Common household products and appliances can consume obscene amounts of energy. Items that you use every day and are essential to meeting basic household needs may be expending huge amounts of energy and costing you a lot of money each month in utility expenses. Saving energy preserves natural resources and reduces pollution and, of course, saves you money.
Rethinking some of your appliances and household items that waste a ton of energy is the first step to conserving energy and reducing environmental impacts. Here are some of the top energy draining items in your home and how to make them more efficient.
Washers, Dryers, Dishwashers, Refrigerators
These four items are responsible for a huge portion of household energy consumption. Washing machines that conserve water, dryers that dry faster and require less power, and dishwashers that clean more effectively while using less water are all examples of ways in which these ordinary appliances can reduce your energy use. Consider investing in a dishwasher with an air dry option to save on power. Also, new refrigerators use considerably less power than older models and it can actually be more cost effective to upgrade to a new refrigerator rather than spending more money on your electric bill with an older fridge. Upgrading to more efficient appliances like these can save you hundreds of dollars per year.
Low Flow Plumbing
This may sound weak and ineffective at first, but low flow plumbing fixtures can provide you good water pressure while saving enormous amounts of water per year. You could use up to thirty percent less water with a low flow, high-efficiency faucet over an ordinary flow fixture. Consider installing low flow faucets, showerheads, and toilets. Some toilets even have a dual flush option to control the amount of water used. Similarly, exchanging your water heater for a more efficient model can save a ton of energy as well. There are water heaters that use less power to heat water and are programmable to stop heating the water constantly. Tankless water heaters are great for energy savings since they connect directly to pipes and only heat water when a faucet is turned to hot.
Better Insulation
Heating and cooling costs usually represent half of a household’s energy consumption. Ensuring that your home has proper energy efficient insulation will help you keep your house warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and will help keep your energy bill low. Make sure you have proper exterior wall and ceiling insulation and consider making all of your windows double pane to regulate temperature better. Also, insulate ductwork and openings around doors and windows. Adding some insulation to windows through curtains and blinds can also help save energy and regulate temperature year round.
Lightbulbs
Lighting is a big drain on energy in a home. Replacing those inefficient incandescent bulbs with more efficient and longer lasting compact fluorescent bulbs is an excellent way to conserve energy and better light your home. Since incandescent bulbs produce more heat than light, you will actually get better lighting with compact fluorescent bulbs. These bulbs can last ten times as long and use up to seventy five percent less energy.
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by +Ben Vaughn
Ben Vaughn writes for Arc Blue Electric on the importance of finding energy efficient household items. He also writes about the importance of finding the right electrician and how to reduce your energy consumption.