While there are dozens of different ways to save electricity in your homes and offices and reduce your monthly bill, there are 6 simple ways that will give you the bulk of savings.
1. Close all unneccesary lights, fans, computers and appliances when not in use. You will be surprised how many people still keep their lights, fans and ACs running when they leave the room. Many of them even insist on leaving their ACs on when they leave the house in the morning just so that it will be cool when they come back in the evening. Well, modern ACs cool your room within minutes once you switch it on. Does it make any financial sense for you to waste 8-10 hours of very expensive electricity just so that you are saved from 3-4 minutes of discomfort. Leaving a single AC on in your bedroom is the equivalent of leaving 80 energy saver bulbs on when you leave home. If it is really that important to you, then set the timer on your AC using your remote control to turn on 15 minutes before you think you will get home.
2. Upgrade your old fridge for a new energy efficient one. Do you know that new energy efficient fridges use 75% less electricity than the energy efficient ones from 15 years ago? The difference in electricity bills is as much as Rs. 17,000 (US$170) per year. Do you still think it is frugal to keep your 20 year old fridge around? At the same time new energy efficient fridges use 70% less electricity than some other new fridges of the same size on the market. For more information check out our comparison page for refrigerator brands.
3. Use a laptop computer instead of a desktop. New laptops use between 25-50W of power based on how much CPU power you are using. On idle or sleep mode, they use less than 1W. Desktop computers use between 150-300W of power, since they also have external monitors and more energy intensive components. For every desktop that you switch with a laptop you are saving as much electricity as if you removed 1-3 ceiling fans, or 9-22 energy saver bulbs, from your home or office. Frankly speaking, you do not really need a desktop unless you need GPU processing, or have CPU intensive needs like numerical analysis for aerospace, computational biology, etc.
4. Get the correct-sized AC for your room. Most people buy an AC that is too large for their room. Although a large AC will cool your room a little quicker than a smaller AC, it will also cycle off before it has the chance to reduce the humidity in your room, and before it has had the chance to reach its full efficiency. Hence a large AC will just do half its job and use a lot more electricity than a correctly-sized AC. For instance, a 1.5 ton AC will use at least 50% more electricity than a 1 ton AC in a room that needs a 1 ton AC. For more information visit our page on the best air conditioner brands.
5. Switch all lights to energy saver CFL , LFL or LEDs. Did you know that incandescent bulbs are only 1-2% efficient? The remaining electricity is wasted as heat. No wonder they are called heat globes in certain parts of the world. Even CFL (compact flourescent light) and LFL (linear flourescent light or tubelights), and LEDs are just 10% efficient. However, they do use 80-90% less electricity than the old incandescent bulbs, to provide the same amount of light (lumens). To learn more visit our page comparing lighting options.
6. Use the cold cycle for your washing machine. Did you know that front loading washing machines in general use 30-50% less electricity than top loading washing machines to clean the same amount of clothes? When in the market for a new washing machine, make sure to buy the top loading one. Till then, you can also save up to 80% of electricity by washing your clothes in cold cycle. Most clothes will last longer when washed in cold wash. However, you should still wash bed sheets, towels and heavily stained clothes in warm wash. To learn more visit our washing machine comparison page.