How to maximize savings on your electricity bill!

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Ways to maximize savings on your electricity bill!

The cost of living in the Philippines has been slowly increasing. With the recent increase in fossil fuel costs that led to higher energy rates, electricity rises in the ranks of the major expenses that each household and business needs to consider. With other expenses also piling up, it’s natural for people to look for ways to save on other things.

Fortunately, even if electricity is a mandatory expense, it is possible to optimize your consumption through simple household tricks, habits, and investments! Let’s take a look at 4 ways to easily maximize the savings from your electricity bill!

 

Employ Energy Saving Tips

The first few things that we can discuss that can help maximize savings on your electricity bill all deal with simple tips, habits, and reminders to reduce your energy consumption in small ways.

  1. Turn off the lights – When leaving your house, or any room you just used, make sure that you turn off the lights! Although lightbulbs don’t use much electricity, leaving them on for long periods of time is still a waste of electricity consumption all around.
  2. Shut the windows and doors – Particularly for airconditioned spaces, it is best to keep doors and windows closed so that the cold air doesn’t disperse. Air conditioning units will be forced to work harder if the room they are trying to cool always falls a specific temperature they’re set to keep.
  3. Adjust your refrigerator – Your refrigerator runs for 24 hours. It is one of the most energy-consuming appliances in every house. To lower its actual consumption, you can try to adjust its temperature to at most 4 degrees Celsius and your freezer to at least -18 degrees Celsius.
  4. Keep your Freezer full – the more food items are inside your freezer, the less it works to keep things frozen!
  5. But remember to defrost your Freezer – Moisture in the freezer can become frost. If it builds up over time it might cover the air vents and temperature sensors in the freezer, making it work way over time.
  6. Place your Appliances appropriately – Keep your fans and air conditioners away from appliances that emit a lot of heat like televisions, and lighting equipment.
  7. Cook with the Lid on – By doing so, you decrease cooking time and water usage significantly!

The seven items mentioned above are general tips that can be applied to all homes!

 

Make the switch to energy-efficient appliances

Appliances manufactured two or three years from now are already shadowed by upgraded, more efficient versions of them. Investing in these energy-efficient appliances can lead to significant savings in the long run.

Energy-efficient appliances don’t just help you save money because they consume less electricity, they also lower your greenhouse gas emission and water use. Compared to older models, these appliances would let you save around 10% to 25% in energy usage.

Appliances such as your refrigerator and washing machine should be the first on your list to replace with more energy-efficient models as they are the ones that are used the most.

The same can be said for light bulbs. Instead of incandescent bulbs, use more efficient, brighter, and longer-lasting fluorescent lights and LEDs.

 

Turn Off Standby

When appliances are turned off using their power button, they are put on a kind of standby mode. During this state, they are essentially turned off, but still consume electricity. The energy wasted because of this situation is called Phantom Power.

Many appliances consume phantom power when they are turned off as long as they are plugged in. An average house would usually have dozens of different appliances just plugged in even if they’re not actively being used. Because of this all of those appliances still consume energy—so what you think are turned off are all still contributing to your electricity bill.

The only way to stop phantom power is to simply unplug your appliances while not in use. For appliances that cannot be unplugged easily, smart plugs can stop them from consuming power while on standby.

 

Go Solar

Should you have enough capital to invest in a solar installation, this should be a no-brainer. Installing solar panels on your home will let you generate your own electricity. This in turn will supplement the energy consumption that you take from the grid. Ideally, your solar installation should be able to handle your energy consumption during the day while the grid supplies your consumption at night.

Properly installed solar systems should be able to reduce your electricity bill by at least 30% in optimal conditions, the savings can reach up to 50%. Pair this with the energy-saving tips we have for you above and you’ll experience a significant reduction in your bill for years on end!

 

Conclusion

There are many ways to try and reduce your electricity bill. These can range from simple adjustments in your daily habits to investing in solar. The bottom line is that it’s fairly easy to reduce energy consumption. It all depends on the length you are willing to take to really maximize and optimize your home’s energy consumption!

 

 

 

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