If, like most people, you think it’s time to start assessing just where all your money on electricity is going, it may be time for you to invest in an electricity monitor. While this in itself won’t save you money, it will show you exactly where the majority of your electricity bills are coming from, enabling you to make changes that could cut your energy bills dramatically.
There are a variety of energy monitors available so you will need to search around to find the best home energy monitor for you; some will be much more hi-tech than others, offering longer histories and more data storage. Do your homework when choosing one of these as you will need to shop around, read reviews and so on. Prices will also vary, with your basic energy monitor starting at around £20 with some going up to over £100. View a full range of Energy Monitors from Amazon here
Once you have your energy monitor up and running in your home, it’s now time to start thinking about how you’re going to analyse the information it gives you. Have a good read of the instructions and get to know how the monitor works so you will be able to really get the bottom of your electricity bills.
Identifying the energy sapping appliances.
One great way to start looking at which appliances in your home are using the most energy is to turn as much as you can off in your house; this will enable you to get the monitor reading as low as you can. Then, one by one, you can start turning things back on again, all the while watching the monitor for any significant increases.
While this may seem quite time consuming it is one of the best ways to truly establish just which appliances in your home you could use less of to cut your energy bills. It will also show you just how much you could save by just turning that landing light off over night instead of leaving it on!
Certain electricity monitors will help you begin this investigation with more ease than others; some are battery powered with display units that allow you to carry it around your home whilst making the investigation while others will need plugging into every room you are investigating in as they are mains-powered.
Breaking energy habits of a lifetime.
Now, you know exactly where your energy is going, so it’s time to make some simple changes around the home. Even though you may be shocked to see how much energy some of your appliances are using, you don’t necessarily need to cut down their usage but look to where energy is just simply being wasted.
For example, televisions being left on standby, lights being left on, not using energy efficient bulbs and so on.
It’s also a good idea to make sure everyone in your home gets involved in saving energy too, because as much effort as you put in, there may always be that person spending far too long in the shower or leaving lights on during the day. If you can explain the energy monitor to them and how they can save energy, they should be keen to help reduce their energy usage as well.
You can also purchase energy monitors give you certain daily targets
