It is not a very pleasant sight to see an enormous incoming electricity bill. As such, it is good to know what is taking up the most electricity in your household and how you can better manage it so that you can lower your electricity costs. When it comes to lowering the costs when it comes to electricity, the first thing we should do is to try and find ways to save energy and ensure that our home is energy efficient. How do we go about this then? Allow us to enlighten you on a list of things that could be seriously contributing to your electricity bills. You can find out more about the electricity tariff here. We also have some tips on how you can tackle this issue.
What takes up the most amount of electricity?
Air Conditioners and Heating
Well, for starters, air conditioners and heating take up to 46% of your electricity bill. When the weather gets too hot to handle, many of us conveniently turn to the air conditioner as a source of help. Within a span of ten to fifteen minutes, an average central HVAC unit consumes up to 3500 watts, twice or thrice an hour. Leaving it on for just an hour can take you as much as 63kW/h, which comes to a total of an estimated 1,950kWh used up in a month, solely on air conditioning.
In order to help reduce the amount of electricity being used, here are a few tips:
- Switch to fans.
- Set your thermostat to 78F and 65F for summer and winter respectively.
- Use your curtains to block out the sun and open them up during the winter to allow heat to escape.
- Actively clean to prevent clogs
- Adjust your outfit accordingly to help feel comfortable.
Water Heaters
In a day, the water heater runs for approximately three hours. Within these three hours, a good 4500 watts would have been consumed. In a month, that is around 405 kWh!
Here is how you can reduce your consumption when using water heaters:
- Water temperature to be adjusted to 120F or lower
- If you are away from home for a long period of time, a few days, turn the water heater down
- Good to invest in some water-conserving shower heads
- Install a solar water heater if possible
Appliances are up next. Some examples include the refrigerator and the dishwasher.
Dishwashers
Did you know that your dishwasher affects your air conditioning? This is because the dishwasher tends to heat up the house when in use. Not to mention, an average of 10 kWh is used on the dishwasher per month. Some tips to reduce this would be:
- Wash only when the dishwasher is fully loaded
- Rinse dishes that are very dirty to ensure that there is no need for the dishwasher to go again for the second time.
- Turn off heated dry
Refrigerators
Every month, a total of 162kWh is used to keep the refrigerator going. Yes, it is highly inadvisable to turn your refrigerator off, here are some other ways in which you can help reduce your electricity consumption:
- Set the temperature of your fridge to the one recommended by the manufacturer
- Do not fill your fridge with too many items
- Clean the back and bottom of your fridge regularly to ensure that there is a good airflow so that it will not heat up
- It is time to throw out your old fridges and replace them with modern, energy-saving, and efficient models.
Lights
We all need to have the light on at night. But it is a contributing factor to your electricity bills. The amount of energy used by a lightbulb depends on its type. Here are some ways you can help to lessen the electricity usage of your lights:
- Only have the lights on when you are in the room. If not, turn it off.
- Opt for LED holiday lights and remember to turn them off before you go to bed or have them on a timer so that it will not run throughout the night.
- Choose to use energy-efficient LED light bulbs
- Invest in motion sensor outdoor security lights so that they will not be on unnecessarily.
Others
Lastly, your computers, television, game consoles, and other media equipment also affect your electricity bill quite a fair amount. In fact, it takes up to four percent of the overall bill. Now that everyone has easy access to the Internet, they are bound to be using it heavily for entertainment be it to chat with friends online or watch videos and movies for personal leisure. Or, computers are being used for work when at home. All these activities add up to household electricity consumption. Watching the television for five hours a day and say, playing the computer for around six to seven hours can accumulate up to 55 kWh in a single month!
Try not to spend too much electricity on these gadgets by:
- Deactivating the standby mode and quick-start settings. These are one of the biggest culprits.
- Never leave your electronic devices running when not in use, that just wastes electricity.
- Take the time to look at other leisure activities that do not require the use of electricity such as picking up a sport or playing board games with your friends and family.
- When you are deciding on buying an electronic device, be sure to buy the ones that have energy star certified.
- Lower the brightness on your electronics as it helps to conserve energy.
With all these tips here for you, we hope that you will head our advice and actively work towards reducing the amount of electricity you consume at home. Not only does reducing the electricity consumption do great things such as save the environment, but it also saves your pockets from being burnt unnecessarily. There are always alternatives to how to make the most out of your electricity in a manner that is efficient. The tips provided here are not the only things you can do to reduce your electricity bill. If you have more suggestions feel free to share them with us!
