Today, many of us face much higher rates of electricity and light consumption because we are at home much longer than previous years. This year, we're paying electricity bills with amounts higher than we used to get when we worked in the office, when we spent most of the day away from home.
Therefore, it is important to know with what actions we can counteract this.
- Control vampire gadgets
Vampire appliances are everyday items that continue to absorb electricity even when not in use. Simply keeping them plugged in means they're stealing valuable energy and costing you more. Some of the biggest culprits in this category are:
- Cell phone and laptop chargers
- Video game and console chargers
- Printers
- Televisions
- Electric toothbrushes
You can unplug most of these items when they are not in use. It's easy to keep chargers close to outlets, but not always plugged in and ready. When you remove your electronic devices from the charger, even if it's your toothbrush, simply unplug the charger as well.
For devices where it's harder to reach the outlet, such as the TV, consider plugging everything into a strip with a longer cable. This makes it easy for you to reach the on/off switch on the power cord.
- Drains power
It's not an irrational fear, especially when working from home, to worry about your laptop or tablet run out of power at a crucial time. We are busy and not always attentive to our energy levels when we finish an important project. The safety net, for some, is keeping their devices connected at all times.
In this way, the power is always maintained at 100 percent. This tactic might be fine if you're only home part of the day. But working full-time from home is a huge waste of energy.
Consider charging your device only in short periods during the day to give it a boost of energy. A perfect time to recharge is when you go to lunch or go to the bathroom. Focus on getting back up to 100% at night, when you're done working.
- Put it to sleep
Does your computer stay on even when you move away from it? Have you turned off sleep mode to make sure you don't miss a single notification during business hours? If so, you're spending electricity.
Turning on power management features or putting your computer on hold can save you up to 200 soles per year on your electricity bill. That's enough.
- Manage your lighting
Whether your home office is on the kitchen table, inside a closet, or in a dedicated office space, lighting is key. It's also expensive. If you haven't already, turn your office bulbs into LEDs. They don't help you save on your energy bill, but an average LED bulb lasts about 25,000 hours. An incandescent bulb only lasts 1200 hours.
Once you've taken care of the bulbs, look for natural light sources. If you are working in an area with windows, open the blinds. Rely on natural light, if you can, for at least part of the day, giving your bulbs a break.
- Reduce data usage
While your router technically doesn't use a lot of electricity, having it on all the time, always working for you, consumes another essential utility when working from home: data. You need this as much as you need electricity to do your job, but there are limits.
Exceeding your data limits each month not only means your devices are working overtime to increase your electricity bill, but you also run the risk of paying for internet surpluses. Being resourceful with using the internet can work hand in hand with reducing your electricity bill. Just remember, even when you've put your computer on hold, you could still exhaust your data.
To avoid this, make sure to:
- Turn off location services on your phone while you're at home
- Download music and videos instead of streaming them
- Use an Internet browser that compresses data automatically such as Google Chrome
- Turn off the streaming device on your TV before turning off the TV. Everyone continues to stream even when the TV isn't turned on.
- Use some of your phone's data instead of your Wi-Fi. This also saves electricity!
