How To Be Greener With Your Electricals!

You might decide to go greener to help the environment, to save money, or simply see how easy it is – but every step you take towards being greener is one that helps the environment around us.

Today, we see industries adapting to being greener by switching to more eco-friendly or recyclable materials and resources. The changes in manufacturing methods and processes that produce Co2 emissions also help the environment on a greater scale. We also see many companies who pledge to be Net Zero in the near future, and some already are – which means they add no more greenhouse gases to the Earth’s atmosphere than the amount they take out.

We should all play a part in helping preserve our planet’s resources and some of these practices start at home. There are many simple habits we can adopt that require minimal effort. So, here are a few tips on how you can be greener with electricals in your home!

Be Greener: Unplug Appliances

Many of us leave appliances like TV’s, phone chargers and gaming devices plugged in even when they’re not in use! But, leaving devices plugged in, can still draw up electricity through the circuit.

The electricity wasted adds up significantly when we take into account how many appliances we use across our kitchen, bedrooms and lounge. By simply unplugging a device from the mains, you can cut down on wasted power and save on your energy bills.

Top tip: investing in a power strip that has multiple switches will allow you to disconnect individual devices when you’re not using them.

Switch Lights OFF

Another common habit many of us are guilty of is forgetting to turn off lights. Often, at night-time or during bright daytime hours – when we don’t necessarily need them.

Turning off lights in your home can reduce the use of non-renewable energy resources, carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases that affect our planet.

Here are a few easy habits you can adopt:

• Check around your house before going out to make sure all unnecessary lights or appliances are switched off
• Don’t leave lights on overnight when you are sleeping – if you need a lamp, consider purchasing a LED night light
• During the day, keep blinds or curtains open and rely on natural light

Invest in LED Bulbs

Making the swap to energy-saving bulbs is a green choice to make. LED bulbs are more energy efficient as they use 75% less electricity than incandescent bulbs. They’re much brighter, last longer and are overall better for the environment!

Furthermore, you might choose to invest in an LED dimmer switch so that can lower the brightness when required, and use less energy whenever u do!

Set a sleep timer on your devices

Ever fallen asleep whilst watching a film and left the TV on? Well, this can consume unnecessary power!

Most devices allow you to set a sleep timer to avoid this happening. Utilizing the sleep timer on your devices can help limit unnecessary usage – so next time you fall asleep mid-movie, your TV will turn itself off and inevitably save energy!

Be Greener: Get a Smart Meter

Energy providers in the UK aim to install smart or advanced meters in all homes by 2025. Smart meters give you a breakdown of how much gas and electricity you are using in the home in £ and kWh. They also save you submitting regular readings to your energy provider by automatically taking them for you.

Having a smart meter installed can show you which devices are consuming the most energy in real-time. In turn, you’ll know which devices cost more to run and make better decisions on how you use energy around your home.

Our wasteful use of energy resources has led to vast mining, burning of fossil fuels, and extracting materials from the planet to meet our demands. Overall, our actions lead to ecosystems and habitats being impacted – which is a major contributor to the climate change crisis.
If we become warier about how we use electricity, we help conserve the natural resources available to us & reduce our carbon footprint.

If you have any tips on how to be ‘greener’ with your electricals, we would love to hear them in the comment section below!