to keep the dryer in good condition, cleaning the fluff filter after each use and ensuring that the drain be clean.

Save energy with the refrigerator

This is an appliance that stays on most of the time. part of its useful life, which is usually around 14 years on average, so choosing an efficient unit is essential.

Current models are up to 40% more efficient than previous models devices that were sold in 2001, so the replacement of the old refrigerator for a more modern one already supposes an important saving. Here are other actions to save energy with our refrigerators.

• Always choose the most efficient models energetically.
• Since more energy is required to cool the air than food, keeping the fridge full will represent always an energy saver.
• The larger the refrigerator, the higher the consumption, for it is convenient to select a size adapted to the quantity of food that is going to be kept in it overall.
• Select a suitable temperature for the refrigerator and freezer, which should be around 3-5ºC in the first case and -1/ -15ºC in the second.
• The appliance will work better if it is kept clean the rear tubes, so it is convenient to pass the vacuum from time to time.
• Do not place the refrigerator next to sources of heat, such as oven, washing machine or dishwasher.
• Keep the door open for as little time as possible possible.
• If the fridge is half empty, place in your inside a container with water, which will help save energy, because water retains cold and air No.
• Defrost the food in the fridge, so the cold that it gives off is used.

And finally, when any of these household appliances has stopped working or touch to replace it, we must make sure it's removed correctly and doesn't end up in a landfill as highly electronic waste pollutant.

Typically, distributors and dealers who sell new appliance will take care of the removal and recycled from the old and if it is not like that, look for a Clean Point in your city for device recycling.

Using thermostats reduces our bill electrical

Thanks to technology, there are devices that control the turning on and off of a certain device, installation or light by programming They are called thermostats.

For example, in their energy efficient heating systems, if we work during the day we can schedule it for a few determined hours. When we are not at home, no we waste energy as we see in the image next.

But... How much can we save by installing a thermostat intelligent? Although actually reduce the cost of the invoice it is designated by many factors; user habits the house, energy efficiency of appliances, colder areas or hot, etc. An example of a rough idea is the following image belonging to a recognized manufacturer of thermostats:

The decrease in our energy bill can be important, so you have to weigh the possible purchase of one of these gadgets. By the way, if you want to know more, we have an extensive article on how a heating thermostat works and what options we will meet in stores.

How much we can save on the bill electrical

The following graph shows the cost of the measures that we can adopt, the annual savings in percent and economic in euros, and finally return on investment with or without help.

Mobile app for savings energetic

Since we now have a global consumption perspective, Now it would be time to see it directly on our living place. For these cases we have Apps for saving energy such as online advisors, tools and applications of all kinds that, to a greater or lesser extent, provide data and more exact control when entering the characteristics of our home.

As a subsection, from the article how to calculate consumption household energy you can access one of the applications online for the most recognized computer, that we would see something like:

But the best APP to save the most valued and winner of various international awards such as Barcelona Smart City Hack or the Mobile Premier Awards 2016, is the Virtual Energy Advisor application considered the Top in energy efficiency in the domestic sphere to spend less .

As we have seen in the article, reducing spending energy at home is possible and only requires good habits, be constant in maintenance and a few really efficient appliances.

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