7 Energy Saving Tips for Students

Being a student is a wonderful experience that comes with a lot of perks, especially if you’re living on campus. This is the time to explore various experiences, gain personal responsibility, and figure out your meaning in the world.

You can have a lot of fun, make a lot of new friends, and enjoy your independence to the maximum. There are no parents to tell you what to do, no bedtime hour, and very few rules to follow.

Nevertheless, the biggest problem comes when you realize that your money reserves are slowly fading away. In fact, money management is one of the biggest problems that students face when parents aren’t really an option.

The most obvious way to get more money is to get a part-time job.  A good way for students to save time for jobs is to use assignment-helping sources. Just search on Google “help me with my paper“. The less obvious way is to become disciplined and reduce your energy bills and expenses. If you haven’t thought about that yet, here are some of the most important benefits of saving energy during college time:

  • You’re significantly reducing your energy bills.
  • You’re improving your self-discipline.
  • You’re understanding how a few simple actions and habits can boost your financial life.
  • You’re protecting the environment
  • You’re gaining health benefits
  • You’re learning to become a responsible person

If you’ve never done it before, there’s no need to worry about it. You can make a decision now and commit to being a part of the energy efficiency movement. College and university life can be so much better with more money in your pockets. We know the financial burden of carrying personal loans and student debt through college, while also knowing that you’re contributing to a higher purpose.

In today’s article, I’m sharing 7 ways to save energy for students who are eager to reduce the costs of their bills and reduce unnecessary waste.

1. Turn Off the Lights

Spend less time with the lights on and you’ll soon notice a significant difference in your energy bills. This is a simple habit that needs to be implemented through lots of practice. To make it easier, place a note near the switch that says “TURN ME OFF” or “green to go”.

2. Unplug Unused Devices

Once I decided to cut down the energy waste, I have realized that my energy bills were huge because I was always forgetting to shut down my computer and online learning devices.

Don’t repeat my mistake. Simply unplug all the unused devices, including the phone and laptop chargers. Even when you’re not charging, the chargers are still wasting energy. Also, if you really want to save energy, reduce the TV time and don’t forget to turn it off before you leave or fall asleep.

3. Dry Your Clothes Naturally

Most students are used to drying their clothes on radiators because it’s fast and convenient. However, besides the fact that they’re wasting energy throughout the process, they’re also putting their health at risk.

Clothes are absorbing heat from the radiator while pouring condensation into the air. This creates damp and mold.

The simplest solution is to dry your clothes naturally on a rack, especially when the sun is out and you don’t need them immediately.

4. Use Dishwashers

There’s a false belief that washing dishes manually consumes less energy