Energy Conservation: The Home Edition

Posted on by Patricia Beaumont

America has only five percent of the world’s population and uses twenty-five percent of the world’s energy. We are constantly consuming resources faster than the earth can replenish, causing massive amounts of pollution, and creating the need for more and more landfill space.  A little bit goes a long way in helping solve the problem. So why not be a part of the solution by joining the green evolution! The following is a list of ways you can reduce your home energy consumption:

 

Problem: Light use is accountable for about 20 percent of all energy consumed in the US.

 

Solution:  Trade your standard incandescent bulbs for compact fluorescent bulbs. They are more energy-efficient, last for years instead of months, consume little power and generate little heat. Also, if you’re renovating your house, place your windows in such a way that natural light is allowed to enter so that you wouldn’t need to use manmade light during the day. Furthermore, if you don’t want to buy new light bulbs, simply turn the lights off when leaving the room.

 

 Problem: A dishwasher uses 80 percent of its energy for heating water; a washing machine, about 90 percent.

 

Solution: upgrade to energy star certified products. Also, only run the dishwasher or washing machine when it’s full. Also try using short cycles for all but the dirtiest dishes and air dry them. You may also want to consider a front-loading washing machine since they use 50 percent less energy and one-third less water. Plus, they remove far more water in the rinse cycle, and that translates into big savings in dryer time.

 

Problem: All the refrigerators in the United States use more than half of all the power generated by nuclear power plants.

 

Solution: Energy Star refrigerators cut down on energy use, and cuts costs by one-third to two-thirds, depending on the age of the original machine. If you can’t afford to buy a new one, set your refrigerator temperature at 38 to 42 degrees Fahrenheit; your freezer should be set between 0 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. You may use the power-save switch if your fridge has one, and make sure the door seals tightly. (By the way, you can check this by making sure that a dollar bill closed in between the door gaskets is difficult to pull out. If it slides easily between the gaskets, replace them.)

 

Problem: Leaving chargers plugged in still draws energy.

 

Solution: Unplug your chargers when not in use or when appliances are fully charged.

 

Written by: Sade Richardson, class of 2015

 

 

For more ways to save energy, check out the following links:

http://www.nrdc.org/air/energy/genergy.asp

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/cheap/331ways/home/energy.asp

http://www.epa.gov/greenhomes/ReduceEnergy.htm

http://www.brighthub.com/environment/green-living/articles/66614.aspx

 

 

130 Replies to “Energy Conservation: The Home Edition”

  1. One can also switch to the BLDC Fans, like they really consume around 50-65% less energy than the traditional or the normal fans we use at home. Reduction of 50% of energy consumption per households in just fans is a great way to start to conserve energy at home.

  2. Thanks for sharing this amazing post. It’s really important for all to save energy for the upcoming time. I really like your article and the resources you give.

  9. Nice one!
    Really energy conservation is a must and after reading these facts I am definitely going to share the article to my friends.

  28. You may also want to consider a front-loading washing machine as they use 50 percent less energy and one-third less water. By the way awesome article.

  41. Energy conservation is the thing that everyone should understand and take it on a serious note. Thanks for explaining all this useful info.

  46. Great article. will definitely share this. Energy has to be saved. we must learn and spread the message.

  47. Amazing read. We all should be concerned about saving energy, or at least practise some good exercises that tend to conserve energy for us.

  48. Yeah truly as the resources are depleting we need to take care of them and electricity is being misused I believe everyone should follow steps to save electricity. Thanks for Sharing

    Zommerce

  50. Thanks for sharing such valuable information. I wasn’t aware that leaving the charger plugged in still draws the energy.

  53. First off, this is excellent piece of information and discussion to have.
    Overall, I feel saving electricity is becoming a matter of concern of all of us. Having said that, there are people who goes the right way. However, in this, government needs to accomplish certain plans regarding the electronic appliances and limit electricity.

    Cheers,
    Shubham

  57. Now a days energy crisis is a major issue in the whole world,people have to come up with more and more new ideas of energy savings.

  64. I have bookmarked your website because this site contains valuable information in it. I am really happy with articles quality and presentation. Thanks a lot for keeping great stuff. I am very much thankful for this site.

  66. ‘This is a serious concern for the whole world. We young generation have to come up with new Ideas to solve this major concern for the whole world and coming generation”

    That is right

  67. Thanks for sharing such valuable information. This is the time when govt should ban the selling of all energy consumer products having an energy rating of lesser than 5 stars.

  75. Energy conservation is the need of the hour. The first oil shock of 1973 shook up the industrialized nations of the world and awakened them from the sleepy

  76. Thanks for sharing this amazing post. It’s really important for all to save energy for the upcoming time. I really like your article and the resources you give.

  82. Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on websites I stumbleupon every day. It’s always useful to read through articles from other authors and practice something from other sites.

  98. You have provided such a great and informative article here! I read your instruction very carefully and I will use them ASAP. Thank you so much to share it.

  100. The Best way to save energy, in my opinion, is to use electrical products as less as possible or when we need them the most.

    The government also have to take the Energy crisis seriously and make some law over its proper usage.

    Anyways, thanks for talking about such a severe issue.

  102. Energy conservation is the thing that everyone should understand and take it on serious note. Thanks for explaining all this useful info.

  103. You have provided such a great and informative article here! I read you instruction very carefully and I will use them ASAP. Thank you so much to share it.

  105. I presume that you meant saving energy and not power! Energy can be saved mainly by avoiding wastage.

    For example, an incandescent lamp converts less than twenty percent of the energy into visible light. The rest of the energy is dissipated as heat. This can be achieved by changing to a more efficient type of lamp such as led, Wastage of energy can be reduced by switching off appliances when not in use.

  106. “Unplug your chargers when not in use or when appliances are fully charged.” I never gave attention to this. Thank you for such an awesome insights on saving energy for the future. It’s high time we start paying attention to small things which can collectively create big impact to save the world.

  108. We are wasting energy And not giving a damn this will Lead to many problems in Future,
    We young generation have to come up with new Ideas to solve this major concern for the whole world and coming generation.

  112. The problems associated with world oil production peaking will not be temporary, and past ‘energy crisis’ experience will provide relatively little guidance

  121. ‘This is a serious concern for the whole world. We young generation have to come up with new Ideas to solve this major concern for the whole world and coming generation”

    That is right

  122. Energy conservation is the need of the hour. The first oil shock of 1973 shook up the industrialized nations of the world and awakened them from the sleepy

  123. This is a serious concern for the whole world. We young generation have to come up with new Ideas to solve this major concern for the whole world and coming generation

  125. That’s very important point but people don’t aware about this thing so there is a necessary that we can use products which are energy saver..Save energy and water also.

  126. American must need to learn how to use energy, as they are using it like they are most populated country in the world.

  127. You may also want to consider a front-loading washing machine since they use 50 percent less energy and one-third less water.

  129. The most convenient method of saving electricity is fit Toronto Windows and Doors as if the windows are nicely installed you can get better light and then there is less need of light during day time and automatically we can save a lot.

  130. Solar PV needs to definitely be part of our energy future, Germany got a blueprint on how to do it!
    Also here is a great site by the US Energy Information Administration for kids to learn about all aspects of Energy: http://www.eia.gov/kids

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