What are some common household items that take up a lot of energy?
When we did our energy audit, we found refrigeration to be the biggest consumption, followed by lighting, and then computers. Lightbulbs don’t use much power individually, but they add up and they’re on more than a washer or dryer. Refrigeration isn’t easy to reduce, but a full fridge or freezer uses less energy than an empty one because there’s less cold air to lose when you open the door. Lighting is easy: replace the ones you use often with CFLs– especially high watt bulbs like spots and outdoor lighting. Computers: set them to sleep after a few minutes of non-use– and shut them down (with all their peripherals like printers and scanners) when you go to bed.
