The following should help you avoid paying too much electricity.
1- HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING. Sixty percent of the energy consumed is due to heating.
18°C is a very comfortable temperature for living rooms and 15°C is enough for sleeping. With 4 or 5 jerseys and suits, it’s possible to live at 10°C or 5°C!
-Remove electric baseboard from any obstacle, 30 cm above and forward. So that the heat moves throughout the room, and prevent it from rising to the ceiling.
-The body can get used to the cold. But, the body does not get used to the cold by living in an overheated place.
DID YOU KNOW?
Inuit lived under 0°C in their igloos.
– Each degree Celsius temperature can represent $ 125 per winter in heating costs, per room.
-Wait warmer in the winter. Wear more long, warm clothes made of natural fibers (cotton, wool, etc.) at home in winter. Synthetic garments do not breathe moisture well and give the impression of cold.
-It’s obvious but, we all know someone who dresses with a T-shirt and shorts in sandal and who rides the heater at more than 20°C. Wear long pants and at least two sweaters cost less than fitting the heater.
-And without socks! Always wear warm woolen socks and slippers in winter, … over your cotton socks. Keep your feet warm, in winter, gives a feeling of warmth to all the body. And as the heat rises, the floor is always colder than the center of the room.
-Wear slippers in winter. Sandals, it’s for the summer! Sandals are used in the sand of hot countries. Slippers are made for cold countries.
-If you go out more than 1 or 2 hours, lower the heating by 2 or 3°C, or 18°C or less when you go out in the winter. At 15°C or less in the spring or fall. It’s more economical not to heat when you’re not there; and the house warms up in a few minutes on the way back.
-You can save by lowering the heat to 15°C before going to bed. The temperature rises in a few minutes after to wake up by raising the heating to normal temperature.
DID YOU KNOW?
The healthy temperature for sleeping is 15 to 18°C.
-If certain rooms, entrances, living room, dining room, storage, etc. are not used, or are rarely used, close the room door and lower the heater to 15°C or 10°C. Do not drop below 10oC to avoid cracking plasters or freezing pipes.
-Use ceiling fans. Fans can save 10% on heating costs. They push the warm air from the ceiling to the floor. In the summer, the fan is turned upwards, and they remove heat and moisture from the surface of the body and give more freshness. In winter, at low speed, the effect is much less, but the heat is lowered to ground level (do not forget, hot air rises). If it is very hot, increase the speed.
-And if you do not have a ceiling fan, you can use a simple fan to lower the warm air and achieve the same result. Put it on the highest library and point it to the ground at low speed.
-Using a ceiling fan is the most important thing to do. A fan uses very little electricity and greatly increases the level of comfort.
-Do not sit under the fan in winter.
-If the fan inconveniences you in winter, open it when you are away to save on heating costs during your absentee.
-Use a rug on bare floors. It serves as insulation. If your feet and legs are cold, your whole body will feel cold.
-Keep closed closet doors. They insulate the exterior walls, keep the interior clean and it’s more beautiful!
-In the spring and fall, watch the weather, and open the doors and windows that have a fence to avoid the problems of vermin (mosquitoes with Nile virus, tics, etc.) when the temperature is higher outside only.
-Close them when the temperature drops below the indoor temperature. To keep the heat inside. In general, the outside temperature drops at 17 or 18 o’clock.
-Use black curtains in winter to keep the heat inside.
-Close the curtains at night and when you go out to isolate the windows.
-Orient the horizontal blinds so that the sun warms the floor in winter during the day, in order to use the maximum solar heating, it’s free!
-Kitchen dishes that smell strong (fish, etc.) on hot days only to be able to open the windows to ventilate without losing hot air. Cook dishes that smell good on cold days (apple pie with cinnamon). Thus, you will not have to open the windows when the heater is running.
DID YOU KNOW?
Because of the lead,
it is recommended not to eat certain fish more than once a month.
-Rugs, curtains, paintings, furniture, cupboards, etc. insulate the floor and the exterior walls.
-Keep the double windows, entrance doors and double doors closed to insulate (and keep the dust outside at the same time!)
-If you sweat in winter, your heating is too high.
DID YOU KNOW?
The heating dries the skin. Heat-less!
-In winter, sleep with a long jumpsuit under your long pajamas and over your underwear. Do not forget your woolen socks, gloves and nightcap (if your extremities are cold, your whole body will be cold).
