In the modern, western world we have come to rely heavily on our supply of energy. Imagine for a moment that the electricity supply to your home suddenly just stopped. What would you do without light, without heat? The food in the freezer would ruin, the television would be an empty box (some would claim it already is). The computer would be a useless waste of space (again)! Rooms would probably be cold and making hot meals to warm up would be most time consuming. What would we do?
It was only 100 years ago we were nearly all in this position – naked without our appliances! These home appliances are now changing fast as energy efficiency becomes built-in. ‘A’ rated refrigerators for example, use 40% less energy than fridges purchased in 2001.
New dishwashers, oven and cookers, deep freezers, microwaves, kettles, washing machines and dryers, air conditioning and heating systems all carry an ‘Energy Star’ or some other rating to show their level of energy efficiency. In the modern energy efficient home it is important that we look for these ratings and understand what they mean.
But energy efficiency in the home means a lot more than just buying the latest, low energy, consumer durable. There are many ways to become more energy efficient at home, from getting up earlier and using the daylight to putting on more clothes rather than turning up the heater. Many people are discovering that, like 100 years ago, a family sing-song round the piano is not only cheaper in energy terms than the brain-death of watching television, but a lot more fun.
Scrutinise your home for ways to save energy. Take a walk round every room and check for drafts, take a notebook and start a list! It will also save you money. Are the loft, walls, windows, doorways haemorrhaging your cash? It’s remarkably easy to sort these out. Even taking a week off work to do this will pay for itself in a very short time, especially as the price of energy delivered to your home continues to rise.
Check you are not heating unused rooms or wasting heat through open doors or windows. Put your washing and drying machines onto cheaper cycles. Check your appliances have a ‘power-off’ or sleep mode – fortunes are wasted every year just keeping TVs and computers on stand by. When you make a cup of tea with the kettle, make one for later and put it in a thermos to save boiling the kettle all the time. Kettles are one of the highest electricity users in the home so check also that you are not boiling more water than you need. Just this one action can save a lot of money every year.
