Saving Electricity – We take it for granted that electricity is ‘always’ going to be readily available at a flick a switch or press of a button. Truthfully our planet is running out of power and a lot of countries are facing a crisis. More and more countries are experiencing load shedding. Load shedding is in response to a situation where the demand for electricity exceeds the power supply.
I have first-hand experience of load shedding when I lived in South Africa. Basically, South Africa’s energy provider Eskom was unable to meet the demands for electricity, which outweighed the available supply capacity. Often the load-shedding/blackouts were unscheduled and on occasions you would go to the cinema and the movie you were watching would be unexpectedly interrupted. Your fresh produce in your fridges also didn’t last as long because of the long blackouts. Everyday life became a challenge with these unpredictable blackouts.
To produce electricity requires the burning of fossil fuels such as coals and gas. The by-product of burning fossil produces carbon emissions, which is linked to global warming. The price we pay for energy will also continue to increase. Saving electricity will also reduce the energy bills and put some extra money back in your pocket.
7 Useful Tips For Saving Electricity:
1) Change your light bulbs
Replace your light bulbs with CFL’s – Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs or modern LED – Light Emitting Diodes. They may seem more costly initially but in the long term they will be more economical. Reason being, they require less power and last longer. Most CFL’s and LED’s produce a warmer or brighter light as well.
2) Wrap up the boiler
If the boiler is kept warm is will require less energy to warm itself up. Therefore will reduce your energy consumption and save you a few £’s. You can insulate the boiler by padding it with some insulation material.
3) Let it all hang outside
Saving electricity by going natural. Instead of using the dryer try letting your clothes dry naturally. Did you know? The sun actually makes your whites whiter and the breeze helps it dry quicker and prevent any horrible damp smells.
4) Unplug and switch off all electric device
Have a quick walk through your home. How many devices are left in standby mode or left charged? Turn off computer monitors. Unplug and switch off the DVD player, Television or even the microwave. Don’t leave laptops or phone attached to power if they are full charged. Leaving these devices plugged in or in standby mode will consume up to 10% of your monthly electricity bills. Trying using a ‘smart’ power strip that automatically stop electricity from being drained if your devices no longer require electricity.
5) Replace old appliances in the home
Older appliances without the Energy Star seal have huge drains on the energy required. Energy Star is a federal program that rates appliances on their efficiency so that consumers can make smart choices. Energy Star appliances have been proven to use 30% less electricity.
6) Seal up and insulate
Insulating floors and ceilings will prevent heat from escaping and consequently will require less electricity. Drafts are also a sign that heat is escaping or cold air is coming into your home. Use a feather to find out if there are any drafts coming from your windows or doors. Use caulking to seal-up the drafts.
7) Fully Loaded
Saving electricity by ensuring that washing machines and dishwashers are fully loaded. Try to build-up enough of the dirty stuff before switching on the cleaning devices. This is will limit usage and save electricity.
BONUS TIP: Have a romantic night in, switch off the television and use candles 
Browse the GoGreenForHomes website for energy saving ideas!
It’s awesome that you care for the plaent. It’d be great if people tried to use alternatives to conserve the earth. Here’s some ideas you may be able to use. Just remeber hairspray ain’t gonna be much a difference here’s some of the bigger issues.1. get a car ( larger vehicles use up more gasoline) possibly one that doesn’t need oil. You also get some tax incentive benefit out of that or something and can use the carpool lane w/ a single person.2. get Energy Saver products like washers, dryers, lightbulbs and anything else when purchasing something new.3. there are windows that are energy saving that you can research and look for4.showers not baths5. Don’t leave the lights/computers/tv on if you’re not using them.6.use fans instead of air conditioners7.battery operated stuff versus something you plug into a socket.8.plastic bags over paper. Recycle those plastic bags by using them as small trash bags for your bathroom trash can.its the corporations and factors and stuff that can do alot just by turning off the lights and computers when they leave work for the night but one step at a time I suppose
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Thank you for the great comments! I will try to post info on a regular basis. From G (Founder of GGFH).
Depending on how much time you have before hand, you could make your own prtoucds! If you have old scraps of material (such as tshirts etc.) you could make and sew bean bags (like the kind you toss) and fill with beans or rice. Then you could write things like GO GREEN! or something on them with fabric marker. T-shirts don’t have to be expensive, you can buy cheap bulk shirts and decorate them yourself, but it could get expensive if you did various sizes. If you wanted to buy and decorate something, I would suggest buying and decorating reusable shopping bags. That way, they could use them instead of taking plastic bags from the store! You could also do fun things for younger kids, like reuse water bottles and fill them with pebbles or rice to make noise makers, and decorating them with ribbons and messages and your school colors. Hope this helps! The possibilities are endless!
The sun is a big nuclear reaotcr, it basically fuses hydrogen atoms into helium atoms. This fusion releases a lot of energy in the form of radiation.When radiation reaches earth, it can be used for many pruposes. Heating is easy, because the solar radiation carries a lot of heat, it can be used to heat water without much technology. But if you want to transform solar radiation into electricity, you need more advanced technology, such as photovoltaic cells, which basically use semiconductors to generate electricity out of sunlight.In theory, you can generate over 1,000 watts per square meter of sunlight (under ideal weather conditions, and near the equator), which is a lot of energy. But photovoltaic technology is a bit expensive, so it hasn’t been adopted by a lot of people. There are some solar thermal power plants, that provide electricity for a lot of people by using a heat engine to transform heat into mechanical work, and then transform mechanical work into electricity.
Thank you for your nice words! save the home (Go Green For Homes) save the world
-G (founder of GGFH)