Energy Conservation In Domestic Sector
Introduction
There are lots of sources of energy around the world. Some of them are natural, renewable, and non-renewable. Fossil fuels are the major source of energy and they are limited. Hence it is very necessary to prevent wastage of energy and make efforts for its conservation. The government of India considers the energy sector to be a major constraint in the achievement of GDP (Gross domestic product). The use of naturally helpful product could reduce energy consumption significantly.
Electricity Conservation
Lighting
The technology of electricity is grown up by leaps and bounds. We already have found various source of electricity. Electricity guzzling ordinary bulbs or incandescent lamps generates low lumen per watt. This means it has lower efficacy and it is very warm source of light, hence the room needs to cool and its energy is inefficient. Instead of this we can use LED bulbs to conserve energy more. Fluorescent tube lights or LED bulbs are 5 times more efficiently than ordinary bulbs and thus save of electricity for the same lighting levels. Bulbs and tube lights should not use during the day. In galleries, lobbies, balconies we should use dim lights. We can also use sunlight provided lamps. It’s really helpful to nature and also save electric energy.
Cooling
Large amount of energy is wastage in cooling. We can reduce it by planting trees around our houses and make greenery to everywhere. It helps to maintain the air clean and cool. We should open windows and doors at night to allow cool air inside. An evaporative cooler should be installed use room air conditioning only where needed and install energy efficient models cooling in air-conditioned houses should be maintained at 25 degree F. If room air conditioner is older and needs repair, it’s likely to be very inefficient. Thus we should clean the air conditioner filter every month. A good air conditioner will cool the entire room in about in 30 minutes, so we should use a timer and leave the unit off for some time. It helps to conserve energy more.
Washing Machine
Washing machine consume 20% of the electricity. 90% of machine’s energy is use to heat the water. Hence using cold water will save energy. Somehow we should know that the machine should not be overloaded. Otherwise it doesn’t work properly and consume more energy. Detergent usage should be optimal as more usage will need more energy. We can use the sunlight to dry cloths. In this way we can save more energy.
Refrigerators
Now-a-days use of refrigerators is a common thing among the people. Cooling of water is none a big deal. It is good, but it is bad too as it is consume about 25% of electric energy. We make sure that refrigerator is kept away from all sources of heat, including direct sunlight. A full refrigerator is a fine thing, but be sure to allow adequate air circulation inside. When dust builds up on refrigerator’s condenser coils, the motor works harder and uses more electricity. We should clean the coils regularly to make sure that air can circulate freely. We should allow hot and warm foods to cool and cover them well before putting them in refrigerator, then it will use less energy and condensation will reduced.
Electric Kettles
Electric kettles are helpful to energy conservation, as it is conserve energy by saving electric energy. It consumes less energy than others. Usually we use gas cylinder to heat water, but in this case electric kettles take less time to heat water. When buying a new electric kettle we should choose one that has an automatic shut-off button and a heat –resistant handle. Use an electric kettle to heat water. It’s more energy efficient than using an electric cook top element. We should regularly clean our electric kettle by combining boiling water and vinegar to remove mineral deposits. Don’t overfill the kettle for just one drink. We should heat only the amount of water we need.
LPG
LPG is one of the energy consumer. But we should use a small gas burner, because a small burner consumes 6% to 10% less gas than big burner. We can save energy by reduce the flame when boiling starts, using optimum quantity of water for cooking, using lids to cover the pans while cooking. We should bring items from refrigerators to room temperature before placing on the gas stove for heating. Yellowish flame is an indicator that the burner needs cleaning. CNG is far better than LPG as it is very helpful to nature. In urban areas, there is pipe line CNG is distributed among the peoples.
Computers
Computers are great invention of the era. But it also consumes energy. We can reduce it by use it properly. A computer that runs 24 hours a day for instance uses more power than an energy-efficient refrigerator. We should turn off our computers when it is not in use. Setting monitors and screen in sleep mood when not in use helps energy costs by up to 60%. In fact shutting down of computer saves energy too. Now a day’s laptops, desktops are really helpful. It takes less energy while charging and saves energy too.
Microwaves
Microwaves save energy by reducing cooking time than the regular ovens, while it comes to small quantities of food. On the other hand we should keep in mind that it must be use very carefully. Put the plug off after cooking.
Televisions
Televisions are energy consumer. We should turn our TV off when no one watching it. We can use an energy saving power board to make sure that the TV doesn’t use electricity when it’s turn off. We should turn the brightness down and make sure that the TV has a power saving mood. In this way we can reduce our energy bills. On the other hand LCD TVs use less power than older and plasma TVs. It has many benefits as well such as light weight design, increased contrast, sharper image resolution and large screen size. LCD TVs can help us by saving our electricity up to 50% than any other TVs. Also the price tag that comes with the savings is slightly higher than the 2 other types. LED TVs are the most energy efficient than other TVs, and use less power than LCD and plasma TVs. That’s why we should check the better quality when it comes to energy conservation.
Conclusion
Energy saved is energy produced. Therefore, substantial energy savings can be achieved through energy conservation measures. Energy savings can be considered as additional source of energy. This will also help in reduction of environmental pollution. Energy efficiency is the goal of efforts to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services. Plenty of opportunities exist for energy conservation at the level of end use, supply of energy and structural improvements. The problem of energy conservation can be best tackled by study of suitable measures in various sectors of energy consumption.