-In winter, avoid putting the headboard on an outside wall! If you have cold head all your body will be cold. Put your headboard on an inside wall.
-Dorm with a minimum of 2 or 3 blankets, duvets, comforter, bedspread over your sheets. And if it is too hot do not remove blankets … lower the heating!
-Make your bed! Border your mattress with your sheets, so that the air heated by your body, stays in the bed and does not go out.
-Using a heating blanket is cheaper in electricity than heating the whole room or the whole house.
-Use programmable thermostats. They reduce the temperature automatically when you sleep or go outside.
-MOVE! If you are inactive, you will get colder! Doing a little exercise (or going to the gym), or doing some housework activates the circulation and warms the whole body.
-After eating, it is normal to have a feeling of temporary coldness as the blood goes to the stomach to promote digestion. Instead of heating up, dress warmer, put on a jacket, etc.
-In winter, do not sit near the outside walls, let alone near the windows.
-If you must be inactive for a long time (to study, read, listen to music, watch TV, etc.) put a rug under the chair, a blanket on the chair, and two blankets on you. Or, sit under the sheets of the bed.
-Wet air is more difficult to heat and can cause serious health problems due to mold. Try not to boil water in the winter; use the microwave and always reduce the temperature, pressure and duration of the shower to a minimum.
-Use the bathroom or kitchen fan to get the moisture out of the shower and cooking.
-Needless to heat or cool if double doors or windows are open
-40% of the heat comes out the windows and even more if the double windows are not closed well.
-Exit! When you are away you can reduce the heating.
DID YOU KNOW?
There are always plenty of free events.
Join this Facebook group to be kept informed of free events in Montreal:
Free in Montreal – Big events and promotions – Free in Montreal
Review this section! To memorize it, and come back every winter.
2- AIR CONDITIONED:
-In summer place the table under the fan to cool off. Usually, American dining rooms are big enough to set the table in the center of the room (in Europe and Asia, the table is often placed against a wall in small apartments).
-In summer, in hot weather or before, close doors and windows during the day to keep the heat outside and open at night to let in fresh air. So, you will save on air conditioning, or even, will manage to do without it.
-Still sunny windows with a white surface, or even better, mirror to reflect the sun, so the heat, outside in summer.
-Place the table or your desk, etc. in front of the open window and also open the window in the opposite room to enjoy the natural ventilation in warm weather. So you will not even need air conditioning or even a fan.
-Make cold dishes, such as salads in summer, avoid having to cool.
3- HOT WATER:
This is the second source of electricity consumption, after heating, on which you can save the most.
How?
-Reduce the pressure of hot water to a minimum.
-Reduce the temperature to a minimum.
-Reduce the time of use to a minimum.
Shut the water! When you do not use it.
One drop per second, you waste 27 liters of water a day. 10 drops per minute correspond to a water tank.
-Hot water is useful only to help remove oil and grease. So you can wash everything in cold water.
DID YOU KNOW?
Hot tap water is not hot enough to sterilize.
Only boiling water or soap can sterilize.
-Even to wash your body or hands you can use cold or warm water between 10°C and 20°C instead of 37°C.
DID YOU KNOW?
Hot water dries the skin.
-Reduce the temperature of the shower to a minimum. If the mirror is full of condensation, you are using water that is too hot.
-It is not recommended to take a shower every day. Dermatologists recommend not taking more than one shower per two days in the summer and no more than one per three days in the winter.
DID YOU KNOW?
Your immune system is reduced if you live in a sanitized universe.
DID YOU KNOW?
Bad bacteria, which cause bad smells
are at their maximum one hour after the shower.
Dry skin feels less.
Wet skin feels more.
Good bacteria take a week to regenerate.
-Open the shower only to get wet and rinse. Close the water when you wash your hair and body.
-Use a washcloth or wet, soapy bathcloth to wash yourself.
-During a shower the water should only flow for 3 minutes. 1 minute to get wet, 2 minutes to rinse yourself. Some people let the hot water run for 5 to 25 minutes while they wash. Which takes up to 10 times more electricity.
-It is not necessary to use a shower with a lot of pressure. You can save more than 50% of hot water by reducing the water pressure.
-When you clean (dishes for example) you only need a small stream of water. It is not the water that washes; it’s elbow grease! The water is only used to rinse. If you have a lot of dishes use a dish, or block the sink.
-The short hair is washed and dry faster; and require less maintenance, so less hot water.
