July 24, 2013

5 Ways to Save More Energy You Hadn't Thought of

Whether you’re living in a Wallmark custom home in North Vancouver or a 1950's post-war Burnaby home that you have built with your own hands fifty years ago, saving electricity and energy is something that we all should do.

Here are 5 ways you can save more energy throughout the year in Greater Vancouver(especially in the summer):

1) Install motion sensors, timers and dimmers.
Installing an arrangement of these controls instead of the everyday light switches not only saves you energy but can also make your life easier. With the new sensors you can have them set to turn on when they sense a lack of light in the area. You won’t even have to turn on your lights! And with the ‘older’ timers, you won’t have to worry about going around and turning them off, they will simply turn off at your bed time every night.

2) Use small appliances in the kitchen.
This one is a little weird, I’ll give you that much. BC hydro quotes that using your microwave instead of your oven even just 4 times a week can save you upwards of $20. For those of you who are just as wary as I am of over using the microwave, they also suggest that using toaster ovens and slow cookers are a better energy fit for smaller meals.

3) Reduce your driers energy. Other than running to swaddle yourself in the newly cleaned, dried and warm blankets that your drier produces, here is another reason to run for your drier when you hear it buzz. Taking your clothes out immediately and folding them reduces your need to iron them later (ironing sucks a lot of energy), it also allows you to put in another load quickly and make the most of the driers heat.

4) Keep that freezer full.
Keeping the freezer full will reduce the amount of energy, your money, that will need to be spent to keep its contents cold.

5) Shrink standby use.
This one you have probably heard of before and if you haven’t, it’s a good thing to know. Standby use is when computers and TVs are plugged in, yet are turned off and are still drawing energy from the socket. By unplugging these electronics or switching them off using the switch on your plug in boards, you will stop the energy from being drawn when you are not using the electronics.