With the recent 6.9% increase in electricity bills, it’s the best time to consider how you can battle your rising utility costs.
17 August 2018
Text by Redzman Rahmat
Renovating and furnishing your home can leave a huge dent in your bank account, so it’s now time to save and recuperate your finances. The last thing you want is to spend even more on your monthly utility bills. Here are several small yet impactful lifestyle changes that can go a long way in helping you save money.
Tip 1: Get the right window coverings and insulation
Design by D.D.I
Blasting your air-conditioner at home seems like a necessity in Singapore’s tropical climate, but we all know how this can drastically affect your electricity bill. Help your air-con work smarter (not harder) by naturally bringing down the temperature in your home. If it’s a hot and sunny day outside, cover your windows with thick, insulating curtains. This prevents the heat from the outside entering your home, even through the closed windows. Another way to ensure that cold air stays in your room is to completely seal the room. Make sure that cold air doesn’t escape by sealing off your doors and windows.
It’s also important you regularly maintain your air-conditioning. Without proper maintenance, it’s safe to say that your air-con might have to chug more electricity in order to keep your home cool. Investing in air-conditioning systems with inverter technology will also cut down on your utility bills in the long run.
Tip 2: Check your refrigerator
Design by Linear Space Concepts
Refrigerators are one of the biggest electricity hogs in the home. It runs 24-hours a day and constantly uses energy to keep your food fresh. To keep its contents at a consistent level of coldness, the fridge checks the temperature and adjusts accordingly.
With that in mind, make sure that the fridge door is properly closed and there are no leaks in the seals. This ensures that cold air won’t escape, and the temperature inside can be as consistent as possible. An energy-efficient model with inverter technology will also help in energy savings.
Tip 3: Monitor your laundry habits
Another energy hogger is the washing machine, which is a must-have in all households. You use it at least once a week, and for bigger households, multiple times a week. A single full wash cycle requires a lot of electricity, so you can only imagine the impact it will make on your utility bill each month.
Try to minimise the amount of washing you do, and keep in mind that doing a full load uses less energy than doing multiple half loads. You might also want to invest in washing machines with inverter technology, or a front-load washing machine (they use less water and energy per wash).Washing machines with LG Inverter technology, for example, perform a full wash cycle on a mere 67Wh of power. This is 35 per cent less energy than a conventional LG washer, and the same amount of electricity required to run a hair dryer for just four minutes.
Tip 4: Turn off the power socket
Despite popular belief, turning off your electronics like the television and audio equipment doesn’t mean that it stops using electricity. Even on standby mode, electronics still tap into the power grid. You might think that it’s just a minute amount, but you might be surprised to learn that it adds up to make quite an impact on your monthly bills. Even smaller appliances and electronics like the microwave oven and internet router can become major contributors to a hefty utility bill in the long run.
The best way to ensure that there’s no leakage in power usage is to switch off the power at its source. This means to turn off the switch at the power socket itself. You can save up to $25 in a year!
Tip 5: Cool your home with a fan
Image courtesy of Mesh Work Studio
We can’t blame you if you sleep with the air-con running throughout the night. But think of all the energy you will save if you turn it off once the room is cool and comfortable. Instead, switch to a fan after a short while, allowing the cool air to circulate around the room.
Many households have realised that installing both an air-conditioning unit and a ceiling fan helps to cut down on their monthly power usage.
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