Here are some common sense ways to a more energy efficient and cost efficient home. After the 2005 hurricane season, many Florida residents incurred a "fuel surcharge," which in some cases, more than doubled their electric bill.
As the cost of gas and oil keep rising, many other fuel sources are also increasing in price, which of course adds to your electric bill, because it is now more expensive to produce electricity. As an electrician, I have put a little list together to help save money on your electric bill and, maybe prolong some of your household appliances.
Turn off ceiling fans when you are not in the room. Although most ceiling fans don’t use much, your power bill is computed using the “kilowatt hour,” which means: The longer something is on, the more you pay for it. No matter how small the unit of consumption is.
Go through your house and count all of your light bulbs. While you are doing this, be sure to write down the wattage. (This result may surprise you). As an example: A three bedroom, two bathroom house would typically have at least one 60 watt (or more) incandescent bulb in each room, which could be on average a total of maybe 10 or more. That’s at least 600 watts! If those lights were left on for one hour, that is equal to .6 kilowatt hours. If you are paying (for example purposes) 10 cents per kilowatt hour, that’s 6 cents you burned away. So turning off lights when not in use can be of help.
Get rid of all incandescent lights in your home. The “good old light bulb” is actually very inefficient because it wastes more than half of its energy to heat. Replace them with compact fluorescent lights, or L.E.D’s. Compact fluorescents are more expensive than regular light bulbs, but you can get 60 watts of light and use only 13watts of power! They also last a lot longer, and put out a much “whiter” light. L.E.D (light emitting diode) technology is becoming more efficient these days, and will probably replace the fluorescent light eventually. L.E.D “bulbs” are very expensive, but use even less energy than fluorescents, last longer, and are virtually cool to the touch. They average about $65 per bulb though, so it would take some time to recover the cost.
Change your existing fluorescent “tube” light fixtures to electronic ballast style fixtures. Soon, due to Federal Government energy standards, the “T-12 34watt” fluorescent tubes will be obsolete. This looks like the case for the “T-8” bulb as well. Note: The “T-12” bulb has two pins on each end, and is “fatter” than the “T-8”. They are not interchangeable! The ballasts and lamp sockets must match the lamp. Consult an electrician if you are unsure, ballasts can bite you if you do not know what you are doing.
If you have an electric water heater, put a timer on it so that it only runs a few hours before demand times.(Showers, doing laundry, dishes, etc.) If you have a conveniently located electrical panel, you can simply turn the breaker off whenever you aren’t going to be using hot water. If you are going to use the breaker method, check with an electrician to see that the breaker is marked “SWD,” which means it can be used as a switch (Most water heaters are capable of keeping the water fairly comfortable for up to several days depending on the size.) This will absolutely make a noticeable difference on your electric bill. On average, a typical electric water heater uses 3800 to 4500 watts! If you do the math there, at 10 cents a kilowatt hour, it would cost you 38 to 45 cents per hour to operate! That means $9.12 to $10.80 per day, or $63.84 to $75.60 per week! Before I move on, here’s something you can do that will demonstrate this: Go to your electric meter and note how fast it is spinning. Turn off your water heater, and note the difference. If there is not a lot of other stuff turned on in the house, this is easier to see.
Use the clothes line instead of the dryer whenever possible. An electric clothes dryer can drink up as much juice as an electric water heater! That can add up when you figure it typically can take over an hour to dry a load of clothes.
Keep the refrigerator set as low as you can .The “fridge” is not to be taken lightly, as can be quite the “vampire” of electricity consumption. Consider this: It is plugged in 24/7. Typically, most refrigerators use at least 600 watts when the compressor is running. The more it “cycles on” the more your power company loves you. Most newer refrigerators’ have an “energy saver” setting, which keeps the cycling to a happy medium. Still, a fridge may run more than 4 hours a day in some cases. At 600 watts a pop, that’s 2400 watts, or 24 cents. (2.4 kilowatt hours). So you can see why standing there with the refrigerator door open can cost you. The same applies for freezers. Also keep in mind, that the temperature of the room the “fridge” is in, can make it work harder if it is too warm.
Insulate. This may sound expensive, but in the long run it can seriously make a difference. Here in Florida, we usually use the air conditioner about 300 days a year! Most of the heat comes from the roof, but depending on the construction of the home (block, wood, etc.), the heat can also come in from the exterior walls. Even a small opening (like a window not being closed all the way), can “suck up” a lot of the cool air in a room. This would also apply to heating. Even small steps like weather strips placed around doors and windows can make a very noticeable difference.
Total your wattage. This can be done a few ways. One way is to simply look at the appliance. Most everything from televisions, computers, hair dryers, and even can openers have a label somewhere on them, that will tell you the watts or amps. Watts are easier to work with, but it’s just as simple to figure if your label only gives you amps. Here in the US, houses are generally wired so that most of your “plugs” (outlets/receptacles), are 120 volts, with the exception of some larger appliances such as water heaters, stoves, driers, and some air conditioners. If you open the “fridge” for example, and the label says 5 amps, just multiply it by 120, and you get 600 watts. So watts=volts x amps. Sometimes this is also referred to as volt amps or VA. Make a list of the wattage of your appliances, and add them up. This means everything. Light bulbs, dvd players, and so forth. The total you come up with will be the wattage you would potentially be using if you had everything in your house turned on. This will give you some insight to what appliances use the most electricity. Another way to figure how much you are using, is to consult an electrician, and have him take an actual “amp reading.” This typically only takes about 15 minutes, and the process usually goes as follows: He will remove the cover (if any) from your electrical panel, and find the wires going to your main breaker. He would then use what is called a “clamp on amp meter or amp probe” and put it around each of the two main wires (one at a time), and record the reading. This may be typically as large as 30 amps per wire or “leg,” depending on how much stuff is running at the time. This would of course, be transposed into watts, which in this case would be 30x120 twice, or 7200 watts. If you were to use that much electricity for one hour, you would have used 7.2 kilowatt hours or $7.20 worth of electricity (at 10 cents per kilowatt hour).
Check your electrical wiring. This is often overlooked and so important. Just as a car that isn’t tuned up will use more gas, an electrical system is very much the same way. Electrical inspections can be done by an electrician, and they usually are not that expensive. If you live in an older home, most likely the electrical outlets are worn, or non polarized (two prong, allowing a plug to be inserted in either direction). Also connections in the electrical panel may need tightening. (A loose connection will use more electricity). Older receptacles should definitely be replaced if you plug something in, and it is loose fitting. This is somewhat time consuming, but not overly expensive unless you have a lot of outlets. If you want to go all out, you could have your electrical service upgraded to the proper wire size, and if any wiring is aluminum, replace it with copper. This can be costly up front, but can also make your home more energy efficient in the long run, and make your home much more safe.
These are many other ways to an energy efficient home, some are quite expensive however, such as solar water heating, photovoltaic solar cells, wind turbines, and power inverters. In fact some power companies will even reimburse some of the cost back to the homeowner, and pay them for the power.
