Energy Tips

Handy Hints for Home Energy

SmartNow provides you with a range of energy monitoring solutions so that you can understand your own energy behaviour to save money and save energy.

We’ve compiled some general pointers to get you started on eliminating electricity waste at home

Goodbye to Standby:

Switch appliances off at the wall and avoid leaving them in standby or idle mode. Do not leave games consoles on when not in use. Certain games consoles can cost over $300 a year to run even when they're not being used.

Lights:

Switch off unused lights, lighting accounts for at least 10% of a household power bill. Change to energy efficient lighting – it could cut your lighting costs by as much as 80%.

Heating/Cooling:

• Keep windows shaded.
• Electric hot water systems are expensive to run and emissions intensive. Reduce the amount of water heating necessary by taking shorter showers and using cold water in the washing machine.
• Improving insulation and draught-proofing can help to keep out winter chills.
• When boiling the kettle, only heat the amount of water that you need.
• Ensure that your fridge is not located near to a heat source such as an oven or direct sunlight and never put warm food inside. Regularly defrost your fridge and freezer and try to have the door open as little as possible.

Appliances:

• When using the washing machine avoid wastage by ensuring you use a full load instead of doing lots of small loads.
• Dry your clothes outside or on a clothes horse to avoid using the tumble dryer. If you have to use it then reduce running time by ensuring the clothes are as dry as possible before beginning.
• When chargers are not in use make sure they are switched off at the wall and/or unplugged.

There are many other things to incorporate when we are considering our ecological footprint as a whole including:

Transport:

• Driving: consider public transport or car-pooling to reduce the number of cars on the road. Check your car tyres are correctly inflated to save money on fuel and maintenance and reduce emissions.
• Air: air travel is highly emissions intensive.

Food:

• Waste not want not: Food production requires water and energy to occur and that which we do not eat creates waste and wastes money. Only buy what you know you will eat. Processed food requires more energy to produce than fresh food – and fresh food is healthier for you!
• Seasonal: Food that is not in season will have to be transported from its place of origin so eating seasonal foods can help decrease emissions created by food transportation.

Packaging:

• using our own shopping bags decreases the amount of plastic bags that we use. Avoid products that use excess packaging.

Remember: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Note: Efficient, responsible use of electricity is a very effective way of decreasing the environmental impact of our actions. Another way is to use energy produced from renewable sources.

It is important to note here that energy efficiency should merely begin at home. It is essential that we apply these simple efficient actions to all aspects of our life – at home and at work, in order to promote efficiency and make a positive impact on the community.

Making the Most of your SmartNow Energy Monitoring Solution

Your SmartNow energy monitoring solution shows you how much energy you’re using right now. The Current Cost real-time energy monitors (the ENVI and the TREC) show you how much your electricity use is going to cost every day and every month, unless you alter your behaviour. It can’t save you money on its own but it can help you change your habits.

 

Check your display regularly, before you go to bed, before you leave the house. How much will you be spending while you are away from home, or asleep? What can you save by switching off? You may be surprised how much energy your home is consuming even when you are not actively using an appliance.

 

With Current Cost devices, our energy monitoring solutions demonstrate how much your energy costs you so that you can eliminate wastage. We do not want you to stop using your energy, we wish to highlight energy wastage to save you money and have a positive environmental impact.