Three Largest Energy Guzzling Appliances And How to Cut Cost On Them

Trying to make the most of three largest energy guzzling? You are in the right place. Below we break it down in plain English, with practical tips you can actually use.

Key Takeaways

• (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); My Mrs.
• is a Masters in ecology, she has many subscription to green energy, clean energy magazines.
• She always reminds me to innovate ways to cut costs on our daily energy usage.

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My Mrs. is a Masters in ecology, she has numerous subscription to green energy, clean energy magazines. She always reminds me to innovate ways to cut costs on our daily energy usage. Recently I came across a few tips on saving energy on household appliances supplied in mailer from our utility company FPL.

I had already written three articles related to energy usage How To Save Money by saving water, How I save some money on Earth day and How to save on Gas prices. This is my another green attempt to remind all our readers on the relative ease with which you can control energy usage to generate maximum save.

I will only talk about 3 most energy-consuming appliances in your home if you concentrate on controlling energy usage on these three things, you can save up to 40% of your energy bill. This is what I called efficient and most productive way to derive maximum result.

Oh, certainly you use energy-efficient bulb, but, did you ever calculate how much you could save by using an energy-efficient bulb in one year? Let me tell you it’s minuscule, rather, I will encourage you to do whatever you can to save the planet and save your money. But when you are occupied and only can do a few things only, let’s just stick to these three energy guzzlers only.

What are then, the three most energy-consuming appliances

1. HVAC : Heating Ventilation and Air conditioning unit. 40% - 50% of your energy bill is contributed by this unit alone. Considering average annual energy bill per household of $1,200  - $2,000 per year, this unit alone costs $480 - $1000 per year. You can save on HVAC in following ways

• Programmable Thermostat: Purchase it, or call your utility company to install it for you, program it in such a way that when no one at home, it doesn’t run non stop, increase temperature by a few points during summer and vice versa during winter, till the extent you stay inside comfortably.
• Change Filter regularly: Clogged filters should be changed at specified on the filters, do not over use them, or be prepared to pay the cost through electricity bills every month on increased cost of heating or cooling due to dirt deposit
• Clean coil, fan and burners at regular interval keep your equipment healthy, just like you become healthy after taking a shower.
• Update equipment and do not use beyond their usual life. Numerous people do suggest to use equipment as long as possible to save money on new ones, but your home’s safety is at stake, do change equipment and purchase only energy star equipment while replacing.

2. Water Heater: Second most energy-consuming appliance in your home . Numerous states have option to run your water heater on gas, which is separate from electric company. Gas always is cheaper comparatively, opt for heater with your local gas company if you have option and not taking it from utility company. I do not have this option as FPL has the monopoly in this area in S. Florida and there is no gas company offering service here.

• The best way to cut water heating cost is to get used to cold water. Use as much cold water as possible and let the coil heat up less frequently.
• Do not keep water heater running 24/7 when going out of home, consider turning heater off, while water is in the tank, constant heating and cooling go on.
• Though I didn’t try, you can take a trial of tank-less water heater, I heard they costs lesser for energy consumption
• Check for insulation, leakage and fix any problem observed
• Every six months recycle water, remove the build up and deposits inside the tank.

3. Refrigerator: This is third most energy-consuming appliance in your home. It consumes 5% of your energy bill. It periodically cycles itself, drawing up energy to keep temperature constant. Furthermore, this energy consumption can be greatly increased if the refrigerator is operating with one or more faulty parts. It would be a good idea to update any outdated parts in this appliance for greater energy efficiency.

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• Don’t over cool your food. Your refrigerator temperature should be set at between 36 - 40F (2 - 4C), and the freezer should be set at between 0 - 5F (-17 to -10C). No need to temp any lower
• Do not keep door open for long, do not put hot items inside without letting it cool for sometime
• Place refrigerator as much away as heat sources (burners, oven etc). Also try to keep at least 2 inches of distance from walls
• replace old freeze and purchase energy-efficient one, regularly defrost and clean inside and surrounding areas.

To make maximum dent to your energy bill with minimum effort, do follow the tips provided above. Saying this, we started actively pursuing to implement the above suggestion our self. I will keep on updating in future posts on the progress, and the saves in energy bill we realized. Why don’t you start doing something like this?

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Final Thoughts

The bottom line: a little research on three largest energy guzzling goes a long way. Compare your options, watch for seasonal offers, and never pay full price when a better deal is one click away.

Originally published at onecentatatime.com.