• Monday, 01 June 2009 07:57
• Written by Desmond Wira

Need more money saving ideas? Here are tips to slash electricity bill. Most people think electricity cnsumption cannot be reduced a lot. It is a wrong idea. You can reduce your electricity bill in easy way. At the end of the month you'll be surprise on how much you can save just by doing simple things.

First thing first

1. Buy energy efficient devices. Also consider buying smaller one, no need to buy devices that are bigger than necessary. Smaller devices means smaller electricity consumption.
2. Switch off and unplug devices that you don't use. Don't let electric device on stand-by mode. Stand-by mode still consume electricity. Unused adaptors connected to power cords still consumes energy. It's better to turn off and unplug the cable. Just by doing this simple thing you can save 5-10% of your energy consumption.

Tips on household devices

Among household appliances, your biggest energy consumer likely AC (air conditioner), refrigerator, and then lights. Because you use them everyday. Electric oven, electric water heater, hair dryer actually consumes much energy, but if don't use them often, you electricity bill should be okay.

1. Reduce the use of the air conditioner.
   1. Use a fan instead of an air conditioner.
   2. Reduce the temperature of air conditioner
   3. If you use air conditioner, make sure all doors and window or any opening is closed
   4. Use a timer to shut down air conditioner automatically when you asleep.
   5. Good home design with natural air circulation can reduce the use of air conditioner.
2. Refrigerator, Freezer and Fridge:
   1. Put cooling device away from heat, like radiators, direct sunlight or other big energy consuming devices.
   2. Cooling device should be placed not too close to the wall for air circulation.
   3. Keep the door of these devices closed.
   4. Don't open the door for too long.
   5. Check the sealing gasket of the cooling devices: Put a switched on torch in the fridge and close the door. If you can see a light, the sealing gasked is damaged. Buy a new one.
   6. Don't put hot food on refrigerator. Cool down outside before you put them in a cooling device.
   7. Defrost the freezer if there's a layer of ice.
3. Lights:
   1. Paint rooms in a bright color. More light is reflected and so you need less light to make your room bright.
   2. Replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. It is more economical.
   3. Design your house to make natural light (sun) goes through. It is huge saving..
4. Dishwasher and washing machine:
   1. Make the devices as full as possible.
   2. Reduce the water temperature
5. Avoid heating with electric energy. Heating with electric devices consumes a lot of energy. For example hair dryer, clothes dryer, electric kettle. Use towel to dry your hair. Dry your clothers on laundry lines under the sun. Use gas kettle instead of electric kettle.
6. Ironing a lot of clothes at once. Finish ironing all the clothes at once when possible.
7. Optimize the energy consumption of your PC.
   1. Change your CRT monitor into LCD. LCD consumes less energy
   2. Use notebook for everyday use instead of desktop PC. Notebook consumes less energy
   3. Turn off and unplug unused peripherals, such as printer, scanner or else.