How to significantly reduce your electricity bills in the winter? 

In the conditions of constantly rising electricity prices every household is looking for solutions to optimize consumption and reduce electricity costs. You do not need to deprive yourself of basic needs to halve your energy consumption. Today we, from Smart Choice Properties Ltd., share with you some useful tips and bonuses - additional tricks that will help you save on daily consumption without sacrificing your comfort.

Why don’t you install a photovoltaic system?

The optimal, innovative and most effective solution - own solar installation is the perfect option. You need between 3 and 8 kW of installed power to power a household and the system would occupy between 20 and 40 square meters of roof space. Unfortunately, at this stage most households are not able to afford to invest in an alternative energy source. The good news is that the funds from European funding for renewable energy projects,for household consumers will soon be available to citizens with projects for small solar power plants. Take advantage of such investment!

Take care of the internal and external insulation of your home

During the winter season stable interior and exterior insulation can reduce your heating bills by up to 70%. Provide funds for the installation of new windows and if such an endeavor is beyond your budget, then use aid to improve the energy efficiency of your home. In every hardware store you will find sealing tapes, special gels or mounting foam. With their help within 10-15 minutes you will easily remove all cold air leaks. Another option is a high diffusion insulation film for joints around windows and exterior doors to block external air currents.

Use the appliances at home wisely

Electricity consumption is directly influenced by the way you use electrical appliances at home. With a few basic settings even just changing the location of some of them you will notice a significant drop in power consumption. What are our main recommendations:

• Do not cover or block heating appliances with curtains and furniture 
• Do not place the refrigerator near a stove or other heat emitter or in direct sunlight
• Use the full capacity of your washing machine and keep in mind that short programs consume about 2 times more electricity
• Turn off electrical appliances completely when not in use instead of leaving them in standby mode, as they continue to consume electricity
• Use a power strip with a switch so that you can easily turn off the appliances that are powered through it with just one action
• Put your computer to sleep when you're not using it 
• Do not leave the charger plugged in after charging your phone
• Reduce the heating temperature of the boiler to 55 degrees which will save about 15% of energy for water heating
• Install motion sensors in corridors, mezzanines, common spaces etc.

Buy appliances with a high class of energy efficiency

Undoubtedly your most reliable supporter in the fight against high electricity bills in winter are appliances with a high class of energy efficiency. When buying new ones always pay attention to the so-called "energy class labels". There are seven energy classes with Class A being the highest and Class G the lowest. For example on the market you can now find air conditioners which are energy efficient class A +++, called "hyperinvector". They can save you up to 75% of electricity. Sounds great, right?

Bet on the right light bulbs

We at Smart Choice Properties Ltd. strongly recommend that you use energy-saving light bulbs. They are more durable than ordinary ones and consume significantly less electricity. There is a huge variety of LEDs on the market - light bulbs, halogen bulbs (produce more light and use less energy), reflector bulbs (for outdoor use), fluorescent and compact fluorescent bulbs. Each of these options will help you in your efforts to increase energy efficiency at home.