Energy saving is a subject of matter for everybody and every entity. As private houses are concerned, companies are too. In order to be compliant with the last and usefull practices to save energy, here are some tips for privates, and some advices/tools for companies.
Special for Companies : There’s a lot to do, and it includes renewing machines, material, reviewing some internal processes and strategies. Some industries uses technology to help them, like high precision wireless sensors (Enless Wireless solutions) to monitor energy efficiency, provide more accurate data and from it, plan high efficient strategies to save energy and reduce wasting costs.
Private persones : don’t waste energy
An ecological house should not only be healthy and comfortable for its inhabitants, while generating very little waste. It must also allow to massively reduce the energy consumption.
Space heating and insulation
To maintain a temperature of 20 degrees and more in our homes, we eat briskly as much or more energy than to move. The most effective measure is obviously better insulation of buildings. This can sometimes reduce energy costs by half… and also the bill.
The behavior of the inhabitants is just as important. A well-insulated house whose windows are always ajar is an absurdity, alas too frequent.
An optimal setting of the thermostats is also essential: 20 °C is enough. Finally, the choice of a low-polluting heating mode makes it possible to reduce climate and health problems.
Hot water
We only get warm for a few months in the year, but we consume daily hot water for hygiene and cleaning. The savings potential is very important.
The simple installation of flow reducers on sinks, sinks and showers already brings progress and an optimal setting of the thermostat avoids unnecessary losses.
There is no need to heat the sanitary water more than 50 degrees… But the most effective and almost universal measure is the solar water heater. It easily provides 75% of the annual production of hot water, both in rental buildings and in individual houses.
Air conditioning
As a result of global warming, more and more air-conditioning is being used in extremely electricity-intensive installations. As a result, we aggravate the problem we are trying to solve. There are however simple and inexpensive ways to avoid this technology.
For the building, it is a question of ensuring an optimum layout of windows and roofs, in order to let in maximum radiation in winter, when the sun is low, and as little as possible in summer.
The installation of external blinds also reduces heating and good thermal insulation of roofs and walls is also effective in summer. Planting large, deciduous trees around the house is as effective as it is environmentally friendly.
Electronics
Do you know what are the dullest electrical appliances among the multitude we all have? Answer : the ones that heat or cool… They must be chosen with care and used sparingly.
We can squander some of them. An example: if you use a clothes dryer and humidifier, you can do without both devices by drying your laundry inside the housing.
In the kitchen
Some give up altogether in the freezer, or even in the refrigerator, but it’s an off-standard motivation. For others, it is advisable to choose class A or A+ devices and especially to avoid over-sizing.
For cooking food, gas is a good energy option, unfortunately neglected in a lot of countries. Class A dishwasher consumes little water, but its heating remains “energy-intensive”. The choice of the washing program is therefore decisive. If you have a solar water heater, connect the dishwasher directly.
At the laundry
The cleaning of linen is a real electricity gulf. By barely reducing our obsessive perfectionism, we can reduce our consumption without compromising hygiene. But first of all, remember that the choice of the washing temperature will determine the consumption.
Most often, 50 degrees is enough. To use solar hot water, you have to choose a fairly expensive double-entry washing machine or operate the mixer during washing.
Some inveterate DIYers use timer valves. The dryer sometimes consumes more electricity than washing and only serves to “save” time. The clothesline does not consume anything and will give you the opportunity to get some air.
In the absence of a terrace or in bad weather, indoor drying is often possible. With perspiring walls, the interior moisture is no longer a worry.
The lighting
It’s not lighting that consumes the most electricity in the home, but there’s still a lot of potential for reduction. It’s time to remove the filament bulbs ! Forget about the halogen lights and their extraordinary “design”…
The choice of compact fluorescent bulbs is now so vast that they can be adapted to almost any situation. However, be careful to recycle these bulbs at the end of life. LED technology is also a good choice.
Computers and leisure electronics
Here again, technical progress must be welcomed. The disappearance of cathode screens brings a welcome drop in consumption. A big screen, however, will consume more than a small. So let’s stay reasonable.
It remains a serious black point: transformers or power supplies. We often have a real battery under our desk and these small boxes consume power even when the devices are off. Same problem with devices in “sleep mode”. So, you can install switches everywhere, to completely cut the power after use.
Gardening
It is good to bask in the garden pampering its flowers and small vegetables. Yes but not by squandering unbelievable amounts of energy in a crash of all devils. In a family garden, no motorized device is essential.
Companies : be clever
Economy potential depends on the business sector, but it generally varies between 20 and 40%. Some governments provides companies and industries with specialized and financial support in the form of homogeneous products and simple production processes when developing standard economic measures and application guides. The condition is that the company must be sufficiently involved in the process. Energy can be saved in all companies. There are many optimization tips.
Here are some examples :
Laundries
A total of 10 to 20% energy can be saved in laundries. This can be done by reorganizing the water use process, avoiding downtime and using waste heat from the wastewater for preheating.
Greenhouse
In a greenhouse, a single broken window is enough to cause massive energy losses. Do you know a quick and bad repair is already noticeable shortly afterwards in a heating bill? With computer-assisted tools and some sensors, it will take just over an hour to analyze the energy weaknesses of an installation.
Hotel industry
In the hotel industry, electricity now accounts for about 40-50% of energy costs. So, some governments provide financial and technical support to hotels in order to help them reach an interesting energy saving model.
Industry of meat (meat preparation)
In this the field, a large amount of energy can be saved by renewing refrigeration systems. Thanks to their new refrigeration installations, some companies saved more than 15% of energy and simultaneously increased their productivity by more than 30%.
