Guest post by Bessie Hassan, Money Expert at finder.com.au.
With energy bills getting much more expensive, little changes to your energy consumption habits can make a big difference in the long run. You may not even be aware of what’s using up the most energy in your household and what’s costing you an arm and a leg each quarter.
By becoming more aware of your energy consumption habits and making an effort to change them, you’ll save yourself a whole lot of stress when your energy bill rolls around. With that in mind, here are five hidden energy wasters that you might not be aware of.
Leaving things on standby
It may seem like an unnecessary chore to have to turn everything off at the powerpoint once you’ve finished using it, but appliances such as televisions, gaming consoles and even your microwave can use up a lot of power, even when they’re on standby. For instance, your microwave not only uses power when heating food, but it constantly draws on electricity to power it’s digital clock. That’s power that you don’t need to be wasting your money on.
In rooms such as your living room, try plugging all of your appliances and devices into one power strip. This makes it easier to turn everything off at the same time once you’re finished for the day.
Using multiple devices simultaneously
For many of us, our lives are saturated by technology. Not only are we watching TV, we’re also checking our emails while the kids play games on their laptops or scroll through Instagram. Each of these devices on their own might not be a big power drain. However, combined (and especially if they’re all connected to the Wi-Fi), they could be using up more energy than you think.
Get the whole household to focus on time together and maybe just the television alone for a couple of nights per week. This can make a big difference to your energy bill. If you’re looking to be even more energy-conscious, you could gather around a board game and switch off all devices completely for one night every week.
Using heating appliances and tools
Heating appliances are one of the biggest culprits for energy usage. These include heaters and hair tools such as hair dryers and curling irons. Hair dryers have one of the highest wattages for a small appliance, sometimes using more energy than your microwave.
Throwing on an extra jumper or blanket rather than reaching for the heater will save you heaps overall. However, if you’re desperate for some extra heat, check the energy rating of your appliance to help you determine which is the best to use.
Charging your devices overnight
Charging devices such as your laptop and phone overnight is a common habit nowadays. However, with multiple devices being charged in one household, the energy prices can definitely add up. For instance, even if you were to only charge your laptop for three hours every night, this equates to $25.90 per year. Considering that you could be charging it for longer or charging multiple laptops at a time, you could be spending $100 a year or more just charging your devices!
By charging your device during the day or while you’re using it, you can check to see whether it’s fully charged and unplug it once it’s done. As an added benefit, doing this also improves the health of your battery.
Running your pool cleaner every week
If you run your pool cleaner overnight even only once every week, you could be paying an extra $1,556 on your electricity bill. The pool cleaner is definitely one of the worst energy gobblers in your household. By making sure you only run your pool cleaner when you’re regularly using your pool (ie, only in summer) you can save hundreds or even thousands.
Knowing what devices are draining your energy is the first step to cutting down your bill. Now is a better time than ever to get yourself and your household actively involved in saving energy, both for the environment and your hip pocket!