Saving Energy By Turning Lights Off

The age old adage is you should turn off lights when leaving a room. Ironically, this is not always correct if you are concerned about saving a bit of money on your utility bill.

Saving Energy By Turning Lights Off

My mother used to get so angry when I continually failed to turn off the lights when leaving a room. It took her years to beat me down on the subject, but I now turn off lights as a matter of habit. Ironically, the new energy efficient light bulbs on the market may change this general assumption. Darn, I will have to retain myself.

Invented in the 1880s, the incandescent light bulb has been with us forever. This bulb we know and love, however, is not really devoted to producing light. Instead, it is really a little heater that produces light as a byproduct. In fact, of the total energy produced by one of these bulbs, only 15 percent or so is in the form of light. There have been minor improvements to the bulb over the years, but nothing that changes this fact.

In the last twenty years, enterprising minds started to think about lighting in different ways. After much trial and error, the fluorescent light bulbs came on the scene. After more trial and error, the latest version of compact fluorescent light bulbs has been hailed as huge energy savers and the best way to light a home now. They are 50 to 70 percent more efficient than incandescent light bulbs and have received the Energy Star certification from the government. These bulbs are a bit more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but they last longer and will save you far more than they cost on your utility bill.

There is, however, one issue with compact fluorescent light bulbs. Their life span can be severely shortened if you turn them on and off frequently. Unlike incandescent bulbs, it takes them a while to fire up and turn off. Much like turning on and off your car, this process puts a lot of strain on the components. At 6 to 10 bucks a bulb, you do not want to be replacing them at a frequent rate!

The Department of Energy has actually looked into this issue. After spending more money than we probably want to know, the agency issued a simple guideline on the subject. If you have compact fluorescent light bulbs, you should not automatically turn them off when you leave the room. Instead, you should leave them on if you will be coming back within 15 minutes or less.

Hey, you heard it here.

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Simple Ways to Save Electricity (Energy)

Harry Baguio asked:

We all have ideas on what renewable and non-renewable energy sources are. The problem is we do not put much pressure on saving the non-renewable sources that we rapidly use everyday. With price of gasoline gone high and the impending depletion of the non-renewable resources, it is best that we review tips on how to save electricity in our own home.



Let us take tips one appliance at a time.

Computer

Turn the monitor off even if you are just away for one minute. This will have an immense impact on electricity consumption. Keep both the monitor and the CPU switched off when you are not using them at home or even at the office.

Light

We advise you to switch from using incandescent light bulbs to Compact fluorescent light bulbs. CFL bulbs are expensive but they have more usage life plus they use less electricity. It is cost-effective in the long run.

Air Conditioner

Set the air conditioner at the most comfortable temperatures. Avoid setting it too high or too low. Having a comfortable temperature will save electricity.

Washing Machines

One common mistake we commit is to use the washing machine as often as we can. Next time, try to collate all the soiled clothes and have the washing machine work on it full load. This will maximize the energy spent allowing you to save electricity.

Television

Take off the plug of the television when you are not using it. The appliance still uses electricity even if it is switched off as long as the plug is attached.

Geysers

Always turn the geyser thermostat at the minimum heat. Avoid putting the thermostat in a very high temperature or heat the water for a long time.

Refrigerator

Do not put hot food directly to the refrigerator. Allow it to reach room temperature before cooling it inside the refrigerator. Also thaw out the food 30 minutes before you will cook it as this will save you power in heating it.

10 Ways To Cut Your Electric Bill

One of the major concerns in the world today is depletion of energy. As concerned citizens all of us must make a concerted effort to be conscious citizens and save electricity. Electricity has become integral to life but imagine having to live without power.

Conservation of electricity benefits you personally as you will pay lower bills. Consider:

1. Doing an energy audit. This will tell you how and when you use energy and where the wastage lies. You will be able to make an “energy savings plan” by pinpointing exactly how you can cut back on energy consumption. Some ideas may be as simple as don’t leave the coffee machine on at all times.

2. Think about resetting the thermostat ten degrees lower during the night. If you can do this for say approximately eight hours a day you will save 10% on electricity without sacrificing comfort. Insulate the home in winter by drawing shut the drapes.

