Solar / Dynamo Radio – Image by Striatic
Using less energy in your home doesn’t just help to save the planet – it can help to save you money as well.
Rising fuel prices mean that electricity and gas are becoming more and more expensive, but you can offset this by making more efficient use of energy in your home. In this article, we look at some of the best energy saving gadgets that are currently on the market. Remember, though, that if you buy any particularly expensive energy saving gadgets you should insure them, or you could be left severely out of pocket in the event of a house fire or a burglary. For a broad range of competitive Santander home insurance deals, visit Santander.co.uk.
Standby Savers
With many appliances, such as televisions and laptop computers, putting them on standby mode does not stop them from consuming power. This wasted energy is known as ‘vampire draw’ and accounts for a large proportion of domestic energy wastage. While you can stop this by turning off appliances at the socket whenever they are not in use, this is not always convenient, and requires a degree of vigilance on the part of all the occupants of your property to be effective. You can, however, get special sockets that will turn appliances such as televisions off when you press the power button on your remote, rather than putting them on standby.
Wind Up and Solar Radios
Radios consume a surprisingly small amount of energy when in use, but if you leave them plugged into the mains for long periods of time or use batteries, then they can end up consuming a lot more energy than they really need to. You can get around this problem with a radio that can be powered with solar energy or with a wind up dynamo. You may be surprised to find out just how long a radio will work for after being wound up, and if you leave a solar powered radio in your windowsill, you may never need to connect it to the mains or replace the batteries.
Energy Saving Bulbs
Modern energy saving bulbs such as CFLs (Compact Flourescent Lights) and LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) provide the same amount and quality of light as old fashioned incandescent types, but use a lot less energy. By replacing your old lightbulbs with modern energy saving types, you can save a small fortune in electrical bills. It should be noted that while CFLs are cheap and energy efficient, they contain chemicals that can harm the environment when disposed of in landfill, so if you really want to help the environment, you might want to splash out on the even more energy efficient, longer-lasting, and less enviro-toxic LED lightbulbs that have come onto the market in recent years.
Mon, Oct 10, 2011
Energy Saving