-The body shave is done because of beliefs and prejudices that may require hot water. You have to be logical and stronger than myths and beliefs; otherwise use methods without hot water.
-Do you need to dirty so many dishes for a dish for one person? More crockery also means more hot water. Learn how to cook directly in the microwave.
4- COOK: Some tips to save electricity.
-Remove what you will not eat before cooking. For example: fat, skin, shell, skin, etc.
-Cook together Cook the dishes in the same dish. For example: you can cook the vegetables together or when the meat is half cooked, add the vegetables for more flavor! Or you can cook eggs, vegetables, pasta or rice together, etc. Be imaginative! And have less dishes to wash!
-Make extra food for the following days when cooking on the stove or in the oven. You can bake 2, 3 to 4 different dishes at the same time! Potatoes tomorrow morning, a cake, etc.
-When cooking on the stove, use a lid! Not only will you avoid having to clean the splatters, but it keeps the heat where it is needed in the dishes. You can reduce the fire in half and cook faster. It is less hot in summer and there is also less moisture.
-And do not forget to put the dishes in the center of the fire for a uniform and fast cooking.
-Use a round of the same size as the cauldron. If it is bigger the heat is wasted.
– A microwave uses 2 times less electricity, a stove, to cook or heat dishes, water, etc., and this in half the time. Learn how to use it.
-To cook in large quantities it is more efficient to use the oven than the microwave.
-The oven temperature will drop from 25 to 30oC every time you open the oven door. Use the light to only watch!
-Cook at low temperature on the stove. Cooking at high temperatures does not cook faster and costs 2-4 times more electricity and is dangerous without supervision. Do not forget that the water is boiling at 100°C, the dishes are in contact with this temperature, never again. Increasing the fire increases the evaporation, therefore the humidity, without reducing the cooking time.
DID YOU KNOW?
The meat is cooked when it is beige.
Use a meat thermometer.
Meat should never exceed 85°C
Cooking guide:
| Cooking stage of the meat | blue | bleeding | medium cooking | well cooked |
| beef | 37 – 39°C | 50 – 52°C | 53 – 58°C | +58°C |
| pork | 75 – 80°C | |||
| chicken | 80 – 85°C | |||
| calf | 57°C | 60°C | 68°C | +75°C |
| lamb | 57°C | 60°C | 65°C | +70°C |
Darkened dishes, or even worse blackened, contain cyanamide, a carcinogen.
– Only take the time required. Baking twice as long costs twice as much electricity. Cooking time.
-Use a daisy to use a lot less water. It requires less electricity, boils, so cooked, faster; and it’s more nutritious because the vitamins and minerals stay in the vegetables instead of ending up in the cooking water.
-Use a pressure cooker reduces cooking vegetables to 3 minutes.
DID YOU KNOW?
Cooking the vegetables for more than 3 minutes destroys the vitamins.
Same thing for other foods like meats.
-The raw food is more nourishing and does not cost anything in electricity.
– Many vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, mushrooms, onions and fruit vegetables, such as peppers, tomatoes, etc. can be eaten without cooking and are more nourishing as well.
-Discover more flavors! Discover healthy foods that do not require cooking! Salads, vegetables, pre-cooked breads, cheeses, sandwiches, fruit, yogurts, kefir, nuts, cereals, pre-cooked legumes, prepared pastries, milk, kombucha, etc. Cooking is really not a necessity to feed yourself! It is a useless luxury. And many dishes have more tastes without cooking.
-Or eat foods with little cooking. Like toast sandwiches, toast with compote or jams, etc.
-When boiling water, use the minimum required. For a coffee or a tea, heating a cup in the microwave consumes 4 times less electricity than 2 cups otherwise.
-Eat healthy portions. See Health and Wellness Canada and Canada’s Food Guide for portions. Smaller portions require less electricity, and it’s faster!
DID YOU KNOW?
A portion of meat (including fish and poultry) must be as small as a card game!
And many people eat too much meat (and red meat is bad for your health)!
Most people do not eat enough fresh and frozen vegetables.
It’s healthier!
-The pre-cooked food from the grocery store is more energy efficient. Reheating a pat in the microwave requires less energy than cooking.
-After cooking with the oven, do not leave the door open in winter. Otherwise, the heat rises quickly to the ceiling. Keeping the door closed, the heat will quietly dissipate to warm you to the body.
5- LAUNDRY DRYER.
