Going green was once thought to signify heading for the country to grow your own veggies, get a goat, set up an off grid solar power system and run the family car on leftovers from the chip fryer. These days being green equates to living in our city homes, conserving electricity where we can, installing a water tank, taking the bus to work and recycling our rubbish. We are all doing our little bit to conserve and save the planet. But what if we could step up our green living a level by making some small changes in our day to day life. Plus as a bonus, further along the way we could save a stack of money as well. You'd be up for that, wouldn't you?
We all know that to save electricity we need to turn the lights off when we leave a room, keep the air conditioner at 24 degrees Celsius and use cold water when washing the clothes. But greening up your electricity use doesn't need to stop there. We have put together some expert tips on how to save electricity and lower your power bill.
Can you be too cool?
No, we're not talking about bearded, scarf-wearing hipsters. We're referring to your common household fridge and freezer. Running theses appliances too low doesn't keep your food fresher for longer, it just uses unnecessary power. Although on the other hand by setting it too high you could risk running out of sick days from repeated bouts of gastro. There is a magical balance for your fridge between icicles on the lettuce and lumpy milk. Invest a couple of dollars and buy a fridge thermometer so you know for sure and set the temperature to 3 degrees Celsius. The freezer should be set to -18 degrees to keep everything properly frozen.
Go go gadgets
Making sure your phone, tablet, laptop, smartwatch, fitness tracker, headphones etc, etc are charged and ready when you need them has become a modern day obsession. The spaghetti maze of charging cords is an ever present sight in most homes today. Many of these gadgets don't use that much power to recharge but did you know if you leave them plugged in after they have fully charged you're just burning power for no reason at all. Plug it in, charge it up and then pull the cord out.
If you can't stand the heat...
Modern fan forced ovens heat up considerably faster than older models. This means it is usually unnecessary to preheat the oven when you're making dinner, despite what your favorite celebrity chef tells you in his/her latest cookbook. Use your oven's heating up period to heat the dinner as well. If you are re-creating your grandma's famous lemon soufflé for a dinner party, by all means, crank the oven up beforehand but the Tuesday night roast chook won't know the difference (your power bill will though).
On the boil
Heating the water in your home could be using a lot more power than you would imagine. Appliances such as the washing machine, water heater, and dishwasher could be adding a substantial amount to the electricity meter each month. The little, unassuming kettle is drinking in the power every time you make a cup of tea, especially if you fill it to the top for one or two cups of Earl Grey. Keep these power hungry appliances in check by just filling the kettle with the water you will actually use, only switch to the very hot pot wash when you really need it and when your storage water heater breaks replace it with a solar water heater, heat pump or an instantaneous system.
Green power saving tips - A quick five
- Only wash if you have a full load - this goes for the dishwasher as well as the washing machine.
- Throw on a jumper or open a window if the temp gets uncomfortable - even if you just delay using the heater or air con for a few hours you're saving electricity every minute.
- Use a ceiling fan instead of the air conditioner
- Reduce the brightness of your screens - phone, tablet and computer monitor screens all draw considerably less power if you turn down the brightness level.
- Gradually switch your lighting to LED light bulbs.