In ancient times, when Alessandro Volta conducted his first experiments, and Thomas Edison looked at the invented light bulb, could they think how the lives of their descendants would change in connection with their discoveries?Nowadays it is impossible to imagine life without electricity.This is a source on which everything is connected: information, data, household needs, comfort, communication, free time.An accident in the power grid of a capital paralyzed him.The work of maternity hospitals, hospitals, water supply was interrupted, schools and residential buildings were interrupted, more than 3 thousand citizens remained trapped in the elevator and some, as they say, could not get out of their apartments equipped with intelligent systems.In a sense, we have all become hostages of electricity.Although the trapped citizens still literally became them.
By increasing the number of electrical devices in our lives, we unwittingly increase the load not only on the city's electrical networks, but also on our wallet.In the houses of our mothers and grandmothers there was a television, a refrigerator and some lucky ones had a washing machine.What works and consumes electricity in our homes leaves our grandmothers amazed with its quantity and functionality.
However, all the pleasures in our life come at a price.And for the enthusiastic view of grandmothers - including.How often, looking at electricity bills, it begins to seem as if magical gnomes live in the apartment, who amuse themselves by turning the wheel of the meter, accelerating its movement two or even three times.But no, these are not gnomes.These are our greedy electronic friends.
To curb the appetite of imaginary gnomes and ease the fate of our wallets, we tried to understand whether, in principle, it is possible to save electricity.
To do this, we studied the savings methods offered on the Internet, visible and unbelievable.We invite you to familiarize yourself with the results of our work.
Obvious ways to save energy
The most obvious, lying on the surface, is turning off the light when not in use.If your memory fails you, or you have so much to do that you don't have time to reach out and turn the key, there is a way out.Motion sensors or presence sensors.They are installed in rooms and react to the appearance of a person in the room.They automatically turn on when you enter the room and turn off when you leave.Ask the installers to place the sensors so they don't react to cats and other pets.Otherwise, the payment for electricity, instead of the expected decrease, will skyrocket.
Replace incandescent bulbs with their energy-efficient counterparts.And even better - the LED ones.They consume much less energy, while they last longer and shine brighter.If you install sectional lighting and equip the room with several light elements, you can use them in turn as needed.A dimmer (an element that allows you to adjust the brightness of the lighting) with constant use will also help reduce energy costs for lighting.Experienced people recommend choosing lamps for rooms according to the degree of their use.Of course, you can hang a dimmer, but less energy-consuming lamp in the pantry than in the living room or kitchen.New generation lamps are more resistant to voltage surges.Well, the last tip about the lamps is that you should not be lazy to regularly wipe the dust from them.Dust lamps give a dim light and use more energy to unnecessarily heat the dust.
Buy electrical appliances with high energy efficiency (class A+)
Modern devices know how to spend energy wisely.Most dishwashers, washing machines of the latest model and other appliances are equipped with an eco mode of energy saving.Use it often.If possible, choose the lowest temperature of the oven, washing machine and dishwasher.
The main energy costs go to heating the device;by heating it to a minimum, you can save a lot.
The load level of the washing machine is also important.Load it in accordance with the technical documentation.Overloading or underloading will increase power consumption.The same goes for vacuum cleaners with unwashed filters and full dust collectors, air conditioners with dirty interiors, refrigerators with ice, kettle scales and other everyday joys.Remember that heating any excess material increases your costs.A washing machine and dishwasher connected to centralized hot water will use less energy to heat it.But instead of spending on electricity, you will increase the amount of payment for hot water supply.And here you have to weigh which resource costs you more.
This point, of course, is more logical to include in the list of incredible things, but let it be here anyway.Unused household appliances should always be unplugged.When turned on, they consume a lot of electricity.It is ideal if, during the design of the electrical installation, the deactivation of all the sockets is ensured with a slight movement of the hand.Except for the one who supplies the refrigerator.Then you can safely leave the house without fear of fires, power surges and power losses.
If you remove the device from charging immediately after it is finished, you save energy and contribute to the long service life of the device itself and its charger.
Devices you use regularly throughout the day don't need to be unplugged every time.For example, it would be better to send the computer to sleep mode.Because for some devices, turning them on and off consumes more power than being in sleep mode.Be sure to remove the discs from the drives.When turned on, additional energy is spent on their promotion.
If you haven't already installed a separate switch to turn off the outlets, use surge protectors for your devices with the ability to turn off the power.
And a little more about technology.In many high-rise buildings, in accordance with established standards, an electric rather than gas stove is provided.