3. Check all insulation in the house. If you increase attic insulation to around 12 inches the electricity consumption will reduce by 20 percent.

4. Plant more trees around the house these will cool the house in summer and insulate the house in winter. Studies show that a green cover benefits in many ways.

5. Have all electricity wires and outlets checked for leakage. Check all fuses and appliances.

6. Fluorescent light bulbs are energy efficient. They use 75% less energy than ordinary light bulbs. These have a longer life and contribute to great savings.

7. Use energy efficient appliances. These use less energy and believe it or not a high efficiency refrigerator uses less electricity than a light bulb.

8. When you are away even for a few hours or days you should turn off and unplug all electrical appliances and turn settings on the thermostat, water heater, and refrigerator to the lowest setting.

9. Ensure that you use a water-saving shower head. Water heating costs for a family can be lowered by at least US$ 250 a year.

10. Weatherize your home. This helps reduce heating bills by 20% and cooling by at least 10 percent. Even when building a home or decorating it use weather friendly materials—those that are not good conductors of heat and cold. Install windows and glass panes in the roof in such away that you use sunlight to light up the rooms during day light hours. Make an effort to switch off lights and fans when leaving a room. Ensure that the filters in air conditioners and heaters are always cleaned and free of clog and dust.

If you live an energy efficient lifestyle you will see the numbers on the energy bill actually reducing. The power to cut energy costs is well within your control. It is as simple as only washing full loads and that to in cold water. Use the hot wash option only for very dirty clothes.

Cook food only just before you are ready to eat that way you can save reheating costs as well as refrigerating costs of storing the food. Turn the thermostat of the refrigerator to minimum in cold or cool weather. Switch off freezers if they are not in use. Small contributions can all add up to significant amounts of power saved. And, power saved means money in the bank.

Tips on Saving Electricity

Are you searching for ways of cutting electric bills? One discovery that I have made and am pleased to be using today is the use of renewable energy systems. They allow me to generate my own free electricity via wind and solar power systems without having to use electric provided by the grid company. This has helped me greatly reduce my electric bills by more than 70%.

1. Where Do You Get the Materials Needed to Build your Own Renewable Power Systems?

Even though it is possible to buy windmills and solar panels for retail price, they are extremely expensive and take a long time to recover the initial investment costs. There are now plans online that teach people how they can build their own homemade energy systems for less than $200.

These plans usually include video tutorials as well, and they can be downloaded and watched over the internet. Most of the materials needed for construction of solar panels can be found in any nearby hardware stores on in your garage.

2. Learn to Build Homemade Power Systems by Downloading DIY Guides

This is the method that I personally used and I found it to be very affordable and easy to do. I learned how to make my own wind turbines and solar panels according to the amount of power my household consumed and the amount of space I had around my house. When everything was done, my total costs for all the projects were about $180, which is much less than what it would cost to buy retail windmills and solar panels.

3. How Much Money Can You Save From your Electric Bills with Homemade Energy Systems?

Once I started using them, I realized that my power bills became much lower than previous months. My initial investment costs were fully recovered by then, and I am continuing to save up on costs today. When the system creates more electricity than required in the house that runs the meter back, it can also be sold back to the grid for your own profit.

A Simple Technology That Lets You Run Your House For Free

I won't bore with science you don't care about, but it helps to know just a little.

Energy is electrons. You get those from batteries, or through wires running from the electric company to your house. Those flowing electrons are an electric current, and that's what you send to your light bulbs when you flip the switch... or to your laptop to charge it up... or to your electric cooling system to turn on your air conditioner.

What most people don't know is that it really doesn't matter where you get your electrons. Your local power company sells them, but you don't have to buy from those guys!

All you need to do is find yourself a cheaper electron source. Sunlight and wind will do the job!

So there's the proven science. It's great, but unless you know what you're doing, there's no way to run your house on sunlight and wind. And believe me, there are plenty of people who really don't want you to find out about this.

Do you think your power company wants to lose their profits because you get all the juice you need for free? Don't bet on it.

But if you could run your house from free electricity, you wouldn't care in the least what your power company wanted, or what their watts cost. That's why you might want to sit down when I show you how to...