Saving electricity is something you should be doing all year round. In the Winter savings can be made through your electric heating, whereas Summer months can see savings with the lighting of your home.
In this blog for My Local Electrician, we’re going to outline a couple quick tips directly from our Electricians for saving electricity within your home.
Turn off the lights
It sounds simple, and is - but you can save a great deal on your electricity bill by simply turning off lights that don’t need to be on. Just get into the habit of hitting the switch as you leave a room and you’ll soon be in the swing of things.
However, there are more savings to be had. If you’re still using traditional incandescent bulbs, try switching to energy saving bulbs. Energy saving bulbs are now extremely cheap, offer longer life expectancy and use just a fraction of the electricity that a normal bulb does.
Turn off the appliances
One of the main sources for increased electricity usage is accidentally leaving appliances on standby. It’s actually really easy to do by accident, as if you have a number of appliances grouped together then it can be easy to forget what’s plugged in where.
The best thing to do is simply buy a single power strip with enough sockets to take all your appliances in that location. This way you can hit a single switch and make sure they’re all turned off at once.
Electric heaters
Electric heating can use up a lot of electricity if not used wisely. If you have an adjustable thermostat on your electric heater, then turning it down by a few degrees can help cut the running costs. Also purchasing an adjustable timer will help, as you’ll be able to program in exactly when you need the heating.
A cheap option for saving money with your electric heating system can be carried out if you have a hot water cylinder. Simply buying a water cylinder jacket and fitting it to your tank will save money as it will retain the heat for longer - meaning that your boiler won’t have to reheat the water as much.
It’s also important, for the sake of safety, that you ensure your home’s wiring is in good condition. For this you will need to recruit an electrician who can examine the wiring in your house and spot anything that might be dangerous. It’s best to hire a NICEIC registered electrician. This ensures that you are getting an electrician that complies with the latest health, safety and workmanship standards.