Everyone wants to lower their monthly costs, and electricity can be a big one. At the same time, we’ve grown accustomed to our modern conveniences, and it can be hard to deduce what is using up the most power in our homes. While this list of power-draining appliances might not change your habits immediately, being mindful of what is taking up the most power will definitely help you make slow, steady, power-saving lifestyle changes.
Before we get into the most power-sucking appliances, let’s have a quick aside about vampire power; not a rallying cry for vampire rights, but a name for appliances consuming energy when they’re not in use. Many items not on the list of appliances presented can drain your bank account, even though they use less electricity; cell phone chargers, microwaves and televisions are all constantly on, so it’s best to affix as many of them as you can to a power bar you can shut off when you’re not at home.
#5: The Refrigerator
Refrigerators need to be active constantly, lest your food be spoiled. They’re also doing the work of cooling a fairly large area, quite akin to what an air conditioner does, but on a smaller scale. Not a lot can be done about this; you can’t really turn it off and on. The solution, then, is to find the most energy efficient refrigerator you can and replace your old model.
#4: Washer and Dryer
Like the refrigerator, the best solution to washer and dryer costs is to install the most energy efficient model you can. While we don’t recommend washing by hand (the process is so long and arduous, it’s not worth the savings), you might opt to skip the dryer and hang your clothes out to dry on a warm, sunny day.
#3 Water Heater
As a lover of long, hot showers, it pains me to tell you that heating water is a massive energy drain. The solution here is to take shorter showers; the more you cut back, the more you’ll save. You can also opt to go for a cold water wash in your washing machine; many detergents are designed with a cold water wash in mind.
#2 Cooling
The astute reader might have guessed this would be high on the list after reading about refrigerators; air conditioning is the second biggest power drain in your household. Here, there’s a lot of steps you can take to reduce consumption; cool the air less, turn off the air conditioner when you’re not at home, use a smart thermostat to regulate heat throughout the day automatically, and install a new system for energy efficiency.
#1 Heating
The number one biggest energy drain will come as no surprise to anyone who’s had to heat their home during -40 weather; your furnace. The solutions here are basically the air conditioning solution; heat your home a bit less, and get new technologies to reduce your consumption.
If you’ve been trying to bring down your energy consumption, but you can’t get your bills low enough, consult a team of qualified electricians. They’ll be able to propose energy saving tips and systems to help bring that bill down.
