Spring is here, and it is the perfect time to cut down costs on energy. Without the generally high heating costs of winter or the constant need for air conditioning and fans in summer brings, spring presents an opportunity to reduce energy costs and save on your bill.
We’ve put together some tips and tricks to help you cut back on your energy usage and save money on your energy bill this Spring.
Use natural ventilation and sunlight
Just because it’s free, doesn’t mean you don’t need to value it. Especially for those of you living in areas with cool nights, it totally makes sense to leave the windows open in the evening and let the breeze cool your home naturally. Same goes for using sunlight instead of light globes during the day.
Make your windows energy efficient
Many windows lead to heat loss and heat gain. You can easily fix this by adding awnings, blinds, draperies or reflective films to limit the heat.
Use fans
Fans use less energy than air-con. It’s good for air circulation and your energy bill.
If you own your apartment, consider installing ceiling fans and if you’re a renter pedestal one are a cost-effective alternative.
Turn off ceiling fans when you leave the room. Remember that fans create a wind chill effect to cool people, not rooms.
Service your aircon
There’s nothing worse for your spring and summer energy bills than an ageing and poorly maintained air conditioner. You should regularly clean or replace air filters to keep the cooling system at its most efficient. Also remember to check the aircon’s evaporator coil, which generally needs a cleaning every year.
Need help changing your filter?
Watch this video that demonstrates how you can easily make the tune-up on your own:
Set your thermostat
If you do use the air-con, don’t be careless with the temperatures. every 1 degree higher for heating and 1 degree lower for cooling adds 10% to the running costs of your appliance
Temperature set at 24C is comfortable enough to relieve you from heat and won’t impact on your energy bill greatly.
Wash your clothes in cold water
An easy way to reduce energy bills is by washing your clothes in cold water. Hot water doesn’t clean your clothes that much better but it will lead to more energy being used at your home. Unless you are specifically asked to wash a particular piece of clothing in warm water by the manufacturer’s instructions there’s really no need to do that.
Line dry your laundry
With the bright sunshine and warm weather making a comeback, make use of it to dry your clohes as it is pointless to feed into the dryer’s high energy costs.
Make sure you check your Body corporate’s rules on hanging washing.
Clean out your fridge
Can’t wait to stock up the fridge with ice creams and cold drinks? First of all, clean out your fridge and throw away all those old things that your fridge is cooling unnecessarily and wasting its energy.
Make sure the condenser coils are clean and there’s no dust reducing the motor’s efficiency. The recommended temperatures for an energy efficient fridge is between 3 degree Celsius and 5 degree Celsius and for a freezer it is between -15 degree Celsius and -18 degree Celsius.
Don’t use the oven on hot days
Using heating appliances can actually heat up your home as well. Things like the oven and even incandescent lights can turn a percentage of the electricity they use into heat. Stick to the stove or microwave on warmer days instead.
