Tips for saving electricity and water at home

One of the first reasons why we think about saving electricity and water at home is economic. For many families it is important to be able to reduce consumption and at the same time reduce the final price of the utility bill at the end of the month. This reason has been accentuated with the recent change in the electricity tariff. If you have any doubts about how the new electricity tariff works, don’t miss this post.

But one of the other reasons for saving electricity and water is sustainability. We are spending more resources than we have and we have to be aware of not wasting them and use them responsibly and rationally.

At Inmobiliaria Espígul, as a construction company, we are faithful to efficient architecture with the environment in mind. Our houses follow simple and minimalist lines and we adapt to the environment to achieve sustainable housing.

We believe that taking into account energy savings in the construction of houses and buildings is no longer an option but a necessity and a duty of the present in the face of the climate emergency.

How do we achieve a sustainable house in Espígul?

• Draw up a budget according to the type of house.
• Take into account the orientation of the house according to the solar cycle in order to make the most of its energy and light.
• Energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources is essential.
• The construction materials must be ecological and local.
• It must be economically profitable.

Even so, being aware of our consumption is also a very good habit to make our home and our lifestyle sustainable. That is why today we are talking about some tips to save electricity and water at home.

Tips for saving electricity at home

• Buy efficient appliances: invest in those appliances that have the energy efficiency hashtag, which means that they consume less energy and will translate into economic and resource savings.
• When washing clothes, using programmes with lower temperatures helps to reduce the energy used by the washing machine. Only switch on the washing machine when it is full.
• Use the residual heat from the oven and hob to finish cooking your dishes.
• Replace traditional light bulbs with LED bulbs for all the lighting in your home. They can represent up to 80% less electricity consumption and have a much longer lifespan.
• Use smart plugs so you can control when you light and when you turn off an appliance via a mobile phone app. The famous “standby” of appliances ends up consuming a lot in the long run.
• Have a thermostat to regulate the temperature of rooms in a house and turn off the heating when you need to.

Tips for saving water at home

• Turn off the tap when you are not using it. This is probably the most obvious tip, but it is also the one we find most difficult to put into practice. This simple gesture can help us save 5 to 20 litres of water per minute.
• Make sure your taps turn off properly and do not leak. A dripping tap can lose up to 30 litres of water a day. It is also a good idea to replace traditional taps with mixer taps.
• Check the installations. Avoiding leaks is the best way to avoid wasting water, so it is necessary to check the installations and carry out good maintenance to keep them in the best conditions.
• If you wash dishes by hand, turn on the tap only when you have to rinse them, and not when you are soaping them. If you use the dishwasher, remember to run it only when it is full.
• Regulate the toilet cistern. Try to make sure it has a dual flush so that you can decide how much water you want to use without having to empty the entire cistern each time. Also check that there are no leaks, as this can result in very high water consumption. Remember: the toilet is not a wastepaper basket. Every time you flush the toilet you waste between 6 and 10 litres of water. It is totally unnecessary to flush objects down the toilet and we are also harming marine flora and fauna.

Being able to reduce electricity and water consumption is much easier than we think, we just have to be aware of the habits we have created regarding the use of these resources and change them for small gestures that help us to reduce consumption.

In Inmobiliaria Espígul we design your house following the appropriate criteria that allow maximum energy efficiency to make a rational use of energy without neglecting the comfort of the interior spaces. If you have any questions you can contact us at hola@espigul.com or call us on 972 220 110 and we will explain more about efficient and sustainable construction.