Save energy and reduce your costs

General tips

• Choose and use energy-efficient appliances.
• Check the energy labels, attached to all modern appliances, for consumption details and choose accordingly.
• Unplug electrical appliances that are not in use. TVs, DVD players and stereo systems consume energy even when they are switched off.
• Don’t connect your mobile phone for overnight charging before going to bed. esPhon require just a few hours to fully charge. Take care of your phone’s recharge earlier in the day. 

Heating

• Don’t cover radiators with any objects as this subdues their performance. Keep radiator surfaces clean and also make sure to release any air that may be trapped inside them. To reduce heat loss at home, block any window or door gaps using insulating material, including tape, available at shops. Have your boiler or furnace serviced annually by a professional to ensure maximum heating system performance.
• If your home is equipped with an independent heating system, set the temperature controller to 20C. Keep in mind that for every additional degree in temperature energy consumption increases by as much as 7 percent.
• To save on energy, maintain your home’s temperature at between 18 and 20C instead of turning the heating system on and off for short periods. The energy required to reheat a space is costly.
• Don’t position bulky furniture close to radiators. Armchairs and sofas, for example, absorb a lot of heat.

Kitchen

• When boiling water for coffee, tea or cooking, use an electric water boiler, which is 2.5 times more energy efficient than a hot plate. This will also save you time. Don’t fill the water boiler with excess water, only pour into it the quantity you need. One mug of water is all you need for a cup of coffee or tea.
• When using the oven, cook more than one meal at a time, whenever this is possible. Alternatively, get yourself a multi-tier food steamer or any device with divisions for multi-cooking. Don’t open and close the oven door too frequently to check on the food. Ovens experience 20 percent heat loss each time the oven door is opened.
• Turn off the oven or hot plate before you have completed your cooking to take advantage of the remaining heat until your food is ready.
• Once your casserole cooking has reached boiling point, lower the hot plate temperature to maintain a vigorous simmer or gentle boil.
• Fry pans and cooking pots need to make full contact with electric hot plates and match their size. Small mismatches of even just one or two centimeters can increase energy consumption by as much as 30 percent, without any extra benefit for you.       
• If you don’t use a pressure cooker you may want to reconsider as these devices can save you as much as 60 percent on cooking-related energy costs, compared to regular cooking pots. 

Refrigerator

• Set your refrigerator to a temperature level of between 3 and 5C.
• Avoid putting hot food into your refrigerator as this impacts its temperature.
• Try to limit the number of times you open the refrigerator door during the day.
• Don’t forget to clean the back of your refrigerator several times a year as dust that accumulates at the coil systems is the main reason why refrigerators consume increased amounts of electricity.

Washing machine

• Try to wash your clothes at lower temperatures as 90 percent of electricity consumed by washing machines is for heating the water being used.
• Make sure to fill your washing machine to the maximum weight quantity permitted by its specifications.
• Don’t waste electricity to wash just a few clothes. Prefer to use the eco-friendly setting offered by most modern washing machines.This will save energy and water.
• Keep the filters clean. 

Lighting

• Opt to use LED lamps. They last a lot longer than conventional light bulbs and offer energy savings of as much as 40 euros per year for an entire household.
• When leaving a room, turn off the light. Lights typically represent 12 percent of overall electricity consumption on power bills.  

Ignorance, negligence or haste can amount to a significant waste of energy. Changing even the smallest of costly habits will offer considerable savings in the long term.