Have you ever looked at your electric bill with utter shock? You noticed the bill was so high that you almost confused it with your telephone number.
The electric bill was likely high due to excessive household energy consumption. An ordinally American home pays more than $2,000 per year on utility bills.
Energy consumption is not only unfriendly to your bills but the environment too. Here are some strategies to employ to reduce your residential energy consumption.
1. Use Natural Light
It is incredible how much people underrate the Sun. For instance, is it necessary to have both your lamps and bulbs on when the Sun is out? Both the lamp and bulbs increase your bills, yet you have free natural energy.
Another way the Sun reduces your residential energy consumption is through installing solar panels.
The benefit of home solar installation is that the Sun produces energy at no fee. Also, you will hardly run out of electricity due to the Sun’s enormous size and high temperature.
2. Replace Incandescent Bulbs With LED Bulbs
Incandescent bulbs consume 40 watts of power, while LED bulbs consume only 5 watts of power. The differences in their energy consumption lie in the presence of a semiconductor in LED bulbs.
The semiconductor in LED bulbs filters electrical energy and releases light as a byproduct. Inversely, incandescent bulbs lack a semiconductor hence release all electrical energy indiscriminately. As a result, the latter bulbs use a lot of energy to produce light.
3. Shut Down Your Computer After Use
Computers, on average, consume 200 watts per hour. That is 40 times more than a printer! People remember to switch off the TV but not the computer.
There are a few reasons why some people do not switch off their computers at night.
Perhaps they were downloading a 1GB file. Another reason could be that their computer is taking too long to reboot hence fear switching it off.
Where necessary, limit your downloading habits and only download when it is essential. As for delayed reboots, ensure you turn it on earlier than your expected usage. Later on, you could take it for repair to solve your booting issues.
4. Hang Your Clothes Outside to Dry
Clothes dryers come in handy when you need to wear certain clothes urgently. What happens if you wash clothes and do not need to wear them until the following week? You could hang them on your clothesline to dry.
Clothes dryers consume around 1800 to 5000 watts! You wouldn’t even be shocked when you finally get your electricity bill. If possible, minimize the need to use the dryer unless necessary.
5. Close the Refrigerator
There is hardly a reason you would forget to close your refrigerator, yet some people do that. The behavior is typical with people who watch sports or movies. People eat food and drink more hence the endless visits to the refrigerator.
When it is left open, the fridge will use more power to generate the cold and heat to preserve your food.
Take the Above Steps to Minimize Your Residential Energy Consumption
Have you finally figured out why your residential energy consumption has been high?
Switching to alternative energy forms isn’t easy since habits are hard to change. For instance, imagine asking a person to ditch their clothes dryer for the Sun.
However, if you want to enjoy the benefits of minimal bills, you have to make some sacrifices. If you follow the steps above, you will see your efforts paying off.
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