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The beauty of Current Cost is that it shows you how much energy you are using right now. It shows how much your electricity use is going to cost every day and every month, unless you alter your behavior.
It cannot save you money on its own but it can help you change your habits.
We suggest you check the display regularly. If it shows that your usage is high, it could mean there is something you can switch off now, like a light bulb or an appliance on stand-by.
As you leave the house, it’s good to check the display. It will show you exactly how much electricity you will be using even when you are not at home. Perhaps you will be persuaded to switch off the TV instead of leaving it on stand-by.
Check the display before you go to bed. How much money will you spend while you are asleep? And what can you save by switching off an appliance, or two ... lets face it, you will be asleep, you will not be needing them for the next eight hours.
Testing how much energy is consumed by your home will surprise you how much wasted there is when some appliances are not turned off altogether. You will soon get used to what your baseline usage is, if it's suddenly higher you will know something's been left on. Compare your friends and family baseline to yours ... beats talking about the weather.
Do not use the remote to switch off the TV or stereo as leaving the appliance on stand-by still uses up electricity
In most homes about 10-15% of the electricity bill is for lighting. Always turn off the lights when you leave a room. Energy saving light bulbs will also cut your costs considerably - by as much as 80%!
Dropping the temperature of your wash when using the washing machine will significantly decrease energy consumption
Only use a washing machine when you have a full load and if you have to do a smaller wash, use the half load function
You can avoid using the dryer by line drying clothes whenever possible or using an indoor clothes line when the weather is bad
If you do need to use the dryer, then ensure the clothes are as dry as possible after washing, i.e., they have gone through a fast spin so that there is minimum excess water, reducing drying time considerably
Unplug any chargers when not being used
Set computers to sleep/hibernate. The hibernate mode turns the computer off in a way that doesn’t require you to reload everything when you switch it back on. Allowing your computer to hibernate saves energy and is overall more efficient than shutting down and restarting your computer
Keep your printer turned off when not in use
When heating water only heat the amount needed and use the correct size pan
If only using a small pan, use a small burner. Boiling water in a kettle first will save the time the burner needs to heat the water and putting a lid on will help it come to the boil quicker
The location of your fridge is important to how energy efficient it is. Where possible make sure it is out of direct sunlight and not close to the oven
Make sure you defrost your fridge and freezer on a regular basis as ice build-up will make a freezer work harder therefore wasting energy
Only set your fridge as cold as you need it and avoid keeping the door open for long periods of time as the colder air that escapes, the harder the fridge has to work
Never put warm or hot food into the fridge as it will have to work extra hard to try to keep cold
Aim to keep your fridge at least three-quarters full to maintain maximum efficiency.
TIP
Get the kids involved. Make saving energy fun!
