Technology has gone a long way over the past 20 years. The type of things you could do and the solutions presented feel like part of a sci-fi film. Fortunately for all working Joes out there, part of the solution technology offers is how to save money in your house, because let’s face it, in this economy, everyone needs to save money in whatever way possible. Even better, the best ways to save money in your house happen to also be environmentally friendly solutions that would help reduce carbon emissions and conserve the environment, another something we all need.
These are four ways to save money in your home while conserving the environment.
1. Lights
The easiest and most logical way to start off saving money on that energy bill happens to be your lights. It’s estimated that an average house consumes over 10% of its total energy for just the lights. You should start changing all incandescent bulbs with LEDs. The cool thing about an LED is not only that it saves energy, but it also has better lighting, which is much more natural and better accuracy than incandescent light. If you’re going to take that step, be sure to do it for all the lights in your home for it to really matter in the overall electricity consumption by the end of the month.
2. Use electrical devices responsibly
While lights take 10% of the energy consumption, electoral appliances use up to 20! The problem is, most aren’t used half the time or are used irresponsibly. It’s important to understand that saving you money on your monthly energy bill is not a luxury. That means computers that aren’t being used need to be shut down. Refrigerators shouldn’t be in warmer places of the house or exposed to direct sunlight, because guess what, they have to try harder to keep it cool in hotter conditions, which means more energy and thus more money.
Same goes for chargers; if your phone isn’t charging, remove the plug, because it keeps on draining energy. In general, exercise good judgment and think about how you use electrical appliances in your home because it’s not just about saving you some money. It’s more important about protecting the environment from the damage caused to it by carbon emission from all that energy.
3. Creative design
Energy and money consumption starts before even setting the cornerstone of your home. This means designing the place in a way that allows natural light to enter the house easily and smoothly substituting for artificial light which drains energy. It also means trying to use solar panels for your home, which have been used to even supply the factories with electricity. Go through all your options thoroughly, and you’d be surprised how much you can easily save.
4. Change your lifestyle
Believe it or not, the thing that needs to change the most is how you handle yourself around the house. To truly help the environment and save money, you should, for instance, use the washer reasonably –– meaning you don’t turn it on to every pair of boxers; wait till there’s a decent pile. It also means cooking food rationally; if something can be cooked in 5 minutes, don’t do it in 50. There are countless things you could do in your home to start being more energy conscious.
More Money in the Pocket
Living a ‘green’ lifestyle may seem a little out of the ordinary, especially with modern day trends that seem to be going in the opposite direction. However, it’s never wrong to be environmentally conscious and lower our carbon footprint as much as possible. At the end of the day, you’ll have helped not only yourself –– by saving money –– but also the environment by saving it from the damage caused by humans.