Energy saving advice, can you give me some tips on how to save some energy in my apartment ?

Question

my fiance and I are concerned about our rising electric bill and of course we are trying to do our part for the environment as well, yes we recycle, and never ever litter, but i need some hints on how to lower our energy consumption in our home. also, is it better to leave the pc on all night or to turn it off....?

Answer 1

Obviously, the changing the bulbs are good, but there are tons of little things. If you have access to your hot water heater, turn the heat down a little. The dryer is huge! If you are able, buy or make a clothes line. There are really cool retractable ones for under $10. Holiday lights that are led are better than traditional ones (90% less energy.) Good luck and thanks for caring about the environment! : )

Answer 2

turn your computer off when not using , get floresent lights , turn your hot water heater down to warm, rap your hot water heater. get a   device that saves power on moter like in your washer , heater,  fridge, dryer etc. I will be selling such a thing in the near future.

Randy

Answer 3

It's better to turn EVERYTHING OFF at the WALL ...PC, modem , the screen , video etc.

Other than things that have already been mention , you can adjust your thermostsat for the hot water system .

Boil the kettle when there's enough water for what you need.

The two items that are constantly using up energy in my house are the fridge and the freezer .Adjust the thermostats.

If you use aircon , adjust temp to 24 degrees.

Reduce the need of heating but insulation and wearing more clothes.

CFL bulbs do reduce energy consumption by heaps.

Answer 4

turn the pc off at night, unplug or install a surge protector and turn it off when not in use, use the compact flourescent bulbs, recycle plastics, glass, cans, and paper.

Answer 5

Turn your PC off whenever you're not using it.  Those things don't stay powered on by magic beans, they use electricity.  Also turning it off when not in use will help prevent hackers from getting into your PC.....you can't hack what's not powered on, and they'll have a much smaller window of time to get in if you don't leave it on all the time.

Also use compaq flourescent bulbs wherever you can, turn the heat down a few degrees, make sure you don't have any drafts coming in around the doors or windows, stuff like that will make a big difference.

Answer 6

if you have a dishwasher, let the dishes air dry, dont let the dishwasher use the heated dry cycle.

unplug things you aren't using (like the tv) because even though they are off they still use some energy. the easiest way to do that is to plug everything into a power strip and just unplug that at night.

Answer 7

Among the many, many things you can do is to use compact fluorescent light bulbs whenever possible.  They're sold in multi-packs and the type of light given off isn't that different from incandescent, especially when used in lamps with shades.  They use a fraction of energy of traditional bulbs (rated at 40, 60, 80 watts, etc) and last longer, as well.  Good luck going green!

Answer 8

compact flourescent bulbs will decrease your electricity bill, but they contain mercury, which is not allowed in the household waste destined for landfill, so you'll need to take trips to the hazardous waste depot to dispose of them.

put things like tv, vcr, dvd etc on a power bar, and shut it off when not in use - to avoid consuming 'phantom power'.  same with pc, monitor and printer.: put it on a power bar, and switch off when not in use.  Switch to inkjet instead of laser printers - laser printers have a high wattage heater inside that melts the ink onto the paper.

if your apartment space and water is not heated by natural gas, consider moving to one that is, as natural gas is much cheaper to heat with than electricity.

Electricity is rated in kilowatt-hours, and i pay about 7 cents for each kilowatt-hour.  a kilowatt is 1000 watts,  so if I leave 10 light bulbs on for an hour, and each bulb is 100 watts, it costs me 7 cents.

adjust your fridge or freezer to the minimum power consumption that food safety will allow. (4 °C for fridge, i think)  consult fightbac.org for more details.

adjust your programmable thermostat for 21 °C in winter and 26°C in summer, when occupied, and have it switch off when you're not home, or asleep (if you have enough blankets).

Answer 9

I live with my sister and she's pretty "green", only because she doesn't like to spend a lot on electricity bills. we do stuff like

-adjusting our fridge and freezer temperatures, since refrigerators eat up the most electricity in the household

-we use compact fluorescent light bulbs. they're a bit more pricey, but they last like ten times longer and it helps lower down the bills

-we have laptops because they take up less energy than desktop computers

-we unplug everything we aren't using

-we even have some plants in the house to help remove indoor air pollutants

-instead of using a/c, we'd use our ceilings fans

its better to your pc off. i remember how my sister would waste so much money on the electricity bills because she would leave her pc on just for her animes and movies. my mother was pretty angry :T