How to run your appliances more efficiently to save energy and money

This is the second in a series of articles that have become The energy saving challenge.The first article focused on helping people save energy and money on their electricity bill. The focus for now is how your appliances can cost you unnecessary money, use energy for which no benefit is derived, and how you can do it better for the environment and your wallet no matter your circumstances.

If you’re looking for a new fridge or freezer, dishwasher or oven, or any other appliance for your home, now is the time to make some quality choices. It’s not just about looks, you know, these days it’s just as important to select a model that performs not only in the cooling/washing/looks department but also in the energy use department.

Look for a model that has the highest energy rating. A model with a high energy rating can save you a lot of money over the life of the appliance. Plus, you can know you’ve made a choice that’s also better for the environment. Now let’s get into some useful details.

Refrigerators and Freezers:

Did you know that your fridge and freezer account for a large proportion of the energy you use in your home? The reason is that they usually work all day and all night, every day of the year. Learning how to use your refrigerator and freezer efficiently can make a big difference in the amount of energy you use. All of this is good news for the environment and for your electricity bill. Most people aren’t looking for a new refrigerator, and there are some important things you can do to improve the performance of your current refrigerator and freezer.

The first is to give it a bit of a tune-up in terms of its stamps.

Are they airtight?

• You can check this by putting a piece of paper between the body of the refrigerator and the door. Close the door, and then gently pull the paper out. If it comes off easily, your seal isn’t tight enough and that’s costing you money 24/7. It may be that the door hinges can be adjusted to improve the seal or it may be time to replace the seals.
• I recently read on an energy company website that an old, inefficient refrigerator can use three times more energy than a new one. That means it costs three times as much to run. If you can check the seal and improve or replace it, you will certainly benefit.

Many homes have an extra fridge in the garage, basement, or even the shed. 

The party fridge, the beer fridge, the Christmas overflow fridge: whatever it’s called in your house, it’s costing you money. Up to $200 a year! So ask yourself a couple of questions:

• Does this fridge need to be on all the time or could it be turned on when really needed? This will reduce your power consumption and save you a pile of money.
• Do you really need the second fridge? I mean, how bad is the cooling situation? Was it a good idea once and now the circumstances have changed?
• Perhaps the solution is to sell it to someone who really needs it.

Now we can see some behavioral changes that can really reduce your energy consumption when it comes to the refrigerator.

First is the size.

• Is your fridge the right size for your needs? We usually have our fridges for a long time and often we are using a fridge that is no longer optimal for our needs. I used to have a very large fridge because there were five of us in the house and we needed the room. Now there are only three of us and we have a medium sized refrigerator, however most of the time we could probably get away with one that was even a bit smaller.

Apparently refrigerators work most efficiently when they are fairly full.  

• That’s how they like it best. So if you’re looking at your fridge door and there’s not much in there and that’s the way it usually looks, may I suggest you have overcapacity in the fridge department and it might be worth considering downsizing.

A couple of other tips to help your fridge keep more money in your wallet and create less greenhouse gas for the environment.

• It’s best not to locate your refrigerator or freezer near your oven, or even if it’s in the sun. It just makes it work more and you know what that means!

• Refrigerators need space – make sure there is space in the back near the vent coils so it can work efficiently. About 80mm is recommended.
• And last but not least, give the back of the fridge a little wipe down every once in a while, this also helps the ventilation system, and you’ll be amazed at what makes its way around the back of the fridge when you’re not looking . .

Dishwasher:

Mine is my husband and son and I think they both have a 50 star energy rating! Seriously, washing dishes in the sink is a good thing, and I personally think it’s underrated as a family activity.

Still, if you must use a dishwasher, think about its energy rating when you buy it and see how many of these tips you can adopt in your use.

• Only run the dishwasher with a full load: it uses the same amount of energy (and water!) whether it’s full or half full, so it makes sense to wait until it’s full, right?

• Then don’t let the machine dry the dishes for you, program it to stop before the drying cycle and just open the door: the dishes will dry themselves without the need for additional energy.

Your stove or oven:

Again, if you’re shopping for a new one, go for the highest energy-rated appliance you can afford—it’ll keep saving you money over its lifetime.

