Your home uses energy every day, all day long. It uses energy to keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It uses energy to provide you with light when you need it. It uses energy to provide you with hot water. And it uses energy to run all of your appliances and home electronics. You need to learn how to use the energy in your home more efficiently. You can also learn how to use renewable energy to provide your home with electricity, heating, cooling, and water heating.
So here are a bunch of ideas to help you conserve energy. Let’s start off by looking at a couple of rooms where we use a lot of resources like electricity and water.

In the Kitchen

- Using a microwave instead of the stove to warm up or defrost small amounts of food, will save energy. Microwave ovens use around 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens do. For large meals, however, the stove is usually more efficient. You can also save money on air conditioning in the summer by using a microwave which generates less heat in the kitchen.

- Don’t keep the refrigerator door open any longer than you need to and make sure the door closes securely.

- Sometimes we have a second fridge to keep drinks cold and often they are older. Old refrigerators are real energy hogs! Replace it if you don’t need it.
One large refrigerator is cheaper to run than two smaller ones.

Some specifics about the Fridge

- The refrigerator should not to be installed in areas where temperature is relatively high or where there isn’t proper ventilation to carry away the heat from the condenser coils.

- Periodically clean the freezer

Chose your refrigerator based on the right size, type and features depending upon your requirement (and not according to what our neighbors/relatives/friends possess).

- Note that as usual any additional comfort feature may consume more power and therefore more running cost.

- Make sure you ask for the energy consumption figure for different models before finally making a decision.

- Make sure you set it at the right temperature and not too cold as this will use more energy.

- Try not to frequently open and close the door; proper planning would help in this

- Cover your cooked meals when you put them in the refrigerator

In the Bathroom

- Wasting water wastes electricity. Why? Because the biggest use of electricity in most cities is for pumping and supplying water.

- About 75 percent of the water we use in our homes is used in the bathroom. A leaky toilet can waste more than 40000 liters of water a year. If you have a high flush toilet, you use about 15 liters to 25 liters of water with every flush!

- Another simple way to save water and energy is to take shorter showers. You’ll use less hot water and water heaters account for nearly 1/4 of your home’s energy use.

Think about what you and your family buy

- It is best if you buy things that can be used over and over instead of buying disposable items that are used once and then thrown away. You will save precious natural resources this way and you’ll also save the energy used to make them. You’ll also reduce the amount of landfill space needed when they are thrown away.

- Those same savings happen when you buy things of quality that will last, instead of breaking the first or second time you use them. Well-made items may cost a little more to begin with, but they will save you money because they last for a long time, before you have to replace them.

- When your family goes shopping, think about taking bags with you to reduce wastage of plastic carry bags.

- Pick a spot in your house to store bags that you get from the grocery store. These bags can be used to carry things to friends’ houses or for trash linings.

We’ll look at some more ideas next time.

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