Have your electricity bills skyrocketed lately?
This is unfortunately the case for many French households.
That said, I still have some good news for you.
Even though electricity is becoming more and more expensive, saving this energy is much easier than it seems!
Do you know why?
Because we all have a lot of bad habits that directly impact the amount of our bill.
Device on standby, phone charging all night, heating misused... all of this costs us money.
By modifying some of these practices, the cost of the invoice is greatly reduced.
In any case me, these gestures made me save 145€ over the year!
Discover 17 bad habits that are causing your electricity bills to skyrocket. Watch:
When you open the hot water tap, it always takes a while to come.
So we've already finished washing our hands before the hot water hits.
So, explain to me what is the point of switching on the boiler under these conditions?!
Apart from spending electricity, I don't see...
Therefore always position the mixer tap on the cold water side.
This prevents the boiler from turning on for nothing or using the hot water tank.
Don't believe that washing clothes at 60° makes them much cleaner!
In reality, there are almost no differences with lower temperatures.
Indeed, today's detergents do the job perfectly from 30 or 40°C.
Washing clothes at these temperatures saves you electricity consumption and therefore your bill.
This is especially true if you are a large family.
Don't forget that washing clothes at high temperatures wears the material down a lot.
As a result, clothes wear out faster and you have to buy new ones more often.
What is the relationship between ventilating your interior and saving electricity?
I'll explain.
When your house is not ventilated, the ambient air in the rooms is less healthy and above all full of humidity.
Consequence?
A humid room, it definitely takes longer to heat it up!
We have to put the heating on longer and louder, which obviously costs more.
To avoid this phenomenon, ventilate your rooms for at least 10 minutes every day.
Just remember to turn off the heating while the windows are open.
When you get home and it's cold, do you turn up the heat to get warm quickly?
And instead of turning off the heating when you go out, you leave it on?
Well there is nothing worse than these 2 bad habits!
They make your electricity consumption explode!
In the 1st case, your heating is working too hard to raise the temperature quickly.
In the 2nd case, you are heating an empty house...
The solution?
Well, invest in a simple programmable room thermostat.
It raises the temperature before your arrival and lowers the heating when you go out.
You should know that there are also smart thermostats.
They allow you to save energy by adapting to your lifestyle.
For example, this type of thermostat detects if no one is home and adjusts the heating accordingly.
Same if a window is open.
An alert is sent to you via an application on your smartphone to tell you to turn down the heating.
Heating an apartment or a house, especially in winter, is expensive, very expensive.
So, let's do it smartly by adapting the temperature according to the room.
For example, there is no point in putting excessive heat in the rooms. It is very bad for your sleep.
A temperature of 17 degrees is also recommended for better sleep.
As for the living room, a temperature of 19 degrees is sufficient.
Adapting your rooms to these temperatures saves you a lot!
Washing machine, dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, iron...
If possible, run these power-hungry appliances during what are called off-peak hours.
Do you know what it is?
These are time slots where the cost per kWh is much cheaper there.
Take an example.
Using your washing machine at normal time costs on average €0.18 per kWh.
Used in off-peak hours, the cost is €0.13 per kWh!
To apply this system, it is best to call your supplier directly (EDF...) and see with him what is possible.
You can also click on this link to see what are the off-peak hours in your city.
This is undoubtedly one of the most widespread bad habits.
Come on let's be frank.
We leave most devices on standby, because we never take the time to turn them off one by one.
However, there is a very simple way not to take the lead.
Simply invest in a power strip with switch !
For example, connect all the wires that work with the TV to the power strip.
With a flick of the switch in the evening before bed, everything turns off. We explain all that in this tip.
Be especially careful to unplug these 14 devices that consume the most electricity while on standby.
Another great classic of bad habits when it comes to electricity consumption.
That of leaving the phone, laptop or other chargers plugged in all the time.
And yes, even if your phone is no longer at the end of the socket,the charger continues to consume energy!
So, once the phone is charged, remember to unplug it or press the power strip button.