A great tip is to use the oven only when you really need it.

• Skillets, pressure cookers and crock pots and even microwave ovens are more energy efficient if what you are cooking can be created in them.
• If you are going to use your oven, check that the door closes completely and that there is a good seal when it is closed. There’s no point in paying for all that energy to heat it up if it’s just going to run out the door.
• This applies equally to electric or gas ovens.

Now to the top of the kitchen.

• Did you know that just putting the lid on the pot will substantially reduce the amount of energy needed to cook what’s in it?
• Also, by ensuring that the correct pot is placed on the correct cooktop or burner (not too big and not too small), you’ll also save substantially on both energy and time. Not to mention the money!

So how can you save energy in the laundry?

That washing machine now gets the energy efficiency treatment. You already know the deal with energy rating if you’re in the market for new appliances, right? I know you have a good idea of ​​what to look for now.

The first tip is to wash with cold water.

• I haven’t washed in hot or warm water for decades and would love to know how much energy and money it has saved me. I also recently had to buy a new machine and opted for one of those front loading varieties. I have to say I really like it and it uses less water and less energy than an equivalent top loading machine so it seems like I made a good choice with that one.
• Just like with the dishwasher, you’ll find that your washing machine will use the same amount of energy whether or not there are a few clothes or a full load, so it really makes sense to wait until you have a full load of clothes if you’re trying to save money. energy and thus have more money in your pocket at the end of the month.

Now the nightmare of my life, the clothes dryers.

I was given one as a wedding present and had it for about 15 years before it finally dumped its last load of fluffy clothes on me. However, I had used it less and less as I realized how much money it was costing me each time I used it. Eventually, for the last three or four years, it was only used in weather emergencies or mismanagement on my part.

• If it’s a sunny day, hang your clothes outside. I have a clothesline but I know of others that use clotheslines and they work well too. The sun dries them perfectly, the breeze softens the fabrics and they smell great when you put them back inside.

• If you use your tumble dryer, never put dripping clothes in, always spin first, and make sure the lint filter is cleaned regularly so the machine can weave its magic for you as efficiently as possible.

• Maybe you could try drying your clothes and just finishing them in the dryer as a stopgap measure on a wonderfully sunny day.

There are many other energy-using appliances in our home that you may not have thought of.

Things like the iron, the microwave, the TV, the computer, the DVD/VCR machine, the stereo, the game consoles… How on earth did we come to be so dependent on energy for our daily lives?

Most of these devices now contain digital clocks and standby lights as well. Now, this is all very well, but how many clocks does a room need? In my house, in the kitchen I have a clock on the wall, one on the stove and one in the microwave. In the living room, I think at last count there were four clocks on the TV cabinet! What is the reason for this obsession with clocks in household appliances?

Now to get to the point. I’ll give you an everyday example as a means of doing this: the microwave oven. Most if not all households now own such an appliance. Almost all of them come with a digital display that gives you all sorts of useful information like temperature and length of cooking time while you’re using them and that’s great, but once they’re done with their work they just sit there with your little screen telling you the time. And using energy.

• I use my microwave for less than 30 minutes a day, yet allow it to use energy (and cost me money) for 24 hours a day. That makes no sense.
• Please turn it off at the switch when you are not using it.
• It won’t care, it won’t stop working.
• Nothing terrible will happen.

The same goes for your stereo.

• If you’re not listening to it, turn it off.
• Not just on the front, that’s just going to let it sit there on standby, using power.
• Turn it off at the switch.

And when you go to bed at night, all those things in the entertainment cabinet with their little red and green lights begging you to turn them back on are costing you money. Don’t listen, reach behind the cabinet and flip that switch!

Now here’s the big sell for me on this one.

All those clocks, all those little red and green lights (including the ones on your computer!) add about 10% to your energy bill.That means that by getting into the habit of turning them off when they’re not in use, you could save up to 10% on each and every energy bill you receive starting today. Over the course of your life, that can add up to a lot of energy and a good amount of money in your bank account for something a lot more fun than paying the power bill.