6 Practical Energy Reduction Strategies for Homeowners

Your home is your castle. It is where you feel safe and comfortable enough to truly relax and unwind. Yet, it is also a clinking, clanking, bustling machine filled with all of the devices and technology that you need to achieve this. The problem is that everything you use or consume comes at a price. We know this; we are more aware of our impact on the environment than we’ve ever been before.

So, it is really important that all homeowners take practical steps to minimise this impact. Whether it is switching to energy efficient LED bulbs, buying recycled furniture, or making sure that electronic devices are never left on standby; even the smallest of actions can lead to big changes. There are all kinds of ways to reduce your energy consumption and it is all about finding the right balance for your home.

This guide to some simple and creative ways to lower your energy usage will help you run a leaner, greener home.

1. Swap Your Bulbs for LEDs

With the help of a reliable provider like Creative Lighting Solutions Australia, it is easy to make practical improvements. For instance, you can swap out traditional bulbs for super green LED products. They shine for a remarkable amount of time, so they only need replacing once every few years. As they also use significantly less electricity, they represent one of the easiest ways to up your green credentials.

2. Cover Up the Chimney

If you have an open fireplace that you no longer use, it is a good idea to have it safely covered over. Open chimneys cost households hundreds of dollars every year in wasted heat. For a small fee, you can have it capped or blocked off so that draughts don’t enter the house and heat doesn’t escape so easily. You could save an average of $200 each year.

3. Start Draught Proofing

Something as simple as buying two or three draught excluders can save you as much as $75 per year. Cold air can find its way into a house through many different channels, but below doors is the main culprit. You can pick up soft textile draught excluders from most homeware stores and they require no special treatment at all. You just place them over the gap when the doors are closed so that warm air can’t escape.

4. Try Using a Halogen Oven

If you have a fairly old stove or oven, you might find that it uses more gas or electricity than you’d like. While newer models are being built with greener mechanisms, it isn’t always practical to just up and buy a brand new appliance. One alternative is to cook labour intensive meals in a halogen oven. They use 75% less electric than a conventional stove and offer cooking times that are twice as fast.

5. Keep Your Freezer Full

Not a lot of people know that empty freezers use more electricity than full ones. So, if you’ve got a freezer unit but it spends most of the year half full, one way to keep costs low is to fill it with large containers of water. This is a more economical and cost efficient method than going out and filling the space with food that you probably won’t eat.

6. Unplug Fully Charged Devices

An awful lot of electronic devices – smartphones and laptops included – keep drawing from the power supply even if they are fully charged. You can prevent this by simply making sure that you unplug them when they’re juiced. This will save you money and it will preserve the health of the battery or charger for longer.

Why Going Green Is Easier Now Than Ever Before

The truth is that, because we now know so much about global warming and the impact of our carbon footprints, there is no excuse for ignoring it. Turning off light switches and waiting for a full load to start the washing machine might feel like small actions, but they are part of a much bigger picture. We no longer have to sacrifice our comfort or happiness to live greener; we just have to make practical, energy efficient choices.