Today’s Guest Post is courtesy of Capital City Electrical.
We consume a lot of energy at home and every year energy prices seem to get higher and higher. Here are 5 easy ways you can lower your electricity consumption and reduce the price of your electricity bill without even noticing.
1. Avoid leaving appliances on ‘Standby’
In 2016 The Energy Savings Trust estimated that it costs up to £80 a year to leave appliances in the home on ‘standby’. It may be more convenient than having to turn appliances off at the plug but is it really worth the money? They have estimated that the most likely offenders are televisions, set top boxes and mobile phones. An easy solution to this is to connect all related appliances to a surge protected, switchable multi socket extension. This means you can turn off all gadgets with one switch. An even better option is to use energy saving intelligent plugs. These can be programmed to respond to any remote control and turn related devices off when you switch your TV or audio system off using the remote control.
2. Unplug when fully charged
Mobile phones continue to use electricity when they are plugged in, even when fully charged. The same can be said of laptops and PCs. Many people leave laptops plugged in charging constantly. This is not good for the laptop battery and after a year of doing this it is likely that you will find that the battery’s capacity will have been significantly reduced. A good solution, which will save energy as well as increase battery longevity, is to alternate between using battery power some days and plugging it in on others.
3. Use ‘Sleep Mode’
Leaving your computer or laptop running when you are not using it, even for a short period of time, wastes electricity. Always ensure that you set up your PC or laptop to go into ‘Sleep Mode’ after 10 or 15 minutes of inactivity. This puts it into a low power state, turns off your monitor or screen and saves your work and settings in memory. When you are ready to use it again, turn it on and it will quickly jump back to life exactly where you left off.
4. Switch to energy saving light bulbs
Low energy CFL light bulbs use 25-35% less energy than old fashioned incandescent light bulbs, but if you really want to make the biggest savings then it is worth investing in LED lighting. LEDs may cost a little more but they use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs and can last 25 times longer.
5. Invest in an energy monitor
Knowing how much electricity you are using and how much it is costing can help change behaviour at home. An energy monitor is a device that links to a separate unit that is attached to your electricity meter and calculates how much energy you are using in real time. It is not to be confused with a smart meter which sends information to your energy provider so that you don’t need to provide meter readings. Having an energy monitor in itself does not save you money, but seeing how certain appliances affect energy consumption, can change behaviour, which can save you money. According to the Energy Saving Trust in the first year of using an energy monitor, energy usage at home dropped on average between 5 and 15%.
About the author
Capital City Electrical (www.capitalcityelectrical.co.uk) is a trusted and professional electrical contractor in Edinburgh. Established in 2009 they are NICEIC approved as well as full members of ‘Which? Trusted Traders’ and Edinburgh Council’s ‘Edinburgh Trusted Trader’ scheme. They provide a full range of electrical services for both domestic and commercial clients.
Easy Safety Cert provide Electricians with an easy to use PAT testing app available on iPhone and iPad. The easy to use app allows users to create professional, electronic portable appliance testing certificates and email the completed PAT cert directly to clients.
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