As a conscientious homeowner, you will be concerned about how your energy habits affect your bills and create your carbon footprint. The truth is most of us can do more to be more energy conscious and reduce our carbon footprint. Getting into good habits now will definitely be advantageous to society as a while when the switch away from reliance on fossil fuel is complete. That means we will be relying more on renewable forms of energy. Luckily there are a lot of small things we can all do every day that will help the energy grid.
Chargers
We’ve all done it, left a charger plugged in when we’ve finished using it. Well, did you know that a charger can use up to 90% of the energy it uses while charging up your device while doing nothing? If several people in the house are all doing the same thing, this can really add up over time. So, when you having finished charging a device up, take out the charger.
Wash Clothes at a Lower Temperature
If at all possible, try to wash your clothes in cold water as this is the most economical way to wash clothes. However, you don’t necessarily have to be that extreme all the time. Instead, why not try washing at 90 degrees instead of 110 degrees. By doing this, you could potentially save 40% of energy per wash. Another trick to reduce your carbon footprint is to only wash full loads and avoid washing half loads if possible.
Turn Things off Standby
Switching things onto standby is a huge waste of energy. Just walk around your home and check all the appliances that have a light on, well every single one of them will be eating into your electricity bill. Although not much on their own, together and over a long period of time, you can be sure this will be helping contribute towards a larger electricity bill. So you are par better off unplugging them or turning them off.
Benefit from Community Initiatives
Due to the fact that energy efficiency is such a hot topic, that means that many initiatives are created to help reduce our carbon footprint. Choosesolar.com is a great project where a solar farm has been created in the community, and you can benefit from green energy by signing up to it. You will get energy from a cheaper alternative, and the energy you use will be green, so it is a win-win situation.
Defrost the Freezer
This is something that, unfortunately, not many of us do regularly enough. But by defrosting your freezer, you are maintaining it and keeping the freezing elements free from ice to vid them overworking and causing you higher bills. It may be a pain, but it is essential maintenance. Also, a fridge a freezer both with better the fuller thy are. So, if your fridge and freezer have a lot of empty space, consider filling this space with bottles of water. This will help keep them cold, using less energy and ensuring that your bill is as low as it can be.