Saving Energy
You are here
What is Energy Efficiency?
It is important to differentiate energy efficiency from energy conservation and to be totally clear with these terms. Many people assume they mean the same thing, as they “lower the thermostat, switch off the lights and freeze in the dark”. They may even take it as “doing without”, but that is not it at all. Energy efficiency is ‘doing more with less’. It’s like saying the glass is half empty or half full; it is a matter of semantics. Hopefully, attitudes will change for the better.
Education to Conserve Energy
The best green energy people in the world can design the most efficient home possible but if a bunch of know-nothings move in and live as they have always done, the energy savings will be minimal.
This is the fundamental problem with reducing energy use: most people simply don't know what behavior to change or how to change it. Innovation and technology are only useful if the average consumer knows enough to make them work.
Monitoring Energy Usage in Your Home
With increasing interest in green solutions and the ability to measure and monitor energy use not only historically but in real-time, the monitors and meters available on the market are changing.
Changing Your Behavior to Save Energy
Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is, according to the quote attributed to Albert Einstein, the definition of insanity. The same could be said of energy conservation: unless we change the way we (and other people) think about energy, our goal of using less to do more is doomed from the start.
Smart Energy Home Systems
There are some energy saving ideas which are easy to promote but not so easy to implement. We're only human, after all, so things like using heating systems in the middle of the night when energy is cheapest, detecting leaks and switching off lights in empty rooms can be time-consuming or disruptive.
Electronic Gadget Energy Consumption
All the electrical things we use in our homes – apart from major appliances and lighting – can be gathered together under the title of "gadgets" or "plug loads". This includes everything from tiny cell phone chargers to massive wall-mounted plasma televisions, so it's understandably difficult to be precise about energy conservation.
Pool Water Usage
Notorious for water-guzzling, the best way to optimise your efficiency with pools is to avoid having one. However, there are some things you can do to save on your energy costs if you really must have a pool.
Reducing Water Usage in your Garden
Would it surprise you to know that your garden irrigation system is only one of five major factors affecting your garden's water use? Do you know what the other four are?
1. Irrigation system efficiency
The most efficient irrigation for your garden is a drip system on a timer. Instead of spraying water all over the place, drip systems deliver it direct to the ground or the plants themselves. They are even more efficient than watering by hand.
Wasting Water in the Kitchen
Unfortunately, there is no rating system for kitchen faucets. This is because kitchen water usage is deemed (correctly or not) to be governed by habit and equipment rather than a faucet's flow rate. In other words, you use more water because you cook kilos of spaghetti in huge pots than because that water comes out of the faucet quickly!
Pages
