Mobile applications are extremely useful for saving electricity if you use them correctly: to see how much light you consume to program the switching on and off of household appliances. It’s just what I do. And I’ll tell you about my experience.
With the price of electricity constantly fluctuating, and the enormous cost that this entails for a large part of the households, any small gesture which contributes to lowering energy expenditure ends up having an impact on the invoice. I know that’s usually easier said than done, so I’ll give a practical example: mine. I manage all the electricity management from my mobile and I managed to save a lot of electricity at the end of each month.
Knowing your home’s consumption is the first step to saving light
Real-time and monthly cumulative consumption graphs
Knowledge is power, it can be applied to any field. Also electricity: you need to know how much electricity your house consumes as a whole and, above all, each of the electrical devices that you usually plug into the outlets. I count the average cost for each hour, so I know how many kWh I’m going to use if I’m using which device.
The more you know about domestic spending, the closer you will get to reducing consumption; always without reducing the comfort to the extreme. Because it’s basic: You should be comfortable in your home, at least as much as possible.. And depending on your budget, it will unfortunately be the one that will end up setting the limits.
To trace the energy consumption of the accommodation, I recommend that you carry out the following tests:
- Calculate the average consumption of devices that spend the most. The oven, the microwave, the fridge, the heating, the electric radiator… You can use a connected socket with consumption measurement (I recommend it) or access your light meter when you have the devices on.
- Obtain the daily consumption of the meter and identify the times when there is the highest electricity consumption. What were you wearing? Was it essential? Can it do you the same service at a lower power?
- Calculate the consumption of your home at rest. This is important: access the graphs of the meters to know how much consumes the devices which remain on when you sleep or when you are not at home. Reducing this recurring consumption will lower your bill.
- Note the average consumption and reduce the use and power to know how far you can go without losing a minimum of comfort. Can you raise the fridge a few degrees so I spend less? Do you need to have the router on all night?
Once you know how much your home consumes on a recurring basis and how much all the appliances you use regularly cost, Try until you get lower consumption without suffering any discomfort. The mobile is the best tool for this, I use it daily to know how much electricity I am spending and how much I need to plan activities to increase the efficiency of my consumption. This is the key to saving light.
Tailor your lifestyle to how much electricity you use and how much it costs on your bill. The more efficient your spending, the less you will pay
In my case, and given the fact that I have solar panels, I got used to cooking in the periods of greatest luminosity; the electric heater is programmed to heat the water only during the day; the oven, the washing machine and other household appliances with higher consumption I put them at times when electricity is cheaper for me. To do this, I use all the information that mobile applications offer me.
Apps anticipate how much electricity you will use
Centralized management of home automation devices and consumption control
Smart plugs let you know how much light is being consumed; with the possibility of programming its activation and deactivation as needed. It’s very useful for planning consumption since I can automatically disconnect a stove that I have in the office, for example. In addition, They allow me to remotely turn off electrical devices in case I left the house leaving them on: I disconnect them from the application and that’s it. As forgetful as I am, it saves me a lot of trouble.
If you need to renew a device, I recommend looking for an option that includes smart features. In my case, I control the air conditioning / heat pump from my mobile to program it or activate it remotely, also to turn it off: it saves me a lot of electricity to have this command. The same goes for my washing machine, my electric radiator or my heating: manage them from the phone allows you to see the consumption in real time and, by the way, I can anticipate electricity prices. What do I know the next day is very expensive? I can schedule the washing machine when electricity is cheaper, as can the heating.
Consumption in real time and history of the socket to which the fridge is connected
From my mobile I see all the historical consumption, I check the electricity consumption in real time, I see which device is abusing the socket, I can turn on or off what I need and, importantly, all this home automation helps me to prepare my house before my arrival. For example, I can turn on the heat pump an hour before I walk out the door, even if, because of work, I never know what time I will end my day. I make consumption as efficient as possible without losing comfort, that seems to me the most logical thing.
If you plan to buy home automation accessories, try to buy them from the same brand. So you can manage them all from the same application, it’s much more comfortable
Even if I’m a bit fed up with technology, you shouldn’t spend a lot of money on smart sockets, home automation units or “smart” labeled stoves: use the electricity meter installed by your distributor to know in time actual consuming your house as well as historical ones. With some tests and analyzes you will know what spends the most and you will have a basis for knowing how to save. For this, you can use the application of your electricity distributor, you don’t have to buy anything.
Tips to save on the electricity bill
Once you’ve seen how I should view electricity usage and manage all appliances, I’ll give you some tips you can put into practice to save on your bill. I know many are platitudes, but I can assure you that they work. And remember: reducing light consumption must not lead to a loss of comfort.
- Try to turn on the devices that consume the most at the cheapest times. Avoid peak hours if you have a PVPC rate or consult your contract if you are in the open market.
- Reduce the power of household appliances as much as possible. The refrigerator is a good example: just by raising the refrigerator by one or two degrees, and the freezer by three or four degrees, you manage to save a lot of light. Obviously, you need to maintain the correct temperature to preserve food.
- Switch off as much as possible when sleeping or away from home. Leaving aside the basic devices, such as the fridge, you can remove the router, everything related to multimedia (TV, console…) and so on with the rest of the devices that are not essential. Programmable sockets are very useful at this stage.
- Anticipate your activities at the price of electricity. Putting the oven on during peak hours only makes sense if it is essential. You can plan the hours to cook on the weekend for example: you will save time from Monday to Friday and also a lot of electricity.
