Save Electricity at Home: December 2009

Plug In Thermostats

Plug In Thermostats

If you have Electrical Heaters maybe Oil Filled Radiators or Fan Heaters. It is now possible to buy Plug In Thermostats, which can help you save money every month.

These Plug In Thermostats can be used in a lot of situations, including Green Houses, Lofts and Attics, Extra Bedrooms and Other rooms in the house. The are extremely simple to use, by simply placing the Plug In Thermostat in the socket and then plugging in your heater in the Thermostat plug.

Image from Amazon.co.uk

What can i save with a Plug In Thermostat?

This is quite a difficult to answer, because it all depends on which type of Heater and how long you have the heater on etc. It is best to programme your Thermostat to only come on for a couple of hours per day, instead of you turning it off and on when you remember.

Plug In Thermostat Tubular Heater Heating Control Et05 Amazon UK

Energy Efficient Thermostat Settings

Image via Wikipedia

Energy Efficient Thermostat Settings

Changing the settings on your thermostat, can have a huge effect on how much money you can save every month. Most people don't realize that even a couple of degree's in temperature, can have a major effect on monthly bills, both for heating and cooling.

An average homeowner spends $2200 on heating and cooling in a year. It is possible to save $180, by simply installing a Energy Efficient Thermostat. Programmble Thermostats are easy to use and set for daily use. By installing an Pre Programmed Energy Star Thermostat, it is possible to save money, without having to sacrifice your comfort, and this is important.

Many local governments may have special offers, where you can either get free Energy Saving Devices for your home, or get a large rebate on the amount of money you spend on Energy Saving Devices for your home, please check local government websites for more information.

MassSave.com - What is MassSave.com Massachusetts.

MassSave.com is a Website that helps the homeowners in the Massachusetts area save money, through energy conservation.

How does it help home owners?

If you own a home in the Massachusetts area, you can simply type in your Zip Code, and they will explain in detail, what you can do to your home to help it become more energy efficient.
They will help you in many ways. First of all, after typing in your Zip Code, and choosing your primary heating source, you are then forwarded to a list of Contracters in your area, who can visit your home, and tell you what options are available to help you lower the cost of your energy bills.

For more information, please visit - MassSave.com

How much do LED lights cost to run?

Image via Wikipedia

Every shop in the land is trying to sell the new Low Energy LED Christmas Lights, and too rightly so.

Question. Do you know how much a string of 50 LED low energy lights will cost to run for a whole month?

Answer. 5 Cents......Yes that's 5 cents!

A conventional string of Incandescent bulbs will cost you nearly 70 times more, at nearly $3.50. You might have realized that LED's lights cost a little bit more to buy, but the savings in the long run, can be massive. If you also take into account that regular bulbs last for only 1500 hours, compared to LED's which can run for up to 100,000 hours, it's easy to do the math.

Have a low energy Christmas

Christmas is only a few weeks away, and the last thing on peoples minds might be the amount of electricity they are going to use, that is until they get their electric bill, in 2010.

Their are a few things you can do to make your holiday season cheaper, and better for the environment too.

Let's take a look at some ways to save electricity at Christmas and help the environment.

LED White Christmas Light String Set / 35 L.E.D. Christmas Lights / 1.6 Watts per Set / Green Wire

1. Use low energy LED lights. These are one way of saving electricity. Changing to LED low energy lights, can use 90% energy. If you consider the cost, depending on which you purchase, you may actually get your money back.

2. Turn your lights on 1 hour later. This might sound crazy and Scrooge like, but it is not only saving you money, but also helping the planet, and that cannot be a bad thing.

These are just a couple of ways that you can save money in this Christmas period.

Low Energy Christmas Lights, Why?

Watch this quick video below, to see the benefits of using Low Energy Christmas Lights.

Low Energy Christmas Lights.

Now that the Holiday season is here, that means most of us will be using more electricity, because of all the Christmas Lights and Outdoor Decorations. LED low energy Christmas Lights will also give you a safer Christmas, because they don ot emit as much heat as regular incandescent bulbs. With LED lights, the light is coloured and not the bulb, therefore, you don't have to worry about changing bulbs, or wasting time looking for the broken one in the link.

More facts about LED lights versus incandescent.

1. A string of regular incandescent lights will last on average 1500 hours. A set of LED low energy lights can last up to 100,000 hours.

2. You will use 90% less energy using LED lights.

3. Even though LED lights may be a little more expensive than regular incandescent lights, the savings on your electric bill, could mean that it costs you less over the holiday period.

The Consumer Reports website did a study and found that Regular Christmas Lights used between 12 and 105 kwh, compared to LED's which used between 1 and 3. How much money does this save you, between $1 and $11.

Watch this Consumer Reports video to see the results.

