Recently, we in Malaysia have been hit with a hike in the electricity rates. It doesn’t quite affect all consumers and on a personal note, I’m not really affected by it because my electricity consumption comes within the unaffected rate. However, this is something not quite unexpected with the dwindling reserves of fossil fuel and rising oil prices, and I’d really like to keep my electricity consumption low. Lower electricity costs = more savings = more $ for shopping! 😉 So economics and complaining aside, here are 5 energy-saving things I practice that you might already also practice. Or it might help you save some electricity (and money for shopping!) too 🙂
1. Remove plugs of unused electrical items from the socket
My Mom taught me this one after she came across an article that said that electricity is still being consumed by appliances that remain plugged into the socket, even though you aren’t using it and its switched off. It was described as a “vampire appliance”. The kitchen might be your first place to look. Is your toaster or oven or microwave plugged in all the time? How often do you use them? Removing the plug after use might help you save quite a bit. It helped us – we were testing with various equipment in the house and the one that helped the electricity bill drop the most was the electric oven.
2. Switch off unneeded lights in the home
I have practiced this one for a long time. If you leave a room or area in the house and don’t intend to return within 10 minutes, switch off the lights. This includes the kitchen, bathroom, living room, storeroom etc. My kitchen is near my living room, so if I need something from the kitchen, I don’t switch on the lights unless I am looking for something specific. The ambient light from the living room is usually sufficient for me to see what I want – usually a glass of water or a fruit from the fridge… which has its own light anyway. In the day, where possible, I use natural light.