9 activities to reduce energy consumption
As time goes on, people become aware of their contribution to reducing climate change. According to research conducted in Poland by the Polish Electricity Association, three out of four respondents are convinced that the actions of a single person have a positive impact on the natural environment. 87% of respondents admitted that people are primarily responsible for climate change. The vast majority (82%) declared that they attach great importance to care for the natural environment. 75% of respondents believe that actions of a single person, such as saving electricity, positively impact the environment. This is an especially valuable conclusion for EAAS, as it promotes sustainable energy use.
As the survey shows, these declarations transformed into real actions — 92% of respondents save electricity. Apart from costs, care for the natural environment is the most important motivating factor. At the same time, the respondents use methods of reducing electricity consumption that do not affect their quality of life. What do they do? How to start saving energy in our daily life? See 9 simple activities that help to reduce electricity consumption in your household.
1. Disconnecting devices that are not used
Even stand-by devices that are turned off but connected to the power supply still draw power. It is worth getting a surge protector to be able to turn off more such devices by pressing one button.
2. Turning off the light when leaving the room
The advice is obvious, but we still forget to turn off the lights when leaving the room for a longer time. Mythbusters also refuted the thesis that switching on and off would significantly reduce the life of light bulbs.
3. A reasonable approach to home temperature
During the heating season, it is sometimes enough to put on a sweater instead of raising the temperature in the rooms. It is also good for finances to reduce heating during extended attendance.
4. Rational use of household appliances
Close the refrigerator immediately after removing or putting food in it (the food should never be hot), avoiding unnecessary airing. Each time the door is opened, the refrigerator must return to the indicated temperature; then, it uses unnecessarily additional energy. Avoid opening the oven while baking. Each time the door is opened, the temperature inside is lowered, so the oven has to increase the heating power again, using unnecessary additional energy. Why boil an entire kettle of water when you only need a cup of tea? Energy used to heat unused hot water will be wasted.
5. Using energy-saving light bulbs
An ordinary light bulb only uses 5% of the energy consumed to produce light; the rest is wasted, for example, through heat release. Although it is more expensive to buy, LED lighting consumes significantly less energy and is much more durable than ordinary light bulbs.
6. Paying attention to the energy class of the equipment you buy
It is worth paying attention to their energy class when choosing home appliances. Models of household appliances and electronics sometimes differ significantly in terms of energy consumption. A similar refrigerator with a low energy class, e.g., G, can consume even several times more electricity than the one with the highest energy class A.
7. Find out more about the tariffs
Some tariffs include lower charges for energy used at night or on weekends. It is worth planning energy-consuming activities for these hours, e.g. doing laundry. Savings can reach even several dozen percent of costs! It is worth checking the conditions in the available tariffs.
8. Be mindful of heating the water
When the boiler is on, it constantly heats the water while consuming energy. It is worth turning it off when no one is at home or equipping it with a controller that starts the heater well in advance.
9. Investing in renewable energy sources
Almost half of the respondents would agree to incur higher expenses for electricity with a guarantee of investing these funds in green energy, and more than 40% are willing to pay more for energy from renewable sources.
Energy consumption will rise (between 2018 and 2050, a nearly 50% increase in global energy consumption is forecasted), so as their costs. Prices are rising steadily for four main reasons. These are an increase in energy commodity prices on global markets, more expensive carbon dioxide emission allowances in the EU ETS system, costs of investment in renewable energy sources by operators, and growing demand for energy thanks to economic recovery. As you can see above, you can reduce your electricity costs by taking the appropriate steps. — Rational management of electricity results in savings and has a positive effect on the natural environment. People undertake, at least on a declarative level, small actions that also positively impact a global scale — said Greg Krzeszowski, CEO and founder of EAAS.
