Save Electricity at Home: Some Simple ways

Saving electricity at home is a subject all of us are interested in. Many learned people and experts have come forward with tips for saving electricity. You might have already tried some. Here, some simple yet useful methods are explained.

Lighting forms the main part of the electrical loads in a house. So, saving on electricity used for lighting is of utmost importance. Let us consider how this can be achieved.
 

It should Start from the Designing and Drawing the Plan of the Building
Efforts to save electricity for lighting should start from the very beginning, that is to say, from design stage of a house. It should be designed in such a way as to let in the maximum amount of natural light in the day time. Adequate numbers of windows and ventilators should be provided in each room. In many of the houses we see today, this concept is neglected. So, what happens? Electric lamps have to be kept on in many of the rooms in day time also. This is a clear waste of costly electricity. So, if you are planning to build a new house, keep in mind these points.

Another simple thing that can be done to utilize natural light to the maximum is to paint the inside walls and ceiling of rooms in light shades. When there are adequate numbers of windows and ventilators in a room, the room will be airy and cool, and the need for using electric fans will be minimum. Painting the outside walls of the building with light shades will reduce temperature inside the building as lighter shades absorb lesser heat from sunlight. If you can paint the top of the roof in white, it will be great. It will keep the room temperature down, thus saving on electricity used for fans and air conditioners. The above points have high relevance, especially in tropical areas.
 

Selecting the Type and Wattage of Lamps
The next thing is to select the right types and wattages of electric lamps for different rooms. You should identify the rooms where lamps are kept on for the maximum period every day. Usually, the drawing room, dining room and kitchen are where we use lamps more. Using CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) type lamps with the right wattage in these rooms will reduce energy usage drastically. Wattage selection of lamps is very important. It should be the minimum and at the same time it should provide adequate light. That is the criteria to be adopted.

Now, we can consider the wattage of the lamps. For the drawing room the lighting level should be high. So, provide a 20W or 25W CFL. It will give sufficient light for reading also. Some people find it uncomfortable to read with the light provided by a CFL. In that case, you may provide two lamps for the drawing room. A CFL of 20-25W and an ordinary tube light of 38W or 40W. While reading, the tube light can be used and at other times, the CFL for power saving.

In the dining room, an 8W or 9W CFL will be sufficient. A tube light of 38W or 40W may also be provided if necessary, for additional lighting. In the kitchen, an 8W or 9W CFL will be enough.

Another area to be considered for energy saving is bath room lighting. There is no need to provide high lighting in bath rooms. LED (light emitting diode) lamps are available in 1W and 2W at affordable prices. Use them in bath rooms. There is a tendency among many of us to leave the bath room lamp on even after coming out of the bath room. This results in heavy wastage of electricity. But if LED lamps of 1W or 2W are used in a bath room, the wastage will not be much even if you forget to switch it off, leaving it on for several hours.

For bed rooms, 11W CFLs will be sufficient. For other areas the wattage of CFLs should be selected judiciously. Low cost LED lamps of 1W can be used as night lamps in bed rooms. You can switch off the main lamp in your bed room when you go out of it and keep the night lamp on, if necessary. It will save a lot of electricity.

The use of CFLs is advisable as it gives out better amount of light using lesser energy as compared to ordinary lamps. Now, LED lamps are available for every lighting purpose. They cost very high. If you can afford them, it will be better to use them. They are much more energy efficient than the CFL.

The following table shows the lighting details for different rooms:

Energy Star rating
Another thing to consider is purchasing of energy efficient electrical appliances. Air conditioners, refrigerators, TVs etc. are available with the Energy Stars marked on them. Those having the Five Star rating will be the most energy efficient. So look for the Energy Star when buying these appliances. The Five Star rated will cost more, but will be economical in the long run as they use less energy.

Hope this article provides you with some idea for saving costly electricity at home. Saving energy will save the nation of future energy crisis. So, give due importance to this matter.

You may find the following links useful:
http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00442/homeelectricity.htm

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