Solar Panels For Ultimate Energy Efficiency
When the electricity bills every month are straining the budget, saving energy is obviously the best answer. However, it’s a little difficult to achieve maximum energy efficiency and control your usage. You know you’re not going overboard – you still turn off the lights when you leave the room and you still remember to close the refrigerator door. But it still doesn’t seem good enough. Your energy bill is still at an all-time high and none of your practices seem to be saving energy at all. What’s the deal?
While you’re doing everything you can, why not try these energy-saving tips? They’re little things that will easily become a habit and, once they accumulate, could help you keep your energy expenses in check.
Check your refrigerator regularly. We all know the the fridge eats up more energy than most appliances, so you’re going to want to make sure it’s running as efficiently as possible. Vacuum the back regularly to get rid of dust and dirt that collects on the refrigerators coils, as these can trap the heat at the back of the fridge and make it work twice as hard to keep everything cool.
Check the door seal every now and then to make sure there aren’t any cracks in the rubber or plastic. Hold up a thin piece of paper or a dollar bill to the door and see if it flutters.
Keep your refrigerator clean. Throw out food that’s been kept there for extended periods of time. These things will spoil, even when refrigerated, so there’s not much point in keeping them in there. All you’re doing is taking up space and interfering with your appliance’s efficiency.
Replace outdated, malfunctioning appliances. These will just eat up money in the long run and will do you no favors. Instead of trying to save energy by keeping them around as long as possible, trade them in for models with better energy efficiency. A good idea would be to find ones that are powered by alternative energy, like solar energy lamps and water heaters.
Unplug appliances. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it’s surprising how many people forget it. Appliances eat up power when they’re plugged in – even if they’re turned off. Electric fans, personal computers, chargers, coffee makers, and so on: if you’re not using them, don’t just turn them off. Unplug them completely.
Do all laundry altogether. Instead of washing one or two items at a time, why not wait until you’ve got a full load of laundry? Washing things separately scattered over all seven days of the week wastes water and electricity. Try setting up laundry days twice a week where you can take care of multiple items of clothing in one go. You’ll save water, energy, and time this way.
On the flip side, don’t go overboard on the laundry load either. If you scramble to take care of too much clothing, you could spend well over half the day trying to take care of it. Or you would try to hurry it up and end up cleaning your clothes inefficiently.
Make sure your home is well insulated in the winter. Australia is lucky enough to have around 200 bright and sunny days a year, and the temperature usually stays above zero even when it’s chilly. However, if it stays that way for too long, you’ll definitely feel the cold. Don’t turn up the heater and spend more on heating. One way to achieve energy efficiency is to invest in good insulation for your home instead. Close the windows, use thick drapes, 
and seal cracks. You can even bring it to clothes – wear a sweater even indoors and slip socks onto your feet instead of fiddling with the central heating.
This is true for the air conditioning as well. The temperatures during summer can make you want to keep the air conditioning on the whole day. Check them regularly for dust build-up that could be getting in the way of air flowing freely. This could double your appliance’s efficiency and save you tons of money. And when you install new air conditioning units, make sure that the part of the appliance that’s on the outside of your house doesn’t face the east. That will expose it to more sunlight early in the day which, in turn, will make it eat up more energy trying to cool things down.
When it comes to the dishwasher, don’t stick to one program for every dish load you have. Most come different programs that are suited for different needs. Some are good for a quick wash, others use less hot water, some have concentrated jets of water, and so on. You don’t need to blast every plate with scalding hot water and douse it in dish liquid for three hours.
These little tips still not bring your bill down to your liking? Strategies that help with energy efficiency are all well and good, but you still have to bear in mind that energy prices continue to rise. One surefire way to cut those bills down in half would be to switch to renewable energy by installing solar panels and become your own power plant. What’s cheaper than free energy from the sun? If you want to save money on your bills and put it in the cost of solar power, why not give us a call? We at Solar Panels Adelaide can help you find the best priced solar panel systems in the market!
Maximize your energy efficiency. Call us now to find out what your best options are!
