In ancient times, when Alessandro Volta conducted his first experiments and Thomas Edison looked at the invented light bulb, could they have thought about how the lives of their descendants would change in connection with their discoveries?Nowadays it is impossible to imagine life without electricity.It is a resource to which everything is linked: information, data, domestic needs, comfort, communication, free time.An accident in the electricity grid of a capital paralyzed him.The work of maternity hospitals, hospitals, water services stopped, schools and residential buildings were disrupted, more than 3 thousand citizens were stuck in the elevator, and some, as they say, could not get out of their apartments equipped with smart home systems.In a certain sense we have all become hostages of electricity.Although the stranded citizens still literally became them.
By increasing the number of household appliances in our life, we involuntarily increase the load not only on city electricity networks, but also on our wallet.In the homes of our mothers and grandmothers there was a television, a refrigerator and a lucky few had a washing machine.What works and consumes electricity in our homes leaves our grandmothers enchanted by its quantity and functionality.
However, all the pleasures in our life come at a price.And for the enthusiastic gaze of the grandmothers, included.Every time, looking at the electricity bills, it begins to seem that magical gnomes live in the apartment, who enjoy sliding the meter wheel, accelerating its movement two or even three times.But no, these are not gnomes.These are our insatiable electronic friends.
To curb the appetites of imaginary gnomes and ease the fate of our wallet, we tried to understand whether it is, in principle, possible to save on electricity.
To do this, we studied the savings methods offered online, both obvious and incredible.We invite you to familiarize yourself with the results of our work.
Obvious ways to save energy
The most obvious one, lying on the surface, is to turn off the light when not in use.If your memory fails you, or you have so much to do that you don't have time to reach out and flip the switch, there is a way out.Motion sensors or presence sensors.They are installed in rooms and react to the appearance of a person in the room.They automatically turn on when you enter the room and turn off when you leave.Ask your installers to set the sensors so that they do not react to cats and other pets.Otherwise the payment for electricity, instead of the expected reduction, will skyrocket.
Replace incandescent light bulbs with their energy-saving counterparts.And even better: LED ones.They consume much less energy, last longer and shine brighter.If you install modular lighting and equip the room with several light elements, you can use them one after the other as needed.A dimmer (element that allows you to adjust the brightness of lighting) with constant use will also help reduce energy costs for lighting.Experienced people recommend choosing lamps for rooms based on the degree of use.Obviously it is possible to hang a dimmer lamp in the pantry, but it consumes less energy than in the living room or kitchen.New generation lamps are more resistant to voltage peaks.Well, the last tip regarding lamps is that you should not be lazy to regularly clean them from dust.Dusty lamps give a dim light and use more energy to heat the dust unnecessarily.
Buy highly energy efficient appliances (class A+)
Modern equipment knows how to spend energy wisely.Most dishwashers, late-model washing machines and other devices are equipped with an energy-saving eco mode.Use it often.If possible, select the lowest temperatures for your oven, washing machine and dishwasher.
The main energy costs go to heating the device;by heating it to a minimum you can save a lot.
The load level of the washing machine is also important.Load it according to the technical documentation.Overloading or underloading will increase energy consumption.The same goes for vacuum cleaners with unwashed filters and full dust collectors, air conditioners with uncleaned interiors, refrigerators with ice, kettles with scales and other everyday joys.Remember that heating excess material increases costs.A washing machine and dishwasher connected to centralized hot water will spend less energy heating it.But instead of spending on electricity, you will increase the amount of payment for hot water supply.And here you have to evaluate which resource costs you the most.
This point, of course, is more logical to include in the list of amazing things, but let's let it be here anyway.Unused appliances must always be unplugged.When they are turned on, they consume a lot of electricity.It is ideal if, when designing electrical wiring, de-energizing all sockets is provided with a slight movement of the hand.Except the one that powers the refrigerator.So you can safely leave the house without fear of fires, power surges and energy losses.
If you remove the gadget from charging immediately after finishing, you save energy and contribute to the long life of the gadget itself and its charger.
Appliances that you use regularly throughout the day do not need to be unplugged every time.For example, it would be better to put your computer into sleep mode.Because for some devices, turning on and off consumes more power than sleep mode.Be sure to remove disks from drives.When they are activated, additional energy is spent on their promotion.
If you haven't already installed a separate toggle switch to turn off outlets, use surge protectors for your equipment with the ability to shut off the power.
And a little more about the technology.In many high-rise buildings, according to established standards, an electric heater is provided instead of a gas one.
