Top ten energy guzzlers in the house: this is how you find energy-efficient alternatives
With some energy providers you already have to tap off almost a euro per kilowatt hour. As with many things, 80% of electricity use is caused by 20% of the appliances you have. So if you provide more economical alternatives for these devices, you can significantly reduce your energy bill. Good news: those alternatives exist. We’re going down the list now.
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patio heater
The patio heater is probably the biggest energy guzzler in a modern household. Especially when the temperatures drop in the evening, these are popular to be able to sit outside a little longer. The main problem with patio heaters is that they use an awful lot of electricity or gas. Then you should quickly think of 2 kWh, or a liter of propane gas per hour. An expensive joke of course and it is not very nice for the climate either. So do you have a patio heater? Consider a cheaper alternative such as putting on warm clothes, a crackling fire or an infrared panel.
Tumble dryer
Another appliance that you can best quickly put on Marktplaats is the tumble dryer. The evaporation of water is one of the most energy-consuming processes we know. You need half a kilowatt hour to evaporate a liter of water. To make matters worse, the molds in the house are also very happy with all that water vapor in the air that the dryer emits. That is why it is better to hang your laundry on the clothesline outside. That saves you a few kilowatt hours and therefore a few euros per wash.
plasma television
You should also take a critical look at large televisions. The larger the display, the more electricity it uses. It is often smarter to move the screen closer to your eyes and then opt for a higher resolution. Do you still use an old plasma display? Save the 490 kilowatt hours that it costs you per year. Then put it in the attic and opt for an energy-efficient LCD or OLED variant. That saves two-thirds or more of the power.
Electric heaters
Electric heaters are also notorious. Many models use 2000 watts or more. An evening on this heater can easily cost you a tenner. Sin of course. It is then smarter to put on warm clothes and/or buy an infrared panel. Then you achieve the same effect with much less electricity.
Old fridge or freezer
Other big energy guzzlers are old-fashioned refrigerators and freezers. For the five hundred kilowatt-hours that these consume per year, you can buy a new, energy-efficient refrigerator that you can remove in one year. So it’s best to get rid of that old refrigerator quickly and replace it with an economical modern model. Place your refrigerator in a cool area. The cooler the environment, the less hard it has to work.
Electric boiler
Do you have an electric boiler? Then consider a solar water heater. Heating water costs a lot of electricity, from 12 to 62 degrees per liter, converted 0.2 kilowatt-hours. For example, your washing up will soon cost a euro, and let’s stop talking about a shower. then you can quickly tick off a tenner for it. This can be done in a smarter way, namely with a solar water heater. A large solar water heater can save you up to two thirds or more in energy.
Garden pond pump and tropical aquarium
Do you have a garden pond pump? Then switch it on as little as possible. If you leave this pump on continuously, those 20 watts to 200 watts of power will add up quite a bit. On an annual basis, you can easily think of 180 kilowatt hours to 1800 kWh, in the latter case almost a monthly salary.
A heated tropical aquarium also cuts down considerably. A large tropical aquarium easily consumes 1000 kilowatt hours per year. then see if it is possible to lower the water temperature to room temperature. The advantage is that cold water can absorb much more oxygen and therefore that the pump also has to work less hard. But beware, some tropical fish species need a high temperature.
waterbed
A waterbed is often the largest energy guzzler in the house. Then you should think about 750 kWh per year. That, of course, hits hard. It is wiser to choose a different type of bed.
Underfloor heating
Do you have underfloor heating? Then check whether there is a pump switch between the pump and the socket. With this switch you can switch off the pump when you do not need heating. That makes a huge difference in energy consumption: compare 700 kWh with 130 kWh. That is almost €500 per year.
sneak consumers
A general tip is to pay attention to standby consumption. This is often 10-20% of all power consumption. Plug all your electrical appliances into power strips and unplug them when you leave the house or room.
Buy an energy meter
With an energy meter you can measure how much energy it consumes from any device with a plug. An investment that you get out of it quickly. If you discover the biggest energy guzzlers in this way and opt for smarter alternatives, there is a good chance that your power consumption will be reduced by more than half. And that makes the energy bill a little more bearable.
A handy list of appliances with their energy consumption can be found here. Don’t mind the kWh prices! These are unfortunately still from the good old days. In reality, you can equate a kWh to seventy cents to a euro, so the costs are three times higher.
