Time for change and power savings

Text: Deneb R. Batucan
Illustration: Gilbert V. Manantan

WHILE the Lenten Season is the perfect time to contemplate life and to re-energize, it might be a good time as well to start thinking about a few worldly things right inside your home. Yes, we’re talking about appliances, the ones that suck energy like mad especially this summer when temperatures rise and idle time lead to spikes in energy consumption. What better time then to contemplate on your electricity bill and consider essential, hardly drastic changes you need in your household right now.

SunStar Weekend rounds up some energy-saving appliances that would be a best fit to any kind of home.

Induction cooktop

Instead of using fire for cooking, induction stoves use magnetic induction to provide heat to cook one’s food. Most cooktops are sleek and functionable and—the best part—it’s energy efficient. It cooks food faster in a more consistent heat than thermal conduction (from a flame). And it doesn’t hurt that it looks stunning on a kitchen countertop.

Inverter

Use a refrigerator or air conditioning unit with an inverter, and it will change your household game. Having an appliance with inverter technology regulates the speed of at varying times. It can operate on high speed when a lot more energy is used but it could also operate on low speed and supply just the right amount of energy to be used. That is where the energy efficiency comes into play, and translates to saving about 20 to 30 percent in the electric bill.

Solar appliances

Going solar would save you a lot of money. While having a 100 percent solar-energy functioning home is quite expensive, there are some appliances that could be used through solar energy. There are solar flashlights that are perfect for emergency blackouts as well as solar chargers that could be used to charge any portable devices like smartphones and tablets. It’s a green way to conserve energy and fire-proof your home.

Smart Power Strips

Power strips are a great and affordable way to expand the number of electrical sockets at home. But some appliances and devices consume energy on the standby mode and that’s a waste of money. Smart power strips work to reduce the power usage by shutting down power to products that go on standby mode—printers, DVD players, plasma TVs, etc. It reduces the standby power consumption plus making it less likely for any electricity-started fire in one’s home.