Your Carbon Footprint - Habits to Make Your Appliances More Efficient

Did you know that South African households consume about 17 percent of South Africa's energy (Department of Minerals and Energy) and that some of the biggest consumers in our homes are the appliances that were designed to make our lives simpler and allow us to spend more time leading a life of leisure?

Learn how to change your habits when using your fridge freezer, cooker, washing machine, dishwasher and tumble drier, to help reduce your household's carbon footprint.

1. Washing machine habits 80 - 85 percent of the energy used to wash clothes comes from heating the water, and a hot water wash can generate up to 5 times the amount of greenhouse gases than a cold wash. Avoid washing clothes on a 60C setting and instead choose the 40C, 30C or cold wash settings.

Also bear in mind that's its much more energy efficient to wash with a full load, however overfilling the machine will reduce its cleaning efficiency so don't go overboard trying to fill it to the brim.

2. Dry your clothes on the washing line Using a machine to dry your clothes releases up to 3kg of CO2 into the atmosphere for every load, tally up the number of loads you dry in a week, a month, a year and it quickly adds up to a significant portion of your carbon footprint.

South Africa's blessed with one of the highest number of days of sunlight per a year in the world Make sure that you dry your laundry on a solar clothes dryer, better known as a washing line, it’s the natural and completely carbon neutral option. South Africa's blessed with one of the highest number of days of sunlight per a year in the world, and what rain there is usually comes in short heavy storms, so there's plenty of time to dry your clothes, even on a dull day the wind acts as an effective drying agent. If you do find yourself in a wet area, or going through a period of inclement weather, consider erecting a second clothes line under cover, it may take a little longer for them to dry but at least you're still employing the eco-friendly option.

There are times when you may have to use your tumble drier, if you do then make sure that your washing machine's spin cycle removes as much excess water as possible before hand, dry only full loads and make sure that the lint filter is cleaned between loads to ensure that it operates at maximum efficiency.

3. Fridge use Fridge Freezers are electricity hungry but there are many simple ways to reduce how much they use and improve their efficiency.

Fill up empty space in the freezer compartment with old newspaper Freezers and fridges work most efficiently when filled to capacity, as recommended by the manufacturers, overfilling them can have a detrimental effect. If you have two units in your house try where possible to keep one full with the other turned off, this is much more efficient than keeping both half-full. You can also fill up empty space in the freezer compartment with old newspaper, simply move the food to the sides, scrunch up the newspaper and stick it in the gaps.

Check the thermostats to ensure they are set at the correct temperature, fridges should be between 2C - 3C and freezers no less than -15C. Also make sure that you let food cool down for at least 20 minutes before placing it in the fridge.

Faulty door seals are often the cause of frost build up Both the fridge and freezer use the most energy to restore the cold temperatures lost from opening the doors. Try to think what you need from each compartment to avoid leaving the doors open for prolonged periods of time, staring at an open fridge for mealtime inspirations may seem like a good idea but its one of the quickest way to waste electricity in your home.

Frost build up in freezers reduces efficiency significantly so ensure that you defrost your freezer 2-3 times a year. Faulty door seals are often the cause of frost build and so you should also ensure that the door seals are working correctly, they should be able to hold a piece of paper tightly, and replace them if necessary.

4. Cooking Never use a pot that's smaller than the hob, you'll just be making your cooker work hard to make hot air and using pot lids as much as possible will allow the contents inside to heat more quickly with the stove on a lower setting.

Using a microwave to cook or reheat food uses half the electricity of using an electric stove Also make sure that you use flat bottomed pots and pans on an electric stove, you may feel like Jamie Oliver cooking up a pukka Chinese in your favourite wok but almost 50% of the electricity you're using will be wasted.

Using a microwave to cook or reheat food may not be to some people's liking but it does only use half the electricity of using an electric stove.

5. Washing the dishes A recent scientific study undertaken by The University of Bonn has found that the latest automatic dishwashers use only half the energy and one-sixth the amount of water as washing by hand, it was also found that it uses less soap and, unsurprisingly made the dishes cleaner.

You'll also be polishing your eco-halo at the same time If you use a dishwasher make sure that you fill it completely before turning it on. Many machines these days allow you to choose your cycle, selecting the no drying option will save a significant amount of electricity, you might just have to do a bit of wiping by hand before you stack the dishes away but you'll also be polishing your eco-halo at the same time.

Tips on buying new appliances If you're looking to buy a new household appliance then look out for the energy rating label which ranges from A+ or AAA for the most efficient to G, the least efficient. Be sure to ask your dealer for the option that is best for the environment as well as your pocket.

Washing machines - front loaders are generally more energy efficient than top loaders.

Ovens - convection ovens produce a third less greenhouse emissions than conventional ovens (they also cook your food far quicker). If you have a reliable gas supply consider installing a gas oven, they use half the amount of emissions of an electric oven.

Your Carbon Footprint - Habits to Make Your Appliances More Efficient - To learn more about this author, visit Ceri Balston's Website.

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