This week at green home building we're going to look at three simple ways to save electricity in your home. Most people do not realize this, but they're using their electrical power inefficiently. These three simple steps could dramatically lower your monthly electrical bill, and help reduce global carbon emissions.

 

Reduce

 

First off, the biggest way you can reduce your electrical bill is by simply using less electricity. Now of course this may seem obvious, but many of us do not put much thought into this concept. For example, do you need your light on? You should make good use of natural light through your windows, it is free. Is your television always on? Try keeping it off. It could be good for your wallet and your brain.

 

Compact Fluorescents

 

The second biggest thing you can do is replace all of your incandescent light bulbs with new compact fluorescent bulbs. These bulbs use about 20% of the energy that incandescent bulbs do. If you have a large home, this can really add up quickly. The cost of these bulbs will be a little more at first, but will pay for themselves within the first one or two months of operation. They are great devices, if you have not tried them please do so immediately.

 

Phantom Power

 

Many appliances and machines in your home are drawing power at all times, even when you are not using them. This is known as phantom power. Things like computers and televisions will be drawing power from the wall even when they are off. Most people don't realize this. We can save it a significant amount of energy by unplugging them when they are not in use. Now this may be a hassle for many of you, so you can simply purchase a power bar with an on off switch. By breaking the physical connection between the appliance and the outlet, there is no way it can draw any phantom power.

 

Conclusion

 

These are just a few small steps you can take to reduce your power bill and help save the environment. These changes really do not require much energy to implement, and the benefits are almost immediate. Try them in your home today. Remember you can always go back to the old way of doing things, though you probably will not want to.

 

 

Sustainable Green Design