a living room with a kitchen in the background

Go Green: 9 Energy Saving Tips for a More Eco-Friendly Home

By Geraldine Mills

a cat in a living room

Nowadays, homeowners are becoming more and more aware of a more eco-friendly way to maintain their homes. After all, we cannot deny that the adverse effect of climate change is becoming apparent. From stronger storms to hotter temperatures, these are but a few of Mother Nature’s warnings to us.

That said, we have listed down nine energy-saving tips that you can do to live a more sustainable life:

Turn off the fan when you leave a room

You might think that leaving a fan running in a room while you’re away will help you cool the place down. It can help, but it’s going to use electricity while you’re away. Even if you’re using ceiling fans at home, they’re still going to be using a bit of energy.

Therefore, you should make sure that you turn off fans when you leave a room and when they’re not in use.

Close your drapes or drop your window shades

One of the reasons you might be using a lot of energy at home is because of your indoor temperature control system. A simple way to solve that is by closing your drapes or dropping your window shades.

Doing so can help you warn up or cool down a room. Closing the blinds block the sunlight from entering, which helps cool down your room. On the other hand, you can open your windows if you want to warm up your room, especially during winter.

Wash your clothes in cold water

Every time you do your laundry, your washing machine only uses 25% of the energy to clean your clothes. The rest is used to heat the water. Therefore, you should just wash your clothes in cold water.

Instead of relying on your washing machine’s hot water to kill the bacteria on your clothes, you can instead dry the clothes out by the sun to get it out.

Cover foods and drinks in the refrigerator

Covering your food and drinks before storing them in the refrigerator is another simple step that will reduce your home’s energy consumption.

Your fridge’s compressor needs to fire up more when your uncovered food items release moisture into the air. Therefore, it’s better if the humidity is contained.

Use the cold water from the faucet

Aside from washing your clothes, you can use the cold water from your faucet for cleaning. This includes washing your hands or doing the dishes.

That’s because using the heater on your faucet consumes more energy.

Seal cracks and gaps

Pipe leakage can crank up your thermostat. Not to mention that it makes it a lot harder for cold air to build and stay inside your home.

You can solve this by reducing the crack beneath the door. That way, you get to keep the air inside your house. You should also check out other parts of your home that you think have gaps and cracks.

Regularly clean or replace home filters

The quality of indoor air has a lot more influence on your home and your way of life than you think.

For one, it can affect your physical and mental health. So if you have poor indoor air quality, your overall health can deteriorate. That said, Maid Sailors Cleaning Services NYC recommends that you should ensure that your air filters at home are in top condition. Aside from that, it would be best if you had your air filters cleaned regularly.

Meanwhile, replacing your air filters promptly allows you to save money, as well as ensure that your AC is in good working condition. What happens is that the air is able to freely circulate through your AC system. And this can result in being able to manage the temperature in your home.

Set your refrigerator’s temperature as recommended

Each fridge has an ideal temperature. The perfect temperature isn’t a random suggestion. Nonetheless, it is likely to ensure that you can use your fridge to cool your food items without racking up quite a bill.

Even if you crank the refrigerator temperature higher, it’s still using energy to generate more heat. Therefore, you should find the sweet spot in between.

Don’t leave your mobile phone plugged in overnight

Try not to leave your mobile phone charging overnight. Your battery might start discharging in the middle of the night, and then it will recharge while you’re asleep. It’s going to be a continuous cycle of wasting energy. Therefore, you should consider unplugging your phone before you sleep.

Final Say

Going green doesn’t mean you have to start by planting more trees or having a minimal wardrobe. It can be as simple as reducing the energy you use at home.

Energy efficiency will help you be more eco-friendly, but it’s also going to save you some money.

With the nine energy-saving tips listed above, you’ll be able to make the most out of your appliances and gadgets.

It’s a small step, but it’s something that you and Mother Nature will appreciate.


About the Author

Geraldine Mills is a self-confessed wanderlust from the land down under, Australia! She funds her adventures by working as a brand consultant and as a travel writer. She loves sharing the allure of backpacking and being one with nature.

Read more article from Geraldine Mills

This piece was prepared online by Panuruji Kenta, Publisher, SEVENSEAS Media