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Some Tips to Save Energy When Using Appliances
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Appliances account for the bulk of your electricity consumption. You know that appliances won’t work without electricity. And you know that there are appliances that simply consume too much energy, while some are naturally energy efficient.
But do you know whether your appliances are manufactured to be energy efficient or not, its overall energy consumption will heavily depend on how you use them? Yes, there are some ways you use appliances that make those items use more electricity.
You should therefore know about recommended practices that will help you lower your electricity bills by reducing the electricity consumption of appliances. It is imperative that you bear in mind several useful and simple guidelines that will help you generate energy savings when using your appliances.
However, be assured that you won’t be spoiling the helpfulness and convenience brought about by these appliances. With proper and advisable usage of appliances, you can save on electric consumption. Overall, you’ll be surprised at how much savings you can generate just by being a wise user and responsible owner of appliances.
Here are some useful tips that will help you avoid higher electric bills when you use your home appliances, particularly refrigerators and dishwashers, which are the top appliances in terms of electric consumption.
Refrigerators
Refrigerators are the topmost consumer of electricity among all home appliances. That is because refrigerators use complex energy systems that generate and absorb heat to freeze or make cold its contents.
Refrigerators are also the most basic among all home appliances. It is principally used to store food and beverages to keep them cold. These appliances also naturally preserve food items stored within.
When buying refrigerators, you should look for the energy efficient ones. Reliable and popular appliance brands usually offer refrigerators that aren’t just sophisticated and highly functional, but also energy efficient.
Take note that size matters when you are assessing energy consumption of refrigerators. The bigger the refrigerator, the more energy it uses. Two-door and single door refs also differ in the amount of energy consumption. Two-door refs are deemed to be more economical and energy efficient because freezer temperatures won’t be disrupted when you open the door to get and store food.
There are still simple tips you should consider if you aim to save on costs while using the refrigerator.
- Don’t store hot food or beverages in the fridge. Refrigerators work by absorbing heat in stored food and conducting such heat to its compressor. This temperature conduction process makes up for energy consumption.
- Clean the condenser coils of your refrigerator regularly. Such condenser coils are usually located behind or underneath the fridge.
- Always make sure that refrigerator seals and freezer doors are fitting tightly. This will ensure that there won’t be unnecessary leakage of air from inside the fridge.
- Don’t use a separate freezer for food. Doing so would be wasteful unless that separate freezer is constantly kept full. Remember that it will take less power to run a full freezer than when it is half empty.Dishwashers
Dishwashers are one of the most expensive appliances to maintain because it uses not just electricity but also ample amounts of water. Did you know that dishwashers use about 60% to 80% of its energy consumption just to heat the water? That water-heating process inside dishwashers make up for most of the appliance’s power consumption.
There are also many brands and versions of dishwashers that are specifically made to be energy efficient. You can buy such dishwashers. If you already have one at home, there are several measures that can help you lower your dishwasher’s energy consumption.
- Never run a dishwasher unless it is entirely full. Doing so will help conserve electricity.
- You can turn on any energy-saver switch whenever you air dry clean dishes. The practice will help you cut energy consumption of the appliance by about 10% to 20%.Saving on energy consumption is imperative nowadays. As a responsible individual, you should make sure you are doing your share in energy conservation, especially during these times when energy sources are becoming more expensive and are slowly depleting.
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February 28th, 2008 at 11:57 am
How To Reduce Your Energy Bills / Energy Conservation Begins at Home
Imagine leaving a window open all winter long — the heat loss, cold drafts and wasted energy! If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan or AC Return, a fireplace or a clothes dryer, that may be just what is occurring in your home every day.
These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause heat to pour out and the cold outside air to rush in — costing you higher heating bills.
Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.
But what can you do about the four largest “holes†in your home — the folding attic stair, the whole house fan or AC return, the fireplace, and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Attic Stairs
When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.
Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.
Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door — do you see any light coming through? These are gaps add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.
Whole House Fans and AC Returns
Much like attic stairs above, when whole house fans are installed, a large hole (up to 16 square feet or larger) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only leaky ceiling shutter between the house and the outdoors.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a whole house fan cover. Installed from the attic side, the whole house fan cover is invisible. Cover the fan to reduce heating and air-conditioning loss, remove it when use of the fan is desired.
If attic access is inconvenient, or for AC returns, a ceiling shutter cover is another option for reducing heat loss through the ceiling shutter and AC return. Made from R-8, textured, thin, white flexible insulation, and installed from the house side over the ceiling shutter with Velcro, a whole house fan shutter cover is easily installed and removed.
Fireplaces
Sixty-five percent, or approximately 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.
Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.
A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.
Why does a home with a fireplace have higher heating bills? Hot air rises. Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking the heated air from your house.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, a fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.
Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts
In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.
Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.
An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.
If your home has a folding attic stair, a whole house fan, an AC return, a fireplace, and/or a clothes dryer, you can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.
Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover, an attic access door, and is the U.S. distributor of the fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit http://www.batticdoor.com