As every homeowner already knows, energy isn’t cheap. And running a home takes a lot of energy over the course of a year. Most of us are resigned to this fact, but it’s always looking for ways to cut the amount of energy you use in your home. There is always something that can be done to reduce your bills if you’re willing to put in the effort.
If you’re looking for ways to pay less this year, there are plenty of things that you can do. Some of those things are small, and others will require short-term investments. But all of them will be able to save you some money in th long-term. So, read on to find out what you can to use less energy and save money.
Use Your Appliances More Wisely
Let’s start with a very basic piece of advice: use your appliances more wisely. This might sound like common sense, and that’s because it is. But that doesn’t mean that most of us use our common sense most of the time because we don’t. You should do your best to always switch lights off when you are leaving a room and only turn them on when you need to. You should also stop leaving appliances on standby because this uses electricity unnecessarily. These simple things can save a lot of energy.
Cook Differently
Most of us waste energy when we’re cooking without even realising it. So, if you want to use less energy, you should start by changing the way in which you cook food each day. If you are buying a new oven, you should buy a convection oven because they use a lot less electricity than conventional ovens. You can also cook food quicker and use less energy if you put a lid on the pot that you’re cooking in because heat won’t escape. If you want to save even more energy, you should use your microwave oven for as many tasks as possible. They use a lot less energy than ovens.
Make the Most of Natural Light
Lighting your home correctly is important. But natural light is always better than electrical lighting. It looks better and it doesn’t use any energy. This makes it a great way to reduce the amount of energy you use in your home. All you have to do is harness that natural light in a way that makes it easy for you to use your electrical lights less. One thing you could do is rearrange your rooms so that the natural light is hitting the most important part of the room. You can then add some mirrors to the room to help reflect and accentuate that natural light. Before you know it, you’ll be using your electrical lights less and less.
Change Your Laundry Habits
Doing the laundry is not a task that any of us loves to do, but it is a task that uses huge amounts of energy. It’s one of the main ways in which we use energy in our homes on a day to day basis. You can actually save some energy by changing your habits when it comes to the laundry though. For example, you should always fill the washing machine. Doing fewer full loads is much more energy efficient than doing multiple smaller loads of washing. And if the things you are washing are not particularly dirty, then you should avoid using the highest temperatures. They are not always needed and they always use more energy.
Upgrade Insulation
An insulated home is essential if you want to keep the heat in your home. You will expend a lot of energy on keeping your home warm, especially when winter arrives again. And if your home is not correctly insulated, all that energy that you pay for will go to waste. The walls and attic need to be insulated first. Cavity wall insulation is the best option if your home is suited to this form of insulation. Some homes will not be able to be insulated in this way though. You can also insulate the floor of your home if you want to add some extra protection. And then you can insulate your boiler or water tank to stop heat from escaping. If you do all this, you will save energy and money.
Fix Gaps and Holes in Your Roof
Insulation is only useful in your attic if you have a strong roof that is in good condition though. It is useless spending money on insulating the attic if there are gaps and holes in the roof that heat can easily escape through. Not to mention all the possible pest problems that can come from having gaps in your roof. So, before you install that insulation, you should make sure that you inspect your roof and pick up on any of the problems that are hiding up there. Even small gaps that can arise as a result of lax maintenance can cause you real problems. If you find any problems like this, contact a company such as Mr Roof and allow them to sort out the issue.
Invest in Efficient Appliances
Old appliances use more energy; this is a simple fact. So, if you are still using appliances that haven’t been replaced for many years, then you are probably wasting energy. There are a number of reasons why newer household appliances are more efficient than older ones. For a start, as an electrical appliances ages, it starts to weaken and therefore, its performance drops. This means that it take more energy to get it working as it should. And the other reason is that newer appliances are simply designed differently. In recent times, there has been a much greater push to create more efficient appliances than there ever was in the past. So, if you want to use less energy, invest in updated appliances with good efficiency ratings.
Replace Old Windows
Your windows could help you to use a lot less energy than you currently use. But this is only possible if you replace them with window panes that are energy efficient and thick. If you have not even got double-glazed windows in your home, it will be very easy for heat to escape through them. Heat will always escape from your home if it can, so your job is to make that impossible. There are lots of double or triple-glazed windows that are rated as being highly efficient, so these are the ones you should be buying. As long as you get a professional to fit the windows correctly and seal them up, you’ll need to use a lot less energy in the future.
Buy the Right Light Bulbs
Changing the way you light your home can save you a lot of money and use up less energy. Not many people realise how much difference the light bulbs you use on your home make. If you are using the wrong ones, you will be virtually throwing money away, and nobody wants to do that. So, ask yourself which bulbs you use in the home and then see if there is a better and more efficient alternative out there. Compact fluorescent light bulbs tend to be seen as the ones that are the most energy efficient. And they still give off the same amount of light as ordinary bulbs, so you don’t have to sacrifice anything. You should also use motion sensor lights outside the home rather than lights that are permanently on.
Tune Up Your AC
If your air conditioning system is inefficient, it will add a huge amount of money to your monthly bills. You can only start to get those bills down when your AC is running at maximum performance. So, you should have a look at it and tune it up if you haven’t done so for a while. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can easily contact who is a professional and let them do it. There are other things that you can do it to improve its performance as well. For example, you should make sure that you change the filters regularly or at least clean them thoroughly. This will improve the performance of the AC and ensure that you don’t waste any energy.
Find New Ways to Heat and Cool Your Home
Roughly half of all the energy you use in your home will be used to heat or cool it. This is a huge chunk of your energy usage, so it makes sense to see how you can change things. For example, if you are looking for ways to use your air conditioning system less during the summer, install a ceiling fan. They use a lot less energy than your conventional air conditioning system. For the winter, you could install a wood burning stove that could act as a great heat source when the weather is cold. It’s a great way to cut down on your heating bills at that time of the year, and it’s simply a great addition to your home too.
Thank you for sharing all these tips! If you have a swimming pool, you can also do some things to save energy on maintenance.
And here’s what exactly you can do:
1. Purchase a smaller, more efficient pump;
2. Lower your pool’s temperature;
3. Choose an energy-efficient heater;
4. Invest in automated pool features.