Energy saving: reduce your electricity bill

The energy consumption in the home depends on many factors. From the use of appliances to the simplest light bulb, everything influences. However, to what extent do we know what makes us spend more on our electricity bill? If we mention that traditional air conditioning systems - such as air conditioning and heating - generate the highest costs in a household, surely no one is surprised. But to achieve true energy savings we must take into account many factors and conditions at home.

Of course, a large part of the actions we can take in the home to reduce the electricity bill are aimed at rationalizing how we heat our homes in winter and cool them in summer. And we can say that the myth that we need to spend more to have good thermal comfort indoors is not real. The key is in economizing and rationalizing consumption.

Before telling you what you can implement in your home to cut the electricity bill with a few reforms, what you can do right now is start to have habits of energy saving such as the following tips:

• Opt for even lower consumption light bulbs. Very few people still use traditional light bulbs at home, so this advice wants to go a little further. Nowadays there are LED bulbs and other solutions that consume less. What we recommend is that you check the consumption of the bulb and buy those that provide enough light with the least expense. One detail: those that are spiral-shaped usually provide better light and last longer.
• Always take advantage of natural light. Although LED bulbs consume very little, if you leave them on all day, they will ultimately reflect on your electricity bill. Try to maximize consumption by taking advantage of natural light. In Spain, especially in summer, we have extremely sunny days, so open the windows and do not use electric light more than necessary.
• In Spain, there is a Valley period, which means that electricity is cheaper during mornings and nights. Rationalize your consumption based on this, for example, by washing clothes in the washing machine during the morning and using the dishwasher at night since both appliances consume a lot.
• The kitchen is very important. If you cover pots and pans while cooking, you will significantly reduce cooking time, which not only gives us time for what really matters but translates into lower energy consumption. On the other hand, try to turn off your electric stove or cooktop five minutes before finishing cooking, as you can finish with residual heat.
• The iron also consumes a good amount of energy, so to have a good energy saving, it is highly recommended that you do your ironing at night and do all the clothes in one go, not on different occasions. The refrigerator and freezer are also very important; they should be open for the minimum time.
• Do not leave your electrical devices on stand-by if you are not using them. Do you know how much a gaming console can spend if we leave it suspended for a whole year? More than a hundred euros.

Energy savings with better air conditioning

The first recommendation would be to maintain a good temperature in winter and summer without wanting to invest the natural. This is, in winter we cannot be at home in short sleeves nor feel cold in summer. The ideal temperature in winter should be around 21°C and in summer 26°C.

However, to achieve true energy savings, we must eliminate traditional air conditioning devices. For this, the best thing is to renovate the home to be reinforced with thermal insulation and also install mechanical ventilation systems.

Thanks to thermal insulation, we prevent cold and heat from filtering into the house. Our rooms maintain the ambient temperature without needing to use air conditioning devices. Mechanical ventilation is responsible for airing the spaces, so the air that is breathed is always healthy. Also, it can incorporate heat recovery units so that we can often do without heating and air conditioning devices. Thanks to this, we can achieve much more efficient energy savings.