By James Gilman
@jamesdanby_gilman
In 2017, 1.1 trillion dollars were spent on electricity in the United States alone, with fossil fuels making up almost two-thirds of the electricity. Cutting back on energy significantly reduces the carbon content in the air, therefore slowing global warming. As a result, cutting carbon emissions increases our quality of life because of increased air quality. We would have a healthier planet and our natural resources would be sustained. Environmental issues aside, it also saves a lot of money to cut back on energy use! Clearly, we need to reduce how much energy we use. While the majority of electricity use does come from commercial and industrial sources, we can make a huge impact by cutting down energy use at home.
With the upcoming beautiful Connecticut spring and summer, we are reaching the perfect time to cut back on energy use! With the ever-extending hours of sunlight, sitting near windows can illuminate whatever we need to see without using any energy on lighting. Considering the majority of our energy expenditures come from lighting our houses, this can make a huge difference when the energy bill comes around. As I write this, we have turned off the heating and are just opening our windows. The breeze coming from outside has created an ideal temperature without any energy being used. There’s no need to spend money on pesky oil and coal for heating when you can get even better feeling the warmth and fresh air from opening a window. Also, by just walking or biking to get where you need to go, you get to experience the great weather, get some good exercise, and reduce oil usage.
Sadly, a problem arises when these beautiful months come to an end. As soon as the temperature drops outside and we gradually lose hours of sunlight, we need to see and be warm. Luckily, there are a few solutions that can be used year-round! One huge difference maker that can be implemented whenever is switching from Incandescent to LED lights. Due to their high luminosity per watt, LEDs are capable of making about 70% of the energy they draw into light. Most bulbs create much more heat with the energy they use, making LEDs far more efficient. It only takes a 6 watt LED bulb to produce the amount of light that a 40-watt incandescent does, and their lower temperature also makes them safer to operate. They also last significantly longer, meaning you end up going to your local hardware store and spending a ridiculous amount on lightbulbs much less frequently. They also have a wide range of other benefits, from increased brightness, better color range, more reliability, and many others but I won’t go into depth on those here. While getting comfortable under a blanket solves the issue of warmth in the winter to a degree, it’s often not enough. Eventually, you’re going to want to turn the heat back on, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend a ridiculous amount on energy still! One of the most effective ways to get about this is by changing the appliances in your house and how you use them. By buying appliances with a higher energy rating, you can significantly cut back on energy use. Be careful doing this though! It is often easier for bigger appliances to be more efficient, but due to the size of the appliance, it will often end up using the same amount of electricity as a less efficient but smaller appliance. Also, unplugging appliances when not in use can make a significant reduction in energy use. Most devices – including TVs, computers, and even some washing machines – have a standby mode that has them use energy even when shut off.
Even though these may seem like insignificant changes in the grand scheme of things, if enough people get on it, it can make a huge impact. Most people have very minimal control over the energy use in the commercial and industrial sectors of the economy, so we need to do everything we can to reduce residential energy use. While switching to greener energy sources is ideal for the future, in the present we need to do what we can at home to reduce energy use with the energy sources we have. So, for now, I have a few requests for you. In the short term, try to implement a few of these strategies in your own house. For now, keeping lights off and windows open is easy, but also trying swapping for LED bulbs and unplugging appliances. In the long term, challenge yourself to cut your utility bill by about 15-25%. This may seem like a big challenge but by implementing some of these techniques, it will become much easier. Not only will it make a positive impact on your bank account, but also on the environment as a whole.