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<< continued from tips to conserve energy & save money

Energy can be conserved in day-to-day life by making small and simple changes in the way we use devices. Here are a few tips that can help achieve results, without compromising on your lifestyle.

Heating and cooling systems

1. Use a ceiling fan or table fan rather than an air-conditioner wherever possible since it costs you close to 30 paisa an hour to operate against Rs. 10 for an airconditioner.
2. Set the temperature of the air-conditioner to 25 degrees centigrade since 3-5 % of energy is consumed to reduce the temperature by one degree.
3. Use the timer facility of air-conditioner and leave the unit off for some time since a good air-conditioner shall require only half an hour to dehumidify and the cool the room.
4. Clean the filter of the air-conditioner regularly to reduce consumption of energy.
5. If the air conditioner is old then cost of replacing the unit might work out cheaper than repairing and maintaining the old unit.
6. While buying new electrical equipment, opt for the highest star rated energy saving device.
7. Reduce the temperature setting of water heaters from 60 degrees centigrade to 50 degrees. You can save 15-20% of energy required to heat the water at high temperature.
8. Insulate the pipes of water heaters to minimize the loss of heat especially when the pipe is running through unheated areas.
9. As a long-term solution and future investment use solar water heating systems rather than conventional water heaters.

Cooking systems

1. Refrigerators should be placed away from sources of heat, including direct sunlight, radiators, and appliances such as the oven and cooking range.
2. Refrigerator motors and compressors generate heat. Hence allow enough space for continuous airflow in and around refrigerator to make it more efficient.
3. Do not stack the refrigerator full; keep some free area inside for air circulation.
4. Allow hot and warm food to cool down before putting it in refrigerator. Also cover food items.
5. Use the microwave oven, which consumes close to 50% less energy as compared to a regular oven, especially if the quantity of food is less.

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You must have glass at one point or other in your daily life. Glass comes in many shaoes, sizes, colours, and textures. Types of glass that can be used in a home are many. You can use glass to enhance the beauty of your home. Check out their suitability for any purpose.

• Ordinary or sheet glass is made by passing molten glass through rollers. It can be used in windows but does have visual distortions.
• Float or plate glass is ‘floated’ onto a bed of molten tin - this produces a glass that is distortion free. This is specially used for fixed and opening windows above waist height.
• Float glass with a special thermal coating allows the sun’s energy to pass in one direction. The special coating often gives a very slight brown or grey tint to the glass.
• Toughened glass or safety glass is produced by applying a special treatment to ordinary float glass after it has been cut to size and finished. It breaks into small pieces without sharp edges. Ideal for glazed doors, low level windows and for tabletops for cooking.
• Laminated glass is made up of a sandwich of two plus sheets of glass bonded by a flexible, transparent material. If the glass breaks the fragments are held in place.
• Wired glass incorporates a wire mesh in the middle of the glass that tends to hold the glass together. Wired glass is generally not considered a safety glass as the glass still breaks with sharp edges.

At a time when recession and economic downturn is affecting every aspect of life we need to treat this as an opportunity to realign ourselves and rethink what best we can do to conserve more resources. Energy is also such a tangible resource, in short supply; every unit saved can be helpful to light villages in and around our cities and reduce power outages.

All of us should take at least a few small steps to conserve energy, which will help us, and the nation, in the long run. Energy can be conserved in day-to-day life by making small and simple changes in the way we use devices. Here are a few tips that can help achieve results, without compromising on your lifestyle…

Lighting Systems

1. The elementary way of conserving energy is through light switches. Turn off lights when not required.
2. Maximise the use of automatic devices that help in saving energy. These include infrared sensors, motion sensors, automatic timers, dimmers or solar cells wherever applicable to switch off lighting when not required.
3. Use appropriate light fittings as close to the place that requires lighting e.g. a reading lamp focuses light on the desk and is hence the best option, as compared to illuminating the entire room which might require higher wattage of lighting.
4. Clean light bulbs and tubes for dust accumulation, since dirty lamps can absorb up to 50% of the light.
5. Replace your inefficient incandescent lamp with compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) which use up to 75% less energy than conventional light bulbs.
6. Unplug all the electrical devices when not in use since it keeps drawing residual current.
7. Make a futuristic investment in solar lighting systems, which do not have recurring cost of energy consumption.

Computers

1. Turn off office equipment when not in use. If your computer must be left on then at least switch off the monitor since it consumes almost half of the energy required by the system.
2. Set computers, monitors, copiers in sleep mode when not in use which can help cut your energy consumption by almost 40%.
3. Battery chargers such as for those equipment like the laptop, cell phone and digital cameras draw power whenever they are plugged in also they are quite inefficient devices. Hence pull off the plug when not in use and save the energy.

More tips to conserve energy in your own home >>

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Updated: July 6, 2009