by Jessica Meurens
It’s time to save electricity! To do this, we can ask ourselves which appliance consumes the most energy in the house. Unfortunately, this one cannot be unplugged…
Energy prices are exploding and everyone is looking for a way to lower bills… To save money, we all have little tricks, such as not turning on the light unnecessarily, opting for energy-saving light bulbs, etc. But we can also turn to the most energy-consuming devices that we use on a daily basis.
The biggest consumer of electricity in your home is none other than… your fridge! Yes, this one is very greedy in electricity, especially if it also has a freezer.
Indeed, a full size fridge/freezer combination would consume, on average, 346 kWh per year, which corresponds to approximately 87 to 178 euros per year (depending on the energy distributor), just for the fridge! The problem is, you can’t unplug it for the night or when you’re not using it…
What other power-hungry appliances are there?
Of course, your fridge is not the only responsible for your electricity bill. It is followed, closely, by the dryer, the freezer, the television, the simple refrigerator and the dishwasher.
The good news is that computers and game consoles aren’t at the top of the list, they’re actually at the bottom.
If you can’t unplug your fridge overnight, you can unplug it for longer periods of time. For example, if you go on vacation, you will still have to empty your fridge before leaving so as not to find moldy food when you return. So, you can take advantage of those moments when you won’t be using your refrigerator to unplug it and thus take the opportunity to clean it completely.
There is also the option of energy diagnostics for your appliances. Indeed, the closer it gets to box G, the more your device consumes electricity. Pay attention to this criterion when buying new devices.
Heating, energy-intensive?
But beware, unplugging your appliances will not cut your bill in half either, unfortunately… Indeed, it is the heating that remains the biggest energy expense. It alone would represent more than 70% of the bill!
To save some money, we can only advise you to reduce your heating and put on a little sweater if necessary. In fact, lowering the thermostat by just one degree will be enough to lower your energy bill, in addition to being better for the planet.