Energy has been an integral part of human everyday life. It is used for lighting homes, cooking food, powering different home appliances, driving cars, playing music, and more. However, overusing and misusing energy and consuming more than what is needed is not only expensive but extremely harmful to the environment. Green Energy Solutions California suggests manifold steps that we can follow to lessen energy consumption in every household without disrupting our lifestyle, save considerably on the energy bill, and foster our environment. According to the community:
Steps for energy conservation
- To get started, it makes sense to consider an energy audit of our home. This will help us figure out the gaps, cracks, and other deficient areas which are responsible for energy losses or misuse of energy.
- Followed by an audit, we can consider caulking windows and doors as well as weather-stripping the leaking areas of the walls, basement, etc. This has been proven a great way for sealing the leakages causing air to escape as it escalates the energy consumption of the heating and cooling system.
- Unplugging or turning off lights and home appliances when they are not used. Using power strips is an effective way that helps us turn off numerous items with a single switch.
- We should make sure to replace all incandescent lighting bulbs with ‘Energy-Star’ printed CFLs, LEDs, and other smart lighting tools.
- Covering windows with curtains during chilly seasons and keeping them open during sunny days will allow the shine and warmth of the sun to come in.
- We should take prompt steps to replace or repair the plumbing issues such as dripping faucets, running toilets, etc.
- Installing water-saver showerheads as well as opting for shorter showers and bating with semi-heated water are effective steps to conserve energy. Also, we must not forget to turn off the faucets during we shave and brush our teeth.
- Green Energy Solutions California points out that by regulating the temperature we can also save energy, conserve it, cut utility bills, and lessen the impact on our environment. For instance, by installing programmable thermostats we can control the temperature of our cooler and heating system.
- Moreover, using ceiling fans along with an air conditioner at a higher setting is a great way to make our rooms more relaxing and breezy. This also helps lessen a considerable percentage of the consumption of energy.
- Setting the thermostat of the water heater between 120-140 degree F and wrapping it with a water blanket helps retain the water heater and help save on the water heating bill.
- Instead of using cloth dryers, on breezy and sunny days we can dry our clothes by hanging them on the clothesline as suggested by Green energy solutions California.
- Replacing and regular cleaning of air filers of the cooling and heating devices we can make them operate more efficiently which helps lessen the amount of CO2 discharge and reduce our utility bill.
- We should remember to keep the refrigerator coils clean and dust-free to stop the wastage of energy.
- Apart from this, outside our home, we can consider using carpool or public transport, bicycles rather than using our car every day. Doing so will help lessen the increasing impact of greenhouse gases on our environment.