An environmental awareness has come to permeate every aspect of our everyday life, nowhere is it more rightly prominent than in our energy usage. As we power and heat our homes throughout the year, more of us are beginning to pay close attention to our usage and the ways in which we can reduce waste.
Whether our concerns are financial or environmental, the emergence of various technologies has prompted us to ask the question: is technology the answer to our energy saving problems? Here, we look at five gadgets that can have an impact on our energy consumption.
Smart Meters
Smart meters are able to give us an accurate, real time reading of energy consumption within our home. The effect of this is that we can begin to garner a thorough understanding of the way in which what we do affects the price that we pay for our amenities.
As we are able to see the energy usage in our home fluctuate, we can begin to make changes to the end of reducing our consumption. With an accurate reading of the power we use, we are also in a strong position to look into energy comparison in order to cut down our bills.
The use of energy monitors such as this are proven to have impressive results when it comes to saving energy. Figures suggest that adding one of these devices to your home can reduce overall consumption, and energy bills, by as much as 5% – simply by highlighting the areas where you use energy the most.
Standby Buster
It has become fairly common knowledge that the majority of electrical appliances in our home which have a standby setting are responsible for a large proportion of our wasted energy. Fortunately, the standby buster is able to combat the problem by making it easier for us to bring these devices to a standstill in terms of energy consumption. The savings made are considerable, breaking even on the purchase in just a matter of months.
Eco Button
Continuing with the theme of wasted energy being used by appliances, let’s turn to the eco button. The button is a simple and cheap device which switches a computer into energy saving mode at – you guessed it – the touch of a button! Not only will the device save a considerable amount of energy but it will be able to report precisely how much it has saved you with each use.
This is a great addition for any energy-conscious individual – especially when you consider the UK wastes approximately £1 billion on energy by leaving devices on standby.
Energy Saving Light Bulbs
Simple though it may seem, making the switch throughout your home to energy saving light bulbs can actually make a vast difference to the amount of energy you use. While becoming more vigilant when it comes to switching off lights in unused rooms can make a great difference as well, there is no reason for the bulbs you use to draw any more power than is absolutely necessary. Changing just one bulb saves £3 on annual bills with a £55 annual saving available for those replacing all bulbs in their home.
Solar Energy Freeloader
Just as it sounds, this device can use energy from the sun to top up the power on a variety of devices; from iPods to mobile phones. This gadget is cheap and will cut down on the mains electricity you draw in no time at all.
Ben Jones works with Energy Helpline and regularly blogs on saving energy in the home. With Energy Helpline, Ben focuses on cutting the energy bills of businesses across the UK.”