With the onset of summer, overall electricity consumption spikes, leading to higher bills that worry many people. Consuming electricity wisely is an easy and effective way to reduce your bill. For instance, avoid opening the refrigerator door too frequently, as every time you open it, cold air escapes, causing the refrigerator to consume more energy to cool the food inside again. Similarly, ensure that the door to your air-conditioned room is not left ajar, as unnecessary openings lead to increased electricity usage.
Leaving lights and other appliances on when they are not needed also wastes electricity and raises your bill. Be diligent about turning off lights and appliances when they are not in use.
Adopting some simple techniques and practices can help you save a significant amount of money. This includes using energy-efficient appliances and lighting, such as LED bulbs, and more energy-efficient devices. Utilise natural ventilation techniques, such as opening windows during cooler times of the day, using ceiling fans to circulate air, and incorporating more greenery and landscaping around the building to provide shade and a cooler microclimate.
Enhancing insulation in the building and sealing air leaks to minimise heat gain is another great step towards saving energy and reducing bills.
Dr Haitham al Rasbi, General Manager of Kafa’a Energy Services Company (a subsidiary of Aafaq Engineering Consultancy), warned that “uninsulated walls, single glazed windows, and high infiltration rates (high air leaks through doors and windows) can cause higher cooling demand, leading to higher energy consumption.” It’s never too late to add suitable energy-saving measures to your home.
If you are planning to build your house, integrating these measures will help reduce your electricity bill, preserve environmental resources, and reduce carbon emissions resulting from burning natural gas and oil to produce electricity.
This includes, as Dr Al Rasbi noted, “an insulated building envelope (lowest U-value possible with the least thermal bridging), double or triple glazed windows with the lower g-value (for lower solar transmittance) and lower U-value (for lower thermal transmittance), and high-efficiency lighting and HVAC systems.”
Passive design strategies are also integral energy-saving measures.
This involves designing the layout, orientation, and features of the house to maximise the use of space and maintain comfortable indoor air temperatures. Landscaping and planting can provide a cooler microclimate, and shading windows to limit heat gain based on their orientation is a good choice as well.
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