SUSTAINABLE HOORAH - ELECTRICITY

When we were based in London, the electricity bills were hard to look at, especially during the winter months. We started practising sustainable habits and witnessed our bills coming down. Some might think of these tips as being a cheapskate, but honest speaking, electricity is lost at times when we do not even realise. Most of the times, we are not even making use of them. So, lets help the environment and also make our living more efficient.

TIPS TO CONSERVE ENERGY

• Close draperies or shades after sunset to provide added insulation in cold weather
• During the day: let sunlight in windows facing the sun by opening your shades. The solar energy helps keep your room warm and reduces heating needs.
• Keep a full refrigerator! If you have little or no food in your refrigerator either unplug it or fill with water bottles to maximize energy efficiency.
• Cleaning the condenser coils found in the back or bottom of the refrigerator will maximize its efficiency. You can use a brush or vacuum. Be sure to unplug the refrigerator before you start cleaning.
• Keep the refrigerator away from heating appliances like windows and heating ducts. Direct exposure to heat forces the unit to work harder and use more energy.
• You can save energy dollars by using hot water only for heavily soiled laundry. Ninety percent of the energy your washer uses goes toward heating water.
• Run the washer only when you have a full load of laundry to save energy and water.
  Remember to check the lint filter before each load. Lint buildup blocks airflow and lengthens drying time, increasing energy use.
• Turn off lights when no one is in the room (including bathrooms.)
• Exchange or purchase compact fluorescent light bulbs. They use less energy than incandescent and last longer.
• Use less water! Take shorter showers, try to cut your shower time in half, or limit it to under 5 minutes. Taking showers in the day will reduce the usage of lights. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth, a mug will help.
• Eliminate Wasted Energy: turn off appliances, lights, and equipment when not in use. Don't forget to turn computers and printers off at the power strip! Phantom Load, or the energy used while appliances are turned off accounts for a huge amount of energy we consume.
  Enable energy-saving features on your monitor and personal printer
• When feasible, use stairs rather than the elevator
  To conserve energy purchase a "smart" power strip to automatically turn off equipment
  Purchase Energy Star-labeled equipment and use power-saving features.
• Yes, It's true screen savers actually use energy! An easy way to reduce the amount of energy your computer uses is to set the monitor to sleep!
• Try Blackle.com. Blackle saves energy because the screen is predominantly black. "Image displayed is primarily a function of the user's color settings and desktop graphics, as well as the color and size of open application windows; a given monitor requires more power to display a white (or light) screen than a black (or dark) screen." Roberson et al, 2002