NUMEROUS WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY PART 2

There are numerous ways that can decrease the energy expenditures and use it more proficiently. There are some techniques and suggestions to control the energy bills.

Guidelines for Consumer Electronics

The offices and places where ENERGY STAR products are applied save at least forty percent electric energy as compared to typical electronic devices.

• Shut down your devices like printers, monitors, photo copiers, fax machines, personal computers, LCDs, which are not currently in utilized.
• Connect your power adaptors and mobile, laptop or other battery charging gadgets in such power sockets which can be turned off by a toggle button. Always keep the button off when the devices are not working.
• When you purchase TV set, purchase high definition television (HDTV) or a liquid crystal display (LCD). The Cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs consume fifty percent more power as compared to above mentioned models.
• While purchasing printer, copier and fax machines, and scanner try to explore all in one device. This all-in-one machine would consume power for one machine and results for four machines.
• Laser printers are expensive with respect to power as compared to inkjets.
• Never keep your electronic devices like TV, DVD Player etc on stand by position using the remote control. Switch them off completely or use smart power strip. Smart power strip senses usage of the power and shuts down the passage when usage of the electricity decreases.
• The replacement of notebooks over conventional desktop PCs reduces electricity usage. Always enable power management functionality of your ENERGY STAR PCs, monitors and other accessories as they conserve energy only when this functionality is enabled.

Guidelines for Hot Water

The second highest electricity energy consumers are your electric water heaters. If your water heating system uses oil or gas as the main source of energy, it consumes electricity for pumping water to your washbasins or bathing tubs. Proficient use of hot water conserves a large amount of energy.

• Keep thermostat of your water heater at “Warm” stage instead of “Very Hot”. Proper wadding of your water heater and the pipelines will save heat transverse to atmosphere and it will ultimately lower your energy consumption.
• Keep watch on leakage of water from valves or taps and replace such valves and taps immediately. Small quantity of wastage of very hot water means wastage of a complete bucket or tub of hot warm water.
• A major quantity of water is wasted in bathing. It would be better to take showers of short period. The savings of water form taking bathes will not only reduce your energy bill but will also reduce your water bill.

Guidelines for Dishwashers

While washing dishes with hands it looks we are saving energy, but ultimately this is not true. In fact we are loosing energy in the form of hot water. Use of the dishwasher will save energy costs in total.

• The ENERGY STAR dishwashers consume less energy as compared to standard dishwasher. At least 41 percent of energy can be conserved by using such products. The analysis revealed that more than $200 was saved in electricity costs when the performance of two dishwashers was compared.
• Avail benefits of power reduction management available in many models. The heating is stopped while the washer is drying up. Open the washer once the rinse cycle is completed let the dishes air dry, it will conserve power.
• Ask for such models of dishwashers which consume lesser warm water, when purchasing the new washers. There are variants of dishwasher in terms of gallons of hot water they need for their washing cycle. The ENERGY STAR dishwasher will conserve at least 5000 gallons of hot water annually.

Guidelines for Refrigerator and Freezers

Refrigerators and Freezers also consume a lot of energy and we can conserve a handsome amount of energy out of this consumption.

• New ENERGY STAR refrigerators conserve at least 20 percent energy when comparing to new standard model and can conserve up to 40 percent energy when compared to old standard appliances.
• Always operate your refrigerators and freezers on cold mode instead of coldest mode. After adjusting the temperature, check the performance by putting thermometer in side the machine. The temperature for refrigerator should be 35-38 degree Fahrenheit and that of freezer should be 5 degree Fahrenheit.
• Regularly clean the coils of condenser of your refrigerator. Always leave sufficient space for air circulation between your unit and the adjacent walls.
• Never install your refrigerator or deep freezer near to heat generating appliances like dishwasher, ovens etc. It will decrease the efficiency of your unit.
• Check the rubber seals of your refrigerator and freezer regularly. The leaked seals evade cooling to atmosphere and the cooling device needs to work harder and consume energy further.

Guidelines for Cooking

While conserving power out of your kitchen it involves many techniques. They involve right temperature of your oven, right size of your oven and other kitchen appliances according to size of your family.

• Use microwave oven instead of standard oven. It is more efficient and can save 20 to 25 percent electric power.
• The size of pots and pans should match with that of the burner. If they are not, they loose extra heat. Always use cooking utensils with flat panes and tight covers.
• While using oven, manage cooking of your various dishes which require same temperature and cook them simultaneously. It will save your energy costs.

Guidelines for Home Electronics

Various electronic appliances remain standby and consume power just to minimize the time to immediately start up working when you turn them on.

• The devices when in standby mode consume power. This is called phantom load. Normally it occurs in case of TV, VCR, DVD / CD Players, computers, monitors / LCD’s etc. Try to avoid or minimize the phantom load.
• While hunting for phantom load shut down all the lights and search for any LEDs or glows. Remember any appliance which needs to restart after you turn it on creates phantom load.

Guidelines for Laundry

Avoiding the use of dryer by slinging your washed clothes in your back garden could be one way to lower your energy bill in summer.

• While selecting your washing machine from the nearby market not only check the ENERGY STAR compliant machine but also look for the Modified Energy Factor (MEF). The efficiency of the machines is linked with MEF, higher the MEF efficient would be the machine.
• Instead of two to three run ups of your washing machine in a week, schedule one run of the machine in a week. It’ll save your dollars in terms of electricity bill.
• More power is consumed to hot the water you use in your washer. So use the hot water only when the clothes are heavy. The new breed of detergents works well in cold water as they work with the hot one.
• Front filling washing machines conserve energy as compared to standard top filling washing machines.
• Always check the lint filter of your dryer as the lint blocks air circulation and decreases efficiency of your drying machine.
• While purchasing new cloth dryer focus on wetness sensor. It will shut down the machine automatically when wetness vanished and save your energy costs.

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