Now almost three months into lockdown, many of our daily routines have settled into a ‘new normal.’ With most of us spending a lot more time indoors, whether it’s working from home, printing out the sheets for home-schooling or getting experimental in the kitchen, we’re probably more aware of our energy usage and home habits than ever before.
While we continue to adjust, it’s good to be mindful of some of the habits and electrical items that could be wasting energy in your home.
How to Save Electricity at Home
1. Unplug your Laptop Charger
With conference calls on the rise and working from home in full swing, it is likely to feel the need to keep your laptop on charge all day. However, overcharging can lead to eventual degrading of your laptop battery as well as consuming standby power when plugged into the wall.
Even charger cables that don’t have anything plugged into them, but are still connected to the socket, can waste electricity.
Top Tip: Make sure that all devices are switched off or even better unplugged.
2. Create Specific Washing Days
With many of us getting out to do gardening, home workouts or cleaning up after the little ones, there are likely to be lots more clothes filling up the laundry basket.
Top Tip: Decide on a designated washing day for your colours and whites and ask everyone in the family to work around it. A little team work here can mean you reduce the amount of smaller washes needed done throughout the week.
3. Reduce Your Screen Time
‘Your screen time has increased from last week’ – sound familiar?
Most of our screen consumption has increased due to lockdown restrictions in place, covering all devices from TVs, iPads, and phones to kindles and gaming consoles.
Some ways to save energy on devices are:
- Turning down the brightness on your consoles
- Turning devices off and unplugging when not in use
- Switching devices to energy saving mode where necessary
Top Tip: Designate some ‘screen-free’ time throughout your week. Not only will you save on energy but time spent outdoors or reading a book is a great way to switch off and positively impact your wellbeing.
4. Dry Your Clothes Outside Where Possible
It’s a good idea to hang clothes outside to dry when you can, especially when it’s warmer outside. Tumble dryers have big motors to spin the clothes and heaters to help the drying process, which makes them expensive to run.
If you do use a clothes dryer, make sure to clean the lint filter after every couple of uses. This will help it run more efficiently, improving air circulation and allows your dryer to work faster, wasting less electricity.
Top Tip: If you hang your laundry outside, you can normally get away without ironing too – another bonus!
5. Tackle the Dishes Along the Way
Noticing the dishes piling up beside the sink? With your family being at home more often, you can save money and electricity by handwashing plates and cutlery as you go along.
Top Tip: When you do need to load the dishwasher, make sure to fill your dishwasher to as near to full capacity as possible, to ensure efficiency, energy and money savings.
6. A Costly Cuppa
If you are no longer commuting to work you may be missing out on your daily coffee stop. While this will be saving you money on takeaway coffees, perhaps your coffee intake has increased with unlimited access while working from home? Many of us can be guilty of flicking the switch on the kettle, only to remember 10 minutes later and need to do it again. A full kettle of water to boil each time is 2.5p which can really add up over time.
Top Tip: Only fill the kettle with how much you need each time to reduce the electricity required to boil. You can view our article on the Most Surprising Energy Wasting Items for more tips like this.
7. Hair Trimmers
And finally, we know too many victims of a bad home hair-cutting experience. We can give you some energy saving tips – but unfortunately no good-hair-day guarantees!
Top Tip: Our advice – put the hair trimmers down! If you can wait until lockdown restrictions are lifted, save yourself money and energy (and potentially a dodgy haircut!)
Have any energy saving tips you’d like to add?
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