A sustainable lifestyle is not only good for the earth, it can also save you money. This is especially true when it comes to saving energy. Are you already paying attention to this? Because with rising energy prices, it pays even more to make more conscious choices here. Energy saver Mascha shares simple tips and tricks you can use to start saving energy and money at home today. Spoiler: it saves her 420 euros a year. Wow, you can do lots of fun things with that!
Saving energy at home: tips & trics
Shorter showers, colder showers, heating on unsympathetic. When you think of saving energy, you quickly think of loss of comfort and that doesn't really warm anyone's heart. And yet there are a number of small switches you can make that are not so inconvenient at all, but that will save you energy and money. And from that money you can then do other important or more fun things. I'll go through them with you!
1. Set your thermostat to the right temperature
Turning your thermostat down or off when you go to bed saves a lot of energy. You will be snug under the blankets anyway, so you won't feel a thing. There is also something nice about a nice cold bedroom, I think. Do you have a clock thermostat or even a smart thermostat? That makes saving energy super easy! Set your thermostat to set a lower temperature around (or even better: an hour before) your bedtime. It's best if your heating is set to around 15 degrees at night (17-18°C with underfloor heating). That will quickly save you around 180 euros a year according to Milieu Centraal (and probably even more now with rising prices). This is a big hit as your heating is the biggest cost in your energy bill.
2. Get a water-saving shower head
A nice hot shower is a nice moment of relaxation, but with a regular shower head you use a lot of hot water and thus a lot of energy (gas). Showering is, after heating, probably your biggest expense. So you can save a lot of energy if you choose a water-saving shower head that lets through a maximum of 7.2 litres of water per minute. And it won't make your relaxing moment any less comfortable. A water-saving shower head mixes air with the water, so you still get a nice warm jet of water. You don't notice it while showering, it's just as nice. But you'll still quickly save around fifty euros a year with it. And you can get that water-saving shower head for just a few euros. Count your profit! You can do something nice with that anyway. Check out the site of Milieu Centraal for a list of water-saving showerheads.
Cozy helper for shorter showers
No water-saving shower head and still want to save energy in the shower? Then use an hourglass or a shower radio so you can make sure you never shower for more than five minutes (with a shower radio less than two songs showering). Just shouldn't accidentally Paradise by the Dashboard Light on it.
3. Saving energy at home: set your central heating to 60
Do you have a central heating boiler? If so, in many cases it is set to 80°C by default. Why is that ‘bad’? Well, because a central heating boiler is an appliance that uses a lot of energy. You can set your CV lower, for example to 60°C (and if you have a well-insulated house even to 50°C) and your heating and shower will still work just as well. If you do this today, you will soon save forty to sixty euros a year. Don't know how to do this? It's very easy, but check out zetmop60.nl for a good explanation. Note: this temperature adjustment only applies to your heating and absolutely not to your tap water.
Are you serious about reducing your gas consumption? Then check out this list of tips we compiled with help from Milieu Centraal.
4. Replace your old bulbs with energy-efficient LED bulbs
Still many households have not replaced all light bulbs with LED bulbs. In fact, according to Milieu Centraal, there are still 165 million incandescent and halogen bulbs in use in households in the Netherlands; that's 24 per household! Wow! High time for a bulb check in your home! For three to five euros you can already buy an LED bulb at the hardware store, and at IKEA they are even cheaper. Why aren't all those old bulbs out the door already, because the savings are nice: it is estimated that you save fifty euros a year. You can have LED lights in your home by tomorrow via a webshop, such as bol.com.
5. Fight standby consumption: turn off appliances!
Every household has appliances in the house that also use energy when they are on standby or ‘off’. All those appliances like your television, computer, monitor, DVD player (does anyone still have them?) together consume about 450 kWh of standby energy a year, according to Urgenda. Counter your stealth consumption and switch off these devices properly or even unplug them if you don't use it often. A handy gadget here is a pass-through plug that you place between your appliances and your wall socket. On a pass-through plug is an on/off button. If you make sure that your transit plugs are off every night, you will save around a hundred euros a year. Want to know more about standby consumption? We have written an extensive article on this, including a list of common snipers.
Start saving energy at home today
If you start saving energy in your home today, you'll save a nice penny. Did you do the math? All the saving tips added up, you come to a saving of around 420 euros a year. And since energy prices are only going up, the same savings may well add up to even more in the future. Such a green lifestyle is win-win! Pocket money you can use for other things like a nice getaway. What would you do with this extra pocket money?
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Washing clothes is also an energy-guzzling activity: view all sustainable washing tips here.
- Nice and warm feet while saving energy? Check out our favourite sustainable slippers.
- Saving energy while cooking? Try passive cooking.
Sources: Urgenda. Photo credits main image: George Milton (Pexels), thegreenlist.nl.
