Money is hard to come by and saving is even harder. A little bit here and there soon adds up, so here are a few tips to help your energy savings in small ways around your home.
Firstly, let’s talk about the Energy Rating Label. It’s a super easy visual aid to let you know how energy efficient the appliance is. The more stars it has, the more energy efficient it is, simple, right? You do need to compare similar items to get the most out of it. If you are looking at washing machines, make sure they are the same size as bigger ones will use more power than smaller ones and not be a true comparison.
There are a few appliances in the home that we tend to use when its not necessary and don’t help with energy savings. They become more of a convenient habit. As much as we love our clothes dryer, do we really need to be using it as often as we do? On a day with a gentle breeze clothes, towels and sheets will dry reasonably quickly. Saving the dryer for wet days will help us towards saving energy. You might even like to have a clothes horse or indoor washing line in the garage for items you don’t need in a hurry on those wet days.
Heated towel rails are another one and often run all year round. Try turning it off for the 6 months of the year that are a little warmer or better still a timer so that it only runds for certain times of the day. Your towel should dry just fine hung up in between showers in those warmer months.
Over the course of a year the power used from items being on ‘standby’ can add up. Turn the big ones off at the end of the day such as televisions, home entertainment units and computers. You won’t lose any settings, just flick it back on next time you need it.
Heating and cooling is another area a large amount of our power bill comes from and some of the best energy savings can come from making changes here. Make sure you have the correct settings for your heat pump. Putting it up to 27 degrees when you want the room to heat up faster won’t work and will just end up costing you more. Be reasonable with your setting 26 degrees is not going to work, think along the lines of 20-21 degrees and don’t have the heatpump on automatic. If you do it will heat the room up and then try to cool it down again.
Close off the doors to rooms you’re not using, no point paying for hot (or cold) air that no one is going to enjoy. In winter pull your curtains early enough to not let the chill set in and lose the heat inside from the warmth of the days sun. If you are due to upgrade your curtains, consider thermal backing to maximize the heat you have inside your house, dropped right to the floor is best.
An Econo-Heat Panel is great in the cold months to take the chill off your bedroom, you can add a thermostat to it so it switches off when it reaches the desired temperature on warmer nights. They are not designed to heat a room like a heat pump, more to take the chill out the air and keep your comfortable. Not only are the super easy to install yourself, no electrician needed, they are also extremely energy efficient.
It’s all very well heating your house, but how much of it are you letting escape? All windows and doors should have a tight seal and not move around if you push on them. You can buy Door and Window Seal for about $16 a roll. Put it along inside of the window where it shuts against itself to form a super tight seal and keep that precious heat in. If cost allows it double glazing is a great way to step up on the heat saving with the added bonus of noise reduction.
Consider putting a wrap around your hot water cylinder if it doesn’t have one already. It will hold the heat a lot better resulting in fewer times the element has to come on to boost it back to temperature. Many homes have the water temperature set much higher than they need. Try keeping it at 65 degrees.
Just think of what you could do with your savings. Small changes can make a big difference over a long time.
Brent Palmer – Professional Real Estate Consultant
About the Author: The above article on Energy Savings in Your Home was written and provided by Brent Palmer, a local leader in the field of Richmond and Nelson Real Estate sales, marketing, advanced technology for home selling, and social media. You can contact Brent Palmer here, or at 027 544 9921.
He has helped many people buy and sell homes in the Nelson, Stoke and Richmond areas for years, and would love the opportunity to help you as well.
Thinking of selling your home? I have a real passion for helping people sell their homes in our Nelson and Tasman Region, as well as the marketing, social media & advanced technology for home selling that goes along with it. I’d love to have the opportunity to sit down with you discuss how we can work together to get you the best price.
I help people buy and sell real estate in the following Nelson and Tasman towns & neighbourhoods: Wakefield, Brightwater, Hope, Appleby, Redwood Valley, Mapua, Stoke, Tahunanui, Atawhai and of course, Richmond and Nelson City. Connect with Brent on Facebook and pretty much everywhere else.
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