Home appliances basically keep the house together. Can you imagine what life would be like without your AC or refrigerator? You wouldn’t be able to cool off in hot weather, and all the food would go bad. However, even though appliances are pretty helpful, they can also significantly increase your electricity bill. Pressing irons, washing machines, and air conditioners are the chief culprits in this regard.
You’ll agree that getting rid of these appliances isn’t an option. But then, there are other ways to ensure they don’t burn a hole in your wallet when it’s time to pay the electric bills. Here are some of the appliances that might be costing you money, and how you can cut down costs.
Washing machine and dryer
Even though it can wash and dry your clothes in almost no time at all, standard washer and dryer can consume as much as 1,300 watts of power. That’s the same amount of power it takes to light up 200 incandescent bulbs. It’s really the dryer part of the washing machine that consumes power. Generating the force that spins the clothes round and round, and creating heat that dries them is responsible.
To cut down how much electricity your washing machine and dryer consumes, you should consider upgrading to a newer model. More recent Energy Star-rated models consume almost half as much energy as older ones. Additionally, you can try reducing the frequency of loads. Having a laundry day where all the clothes are washed together is an excellent idea if you’re not doing it already.
Air conditioner
The air conditioner works by using coolant to cool the air it blows into the house. At the same time, hot air is expelled through the fans located on the outside. This process of converting the coolant from liquid to gas, as well as drawing and pushing air takes a lot of energy. This is why some ACs have power ratings as high as 5000 watts. That’s more than three washing machines!
In reducing how much you spend on air conditioning, you can buy newer energy-saving models. Some of them are designed to sleep periodically, depending on your temperature settings and how cold the room is. This helps you make sure that they consume much less power than the models that are always on.
Another thing you can do is to install a patio in your home. You can find alumawood patio covers in Chandler, AZ. Retreating to the patio on hot days can help you enjoy some breeze and get fresh air while avoiding direct sunlight. You basically cool off without turning on the AC.
All the other culprits
This refers to the silent appliances like hairdryers, space heaters, refrigerators, and even incandescent bulbs. They don’t consume as much power as an air conditioner, and washer and dryer put together, but still, they can add up to quite a bit for your monthly bill. You can reduce their consumption by turning them off after use.
You can’t turn off the refrigerator since the food will go bad. However, keeping the door closed maximizes the amount of cool air that circulates and helps save power. It’s also a good idea to change all your incandescent bulbs to LEDs since they only consume a fraction of the power that incandescent bulbs do.
All these minor adjustments can add up to a lot of power and money savings in the long run.