Same for other mobile devices (tablet, laptop, mac...).
Those of you who recharge their cell phone just before going to sleep, raise your hands.
That's what I thought!
Well I inform you that it's one more bad habit...
Indeed, it is better to recharge our laptop when we come back from work or in the morning before leaving.
Do you know why?
Because even if the phone is charged, it continues to consume electricity.
Ah yes, to recharge it faster, check out this trick.
If there's one device that we never think to unplug, it's our Internet boxes.
And yet, it costs you at least 30€ per year of electricity consumption!
Or 1 month package.
To save this amount, you have several solutions:
- Either you plug it into our famous power strip to cut off the power when not in use.
- Either you program it to turn off at specific times (depending on the model).
- Either you plug it into a timer socket like this one.
Not sure how this type of plug works? Then take a look here.
I'll give you a pretty staggering stat.
Closing the shutters can reduce heat loss in your home by almost 15%!
Indeed, this simple habit allows you to better keep warm in winter and cool in summer.
This reduces heating needs, but also air conditioning.
So when night comes, close the shutters well; it's safer and saves money.
I will even tell you that as soon as you are away or even during the day, do not hesitate to close them.
When we do housework, we rarely remove the dust that settles on the bulbs.
Well that's a mistake!
Because a dirty and dusty bulb gives less brightness.
We have to turn on other points of light to get good lighting, which by definition costs more.
So from now on when you do your housework, remember to clean them.
A simple wipe of the cloth is enough.
In the same spirit as for light bulbs, dusting off your radiators allows you to consume less heating.
And yes, if your radiator is clogged and dusty, it diffuses heat less well.
A good vacuum cleaner gets rid of this dust.
At worst, once a year, dismantle the radiator and remove all the clumps of dust behind it.
You will be surprised at what you will find...
You should know that the dirtier the dishes, the more efficient the dishwasher.
Dishwasher tablets can indeed cling better and therefore clean better.
Rinsing the dishes before putting in the machine is therefore unnecessary.
It makes you waste liters of water, electricity and time.
A very simple and easy to put in place trick.
Always put a lid on the pan when boiling water.
That way, the water comes to a boil much faster which saves on gas or electricity.
And then, if you don't know how to boil water quickly, check out this trick.
Old incandescent bulbs make you consume much more than new technology such as LEDs.
So if you haven't already done so, buy this type of bulb very quickly and replace the old ones.
It is estimated that lighting still represents around 10% of the overall electricity bill!
It is therefore not to be taken lightly.
And speaking of lighting, also be careful not to leave the lights on when you're not there.
Freezers, especially older ones, have a tendency to create a lot of frost.
After a few months, this compartment is sometimes even full of them.
It's neither good for your device (it wears it out) and especially not good for your electricity bill.
Because of the frost, the freezer needs more energy to produce cold.
To avoid this phenomenon, simply apply this very simple and effective trick.
And then, to prevent frost from setting in, also check out this awesome trick.
If you are used to drying your clothes on the radiator, stop this very bad practice immediately!
It only brings inconvenience.
For one thing, drying wet clothes on it makes the air humid.
And as I told you above, humid ambient air is much more difficult to heat.
Then, putting clothes on the radiator prevents the heat from spreading properly.
Suddenly you are cold and therefore you make the boiler work harder.
In either case, it is expensive in terms of electricity...
If you want to dry your clothes faster, use these tricks instead.
A dish that is still hot or lukewarm, we say to ourselves that it does not hurt to put it in the fridge...
Either way, it will cool quickly.
Well, think again! It is very bad for the operation of your device.
For tens of minutes, the fridge forces to maintain the temperature.
So inevitably, it costs you a lot more in electricity.
Having the windows open when the air conditioning is on is in itself ecological nonsense.
But besides, I'm not telling you what it costs you!
During hot weather, having the air conditioning and the windows open does not mean it is cooler.
And then know one thing.
You can largely do without air conditioning in summer by using these brilliant tips.
And even on hot nights, air conditioning is really not necessary.