-Wash and dry the laundry outside (when the weather does not announce rain) is an environmental choice and the easiest way to use solar energy. A dryer consumes a lot of energy.
DID YOU KNOW?
Dried laundry outside feels better.
-There are often days above 0°C in Montreal from March to December.
-The linen can dry in 1 hour when it is hot; in 24 hours when it’s cold.
-Even under zero, the laundry dries with the wind. You can then finish in the dryer. It takes less electricity if the laundry is half pre-dried outside.
-Avoid washing in January and February.
-Never dry clothes in the house. This causes moisture, mold, increases heating costs and gives an impression of cold.
-Clean the dryer filter after each drying. The dryer takes longer, and therefore, consumes more energy if it tries to push the air through the dust.
-Use the dryer only for emergencies; and put only the required linen in the immediate future. Leave non-urgent laundry on the clothesline.
-Always use the automatic mode so that the dryer stops automatically; in order to avoid overconsumption of electricity.
-Never put in the dryer clothes that are not properly wrung out. It takes twice as much electricity. It is necessary to twist the linen or re-wring it if it is badly wrung out.
-The synthetic fabrics dry quickly enough to not need high temperature to dry.
-The synthetic fabrics dry quickly on the clothesline, even in winter!
-During the hot season do not wear clothes. Like that you will not have clothes to wash. It is illogical to wear clothes when it is over 30°C to conform to prejudices and Arab-Judeo-Christian-Muslim taboos! … inherited from the very “modern” … Saudi Arabia!
6- REFRIGERATOR
-Do not put too hot food in the fridge. Let cool a little (but not too much for meat). Hot food makes the fridge compressor work more.
-Close the door. Do not leave the door open too long.
– Always thaw meats in the fridge 24 hours in advance, never on the counter. It saves energy from the fridge, without cooling the house in the winter.
DID YOU KNOW?
Thawing meat on the counter is dangerous for your health.
Bacteria begin to surface, even before the center is thawed.
-Clean the rear coils and air intakes of the fridge every 3 months with a vacuum cleaner. The fridge will use more energy if the dust isolates the heat instead of letting it escape.
-Do not put the fridge against the stove or a baseboard heating.
7- LIGHTS.
-Keep the lights off wherever it is not needed. You can not be in 2 places at the same time. There should never be more than one light on at a time.
-Keep the lights off during the day. Open the curtains, especially in the summer, or use translucent white curtains. You should have enough lights in all the rooms.
-Visit with the sun. Wake up and lie down with the sun! Like that, no need for light.
-Go outside or near a window to read and live, etc.
DID YOU KNOW?
Sunlight is better than artificial lighting to prevent seasonal lows.
-Place the table or your desk, etc. next to the window to enjoy the natural lighting.
-Turn off the light before falling asleep.
8- TELEVISIONS AND OTHER ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES
-If you do not use it, close it. TV, radio, computer, etc. consumes even if there is no one in front.
-Use a power bar to close everything at the same time, computer, printer, scanner, charger, power supply, etc.
-If an adapter is hot it consumes electricity, unplug it.
-You can have a dozen adapters permanently connected throughout the house that constantly consume a little energy. What to do? Unplug them when not in use.
-Some devices (television, sound system, computers, phone, etc.) consume energy even when turned off. Disconnect them!
9- CLIMATIC SHIFTS
Climatic upheavals increase the temperature in Montreal, but reduce the temperature in winter. This has the effect of increasing the bill of air conditioning and heating.
Here’s how to reduce greenhouse gases:
– Stop burning everything; wood, fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil, etc.); therefore, no automobile, plane, etc.
-Compost: The compost is not a waste. It is reusable to infinity. If it is buried in a site with the waste, it emits greenhouse gases. If the compost is composted, it emits much less greenhouse gases.
-Recycle: Metal, paper, plastic and glass are not waste. They are reusable to infinity. And local reuse is less polluting than transporting new materials from remote areas.
DID YOU KNOW?
Wasting energy kills 7 million people a year.
Even if the energy produced is close to 100% clean, as in Quebec, wasted energy can not be sold outside, as in the United States, which produces dirty electricity from gas, oil and coal.
Please, stop killing. Stop polluting. Stop wasting energy. Compost and recycle.
If you are in Quebec you can sign the Transition Pact here.
Be imaginative and find hundreds of ways to save electricity and … save money.
Add this page to your favorites and read it again every month so you do not forget anything and put everything into practice.