You can now purchase, LED Christmas Lights, and these use a lot less energy then the traditional ones, most of us use at Christmas, they can be 90% more efficient. The US Energy Department says that if everyone changed their lights to LED ones, they could save over 2 billion watts of electricity, i am no expert, but that sounds like a lot. To put it another way, they could save enough electricity to power over 200,000 homes.

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LED White Christmas Light String Set / 35 L.E.D. Christmas Lights / 1.6 Watts per Set / Green Wire from Amazon.com

Open your curtains in the winter, save electricity.

Here is a simple tip, to help you save electricity.

In the winter months, when it's usually cold outside. Do not have all your curtains, and blinds closed, open them and let the warmth of the sun in to your home. Many people will have their heating on during the day, turn it down, or even better turn it off. If you can, sit in front of a window, where the warm sun can shine through.

Does unplugging things save electricity

Does unplugging things save electricity, well the simple answer is yes, but why should we?

Their are many reasons why we should unplug our electrical appliances when they are not in use, let's take a look at a few.

1. Saves you money. This is the simplest answer, it will save you money, how much dependas on the amount of products you unplug. We are not talking about unplugging your TV evertytime you leave the room, but you could do it everynight, instead of leaving it on stand by, which will be costing you money. Let's say yougo away on hoilday for a couple of days, or a couple of weeks. Make sure you unplug everything you will not need to be on, like your TV, VCR, DVD, Hot Water Heater, and so on. Over the year, you could save up to $50, just by unplugging.

2. Helps the environment. Ok, i don't want to go on too much about this, and i'm sure you don't want me too, but this is also another reason to unplug. I'm sure you know the reasons why, so we will leave it like that.

3. Increases the lifespan of your appliances. I am no expert, and will never claim to be, but this must be beneficial to not only your electrical equipment, but also to you, in your wallet. Brand new TV's cost quite a lot, and if you could help your Television last 1 more year, wouldn't you be happy?

Change your bulbs and save energy.

Quick Energy Saving Tip - If you have bright areas in your house, change the light bulbs in that area to smaller wattage.
Reducing the wattage of a bulb from 100 watt to 60 watt can save you money on your monthly electric bill.

Ecozone Biobulb, Energy-Saving Daylight Bulb, Screw Cap, 25W

Affordable ways of save energy at home.

Affordable ways of save energy at home. Lets look at some simple ways to save energy at home.

1. Make your home draft free.

Their are many Affordable ways of save energy at home, with every window and door in your home being prone to letting in air. If you have old windows, many governments around the world are now offering a rebate on new windows, this could be worth investigating. If this option is not available, you can purchase weather strip products, which are easily applied around your windows and doors. It may also be possible to reseal any broken seals, which may be allowing cold drafts to penetrate your home.

Unplugging - Save Electricity

Unplugging your household appliances when not in use, is another great way of saving Electricity at home. Most people leave their TV's and other everyday electronic devices on, or on stand by, this obviously uses energy, and this costs you money.

About unplugging your appliances.

Example, Televisions.
When your TV is not being used, unplugging it is the best way to save money . It's also important to not leave your TV on Stand By, this still uses electricity, up to $50/40 Pounds per year. If you leave the room for 5 minutes, maybe to do your laundry, turn your Television off, this will save you money, and also help the environment too.
If you go away for the weekend, unplugging your TV, DVD, Satellite or Cable Box, is also important. The amount of money you save in that weekend maybe small, but add this up over a year, and unplugging will save you a lot of money.

Save Electricity - Light Bulbs

You can save Electricity at home by simply changing yout Light Bulbs.
Their are many types of low energy light bulbs on the market, but this is not the only way to save Electricity.

1. If you have an area of your house that has 2 or more light bulbs in use, for instance, your Garage may use 3 60 watt bulbs. By changing from 3 small light bulbs to one larger 100 watt bulb, this can save you money. One large 100 watt bulb uses less energy than 2 60 watt bulbs, and it gives you more light too.

Please take caution when doing this, as some areas of your home, may need an extra bulb to assist you, for instance on a dark stairway. Don't make your home dangerous, just to save money, it is not worth it.

How to save Electricity at Home - Stand By Functions.

Everyone wants to kow how to save electricity at home, and their are lot's of ways to do that.
Their are simple ways, and their are things you may never have thought of, so let's take a look.

1. Stand By Functions.

How many appliances in your home have this facility? If you are like most people, it's most things, like your Television, Laptop, PC and DVD player. When all of these appliances go into Stand By mode, they are still using electricity, and some of them use quite a lot. Just because the screens have turned off, it does not mean they stop using power.
So whenever you go to bed or leave the house, turn them off properly, over a period of 1 year, leaving your Television on Stand By could cost you as much as $50 or 40 pounds.

Save Electricity at Home