Therefore, buy an induction cooker for apartments on high floors.It is specially designed to save electricity.But it will be even better if you buy flat-bottomed cookware that fits exactly the size of the burner for the stove.And during cooking, you will cover the pan with a lid.And you'll end up cooking dinner on a cold burner, turning it off 5-10 minutes before it's done.And by the way, we iron delicate items with the iron already turned off and cooling down.
Cauldron?In addition to timely cleaning, we recommend that you pour only as much water as you need.
Now in the fridge.And the reforms will not save them.The refrigerator should not be close to walls or other surfaces.Especially if the surfaces are heated - for example, an oven.This will prevent it from overheating.Do not forget to check the rubber seal and the presence of ice.The main function of a refrigerator is to protect your food by keeping it at a low temperature.And if there is an external heat source, the refrigerator will try to cool with twice the (electrical) energy.At your expense, of course.
You can also say a few words about the movies.High-quality movies consume more power, but we won't suggest you save money to watch movies.This is blasphemy.
The very concept of repair can make a small but still significant contribution to your wage savings.For those who did not skip physics at school, it is clear that a light-colored wall covering will save electricity and heat, since, unlike a dark one, it does not absorb it.This also includes dusting windows and heating equipment.Dust is a known heat absorber.And if, in addition, your windows have greater light transmission and energy efficiency, this will save you more money.
Choose a flat with south-facing windows.Then you will get heat and light directly from the sun and completely free of charge.But this bonus is balanced by the fact that in the summer you will have to turn on the split system more often.The south side heats up very quickly, and in warm weather such rooms without air conditioning may not be comfortable.Therefore, keep in mind that small savings in winter can result in big expenses in summer.
A significant part of the heat (and, accordingly, the loss of energy for heating the room) goes to the walls to which the radiators are attached.Installing heat reflectors between the wall and the battery will allow you to use the generated heat without the cost of heating the street.According to experts, this measure allows you to increase the air temperature in the living room by 2-3 degrees without additional energy costs.
Now let's move on to those savings methods that in our reality are more implausible than feasible.However, we will tell you about them.
The least likely way to save
Replace your home's wiring with more efficient wiring by adjusting power sources to eliminate the need for extra cables and conductors.Well, since you're reinstalling anyway, take care of the switch for everything except the refrigerator, which was described above.
Eliminate heat loss.Specialists with a thermal imager will tell you about the weak points of your home.And in accordance with the diagnosis, it will be necessary to strengthen the weak, isolate the cold and dry the moisture.In most cases, owners will also need to insulate walls and replace windows.
If you are the happy owner of individual heating, we recommend installing a boiler with a thermostat.It is able to regulate the heating temperature, preventing it from rising above the set one.The absence of additional heating is equivalent to saving a small amount of electricity.
Install a Smart Home system in your home.It automatically sets the optimal power consumption.With this system, you can control the electricity in your apartment yourself and remotely.In our opinion, the only weakness of the system will be shown to you by fellow victims of the 2015 accident.On the other hand, such force majeure events are rare and do not cover all the benefits of a smart home.
If you fear the uprising of machines and believe in the victory of artificial intelligence over human intelligence, this option is also not for you.
Install electricity generators.Wind, solar.And become energy independent.You thought this was completely out of the realm of science fiction, right?In vain.
If you plan to move to hot countries, keep in mind that in Greece, for example, solar panels are used as a source of energy, because centralized electricity is very expensive.
Installation of two-phase meter.The idea is that the main business is transferred to the night, when the load on the city's electricity network is minimal, and accordingly the tariffs are quite economical.Before changing the meter, please make sure that you are a night owl and that leading a nocturnal lifestyle (in particular, washing dishes, laundry and using electrical appliances) is not difficult for you.And also make sure that your neighbors are also owls, or take care of additional sound insulation so that you do not incur the wrath of your neighbors.
In many regions, representatives of energy networks even offer the installation of two-phase meters for free.But practice has shown that there are still discrepancies in indicators and not completely accurate calculations.Therefore, people are in no hurry to change their ordinary meters to two-phase, despite all their possible benefits.
And the most incredible way to save electricity, involved in the 3 main employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the fire service, is the independent manipulation of electrical installations, as a result of which the line bypasses the meter.Built without knowledge of basic technical safety standards and the laws of physics, such structures become the cause of fires and other disasters.Not to mention the fact that the city services can check the equipment and understand your secret scheme.For an experienced power engineer, such a search will not take much time.And then, instead of saving, you will be forced to pay a rather small penalty for your initiative.