Family budget expenses can be significantly reduced if we rationally approach all life situations. In each situation (whether it’s shopping at a store or going on vacation, or traveling by car or making payments for an apartment), you can save good money if you know little tricks and know what you can save on. If you want to save on the bills once you move in with your partner – follow the tips described in this article, and don’t forget – Best Single libra women from Ukraine for dating. If you don’t have a partner just yet, you might want to check out this Russian dating website.
How to save on energy
Use dimmers instead of conventional switches. They allow you to smoothly adjust the level of illumination. Indeed, in fact, a very bright light in a room is extremely rare for you, basically, half the power is enough, especially if you just sit at a computer or watch TV, or just go into the room to take something.
Replace incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs. I’m not talking specifically about energy-saving lamps, which, like LEDs, consume less electricity, because I consider them harmful (this is my subjective opinion). The light from them is unnatural and the eyes get tired very quickly, and mercury is also used in their production. In addition, energy-saving lamps are not as reliable as the manufacturer promises.
Yes. LED lamps are expensive, but they pay off very quickly, because the energy savings due to them are very significant, in addition, they are much more durable. An LED lamp that consumes 4 watts gives the same amount of light as a 75-watt incandescent lamp (i.e. it is 16 times more economical). The life of the LED bulb is approximately 30,000 hours (as the manufacturer says). Considering that, on average, a lamp will burn 5 hours a day, then it will last for 6000 days – 16.5 years! I can’t confirm it yet, at my place LED lamps last only 2.5 years.
In addition, the LED lamp is practically not heated, in contrast to the usual one, accordingly, it is more fireproof. In general, solid advantages, except for the price. Therefore, it is worth considering the purchase of LED lamps as long-term investments and investments).
Increase the number of light sources in different areas of your apartment, then it will be easier for you to adjust the necessary lighting. You can only use the light source near which you are located and not illuminate the extra space that you do not need at the moment.
No matter how corny it sounds, but wash your windows more often. Dirty windows allow up to 20% less natural light, you will need to adjust the dimmers (and you have already installed them) to a more powerful position and energy savings will be reduced. Do not forget to wipe your LED bulbs from dust for the same reason.
Prefer light colors when decorating an apartment and choosing furniture. As you know, the darker the shade of color, the more it absorbs light, and the lighter – the more it reflects light. And in order to achieve the desired level of illumination in a bright room, less electricity is required.
And a very far-sighted way of saving for the most rational – when buying or renting an apartment, keep in mind that the sunniest and accordingly brightest side is the south. And if in your apartment most of the windows will face south, then in the future you will save a lot on lighting these rooms.
Buy a washing machine, refrigerator, iron, and other household appliances with energy class “A” – this means that these devices consume the least amount of electricity.
Choose the size of equipment based on the size of your family. Suppose if you are only two or three, then you do not have to buy a huge powerful refrigerator or washing machine, the drum of which is designed for 6 kg of linen. Because You will either collect things for a long time for a full load or start the car half-empty and spend, accordingly, extra kilowatts.
Turn off electrical appliances completely when not in use. Always pull the plug out of the socket. In standby mode, they also consume electricity. This also applies to all kinds of chargers.
Do not wash at maximum temperature and at maximum speed. Modern powders quite well cope with their task and with average values ??of these parameters. So you save energy and keep your things in good condition for a longer period. Do not start the washing machine half-empty.
Buy a refrigerator with the “No Frost” function, as when freezing moisture on the evaporator, the heat transfer (in our case, “cold transfer”) decreases, i.e. in physical terms, the efficiency of the refrigerator is reduced (efficiency). And to maintain the set temperature, the refrigerator will increase power consumption.
Put the refrigerator in the coldest place of the kitchen, away from the stove or direct sunlight, preferably at the outer wall of the house (it is the coldest), and do not put it close to the wall. So it will not overheat.
Keep the freezer full so it will be easier to maintain the set temperature. Keep the door of the refrigerator and freezer tightly closed.
Do not put hot dishes immediately in the refrigerator, they may well first cool off due to free ambient air, and not the paid power of your refrigerator.
Do not place containers with open liquids in the refrigerator, as during the evaporation process, the humidity in the refrigerator will increase, which will also increase energy consumption.
If you are just buying or want to rent an apartment, but doubt where it is, give preference to the option where the gas is supplied. Cooking on a gas stove is much more profitable than on an electric stove. If there is still no gas, then give preference to an induction cooker. She has the smallest power consumption, because the induction cooker heats the bottom of the pan or pan, unlike conventional stoves, where the burner itself is also heated.
Make sure that the size of the cookware matches or is slightly larger than the diameter of the burner.
The bottom of the dishes must necessarily be clean and even, so that they fit snugly on the burner, and, accordingly, that the heat transfer is better.
Cook with the lid closed so that you will not waste electricity on heating the air.
Turn off the stove a few minutes before cooking, use the residual heat. Use maximum mode only for initial heating, then reduce power.
Make sure the oven doors close tightly.
Use a kettle to heat water, it will be more economical than on an electric stove.
Turn off the iron 10 minutes before you plan to finish ironing, use the residual heat, it will be hot enough for a long time. In order not to waste energy on heating the ironing board itself, wrap it with foil. Do not dry the laundry too much, it is much faster and more convenient to iron slightly moistened laundry. For each type of fabric, use the appropriate mode.
Before turning on the air conditioners and the split system, make sure that the windows are closed, otherwise, you will simply cool the street. Choose these devices based on your actual room size, a small and not very powerful air conditioner can quite cope with a small volume.
Insulate the room, put in good plastic windows, and you will less often turn on the electric heater.
Decrease the brightness of the computer monitor. And if you still have an outdated monitor with a cathode ray tube, then without hesitation, replace it with a more economical LCD monitor, the same goes for an outdated TV. In general, all modern technology consumes much less electricity than its old counterparts 5-10 years ago. Do not turn on additional devices, such as a printer or scanner, unnecessarily at the same time as a computer.
How to save water
Buy a dishwasher. It’s comfortable. Of course, it consumes electricity, but at the same time, it saves water consumption at times. It will take only 15 liters of water to wash 8 sets of dishes in it, and if you wash it by hand, then spend about 70-100 liters. So, at a minimum, you will not lose anything: save on water, but lose a little on electricity. Only at the same time save your time and energy! The same goes for the washing machine.
Repair any leaks, repair a poorly closing tap.
Most of the water in the house is spent on flushing the toilet … Install modern plumbing with two drain modes. Do not use the toilet as a bin.
Change all rotary taps (when you first turn off the tap with cold water, then with hot and only then set the desired temperature) to lever ones (water mixing occurs instantly) – and also reduce water consumption.
Install special spray nozzles on the tap. They mix water with air, and you don’t even notice that less water is consumed, because the pressure remains the same.
Take a shower more often than a bath, turn off the water when brushing your teeth, shaving or cleaning in another room, and do not forget to turn off the water altogether.