So buy an induction hob for apartments on the upper floors.It is specifically designed to save electricity.But it will be even better if you buy dishes with a flat bottom that exactly fit the size of the stove burner.And during cooking you will cover the pan with a lid.And you will finish cooking dinner on a cooling stove, turning it off 5-10 minutes before it is ready.And by the way, we iron delicate items with the iron already turned off and cooling down.
Kettle?In addition to timely descaling, we recommend that you only pour in the necessary amount of water.
Now to the fridge.And the reforms will not escape him.The refrigerator should not be close to walls or other surfaces.Especially if the surfaces are heated, for example an oven.This will prevent overheating.Don't forget to check the rubber seal and the presence of ice.The main function of a refrigerator is to protect food by keeping it at a low temperature.And if there is a heat source from outside, the refrigerator will try to cool with double the (electrical) energy.At your expense, of course.
You can also say a few words about films.High-quality movies consume more energy, but we won't suggest you save money on watching movies.This is blasphemy.
The very concept of remediation can make a small, but still significant, contribution to wage savings.For those who did not skip physics at school, it is obvious that a light wall covering will save electricity and heat, since, unlike a dark one, it does not absorb it.This also includes cleaning windows and heating appliances from dust.Dust is a known heat absorber.And if, in addition, your windows have higher light transmittance and energy efficiency, this will save you extra money.
Choose accommodation with south-facing windows.Then you will receive heat and light directly from the sun and completely free of charge.But this bonus is balanced by the fact that in summer you will have to activate the split system more often.The south side heats up very quickly, and in the hot season such rooms without air conditioning may not be comfortable.So keep in mind that small savings in winter can lead to large expenses in summer.
A significant part of the heat (and, consequently, of the energy loss for heating the room) penetrates the walls to which the radiators are attached.Installing heat reflectors between the wall and the battery will allow you to use the heat generated without the cost of heating the street.According to experts, this measure allows you to increase the air temperature in a living room by 2-3 degrees without additional energy costs.
Let's now move on to those saving methods that in our reality are more incredible than achievable.However, we will tell you about it.
Less likely ways to save
Replace your home's wiring with more efficient wiring by arranging power sources to eliminate the need for additional wires and carriers.Well, since you're rewiring anyway, take care of the switch for everything except the refrigerator, which was described above.
Eliminates heat loss.Specialists with a thermal imager will tell you about the weak points of your home.And according to the diagnosis, it will be necessary to strengthen the weak, insulate the cold and dry the dampness.In most cases, homeowners will need to further insulate walls and replace windows.
If you are a happy owner of independent heating, we recommend installing a boiler with a thermostat.It is able to regulate the heating temperature, preventing it from rising above the set one.The absence of additional heating is equivalent to saving a small fraction of electricity.
Install a Smart Home system in your home.Automatically sets optimal power consumption.With this system you can control the electricity in your apartment yourself and remotely.In our opinion, the only negative side of the system will be told by comrades who suffered the 2015 accident. On the other hand, such force majeure events are rare and do not cover all the advantages of a smart home.
If you are afraid of the uprising of machines and believe in the victory of artificial intelligence over human intelligence, this option is also not for you.
Install electricity generators.Windy, sunny.And become energetically independent.You thought this was completely out of the realm of science fiction, right?In vain.
If you plan to move to hot countries, keep in mind that in Greece, for example, solar panels are used as an energy source, because centralized electricity is very expensive.
Installation of a two-phase meter.The idea is to shift the main business to night, when the load on the city's electricity grid is minimal and, accordingly, tariffs are quite cheap.Before changing meters, make sure that you are a night owl and that leading a nocturnal lifestyle (in particular washing dishes, doing laundry and using household appliances) is not burdensome for you.And also make sure that your neighbors are also owls, or take care of additional sound insulation so as not to incur the wrath of your neighbors.
In many regions, representatives of electricity networks even offer free installation of two-phase meters.But practice has shown that there are still discrepancies in indicators and not entirely correct calculations.Therefore, people are in no hurry to change their usual meters to two-phase ones, despite all their possible advantages.
And the most unreliable way to save electricity, included in the top 3 employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Fire Services, is independent manipulation of the wiring, as a result of which the line bypasses the meter.Built without knowing basic technical safety standards and the laws of physics, such structures become the cause of fires and other disasters.Not to mention the fact that municipal services can check the equipment and find out your secret plan.For an experienced energy engineer, such research will not take much time.And then, instead of saving, you will be forced to pay a rather small fine for your initiative.