Can I save on electricity without investing into solar?
There are a lot of easy, low-cost things that you can do at home to save on your power bills. Some tips:
- Switching to energy efficient LED lights. Generally, lighting accounts for around 5% of household electricity consumption. For example in many cases LED light bulbs use up to 75% less energy than an equivalent incandescent bulb and up to 30% less than CFL bulbs.
- Switching off appliances that are on standby and turning off appliances that don’t need to be on.
- Reduce heating and cooling costs by insulating ceilings, walls and floors and stopping drafts from doors and windows.
- Cool your home efficiently, for example with high efficient air-conditioners, which use around 20% less electricity than models more than 5 years old.
- If you have an electric hot water system, reduce your hot water usage by installing a star rated showerhead or taking shorter showers.
- Keep the fridge clean and well ventilated and do not place the fridge and stove close to each other.
- Use curtains and shutters to keep the sun out during summer.
- Using cold water to wash clothes and the sun to dry them.
- When building, renovating, renting or buying a home, aim for high energy-efficiency and install energy-efficient appliances and lighting.
- Use timers to start and turn off heaters in winter - so you minimize the hours it is used.
Following the energy saving tips above will assist you and your family to reduce your electricity bills. Add a solar power system to your home or business and you can further reduce your electricity bills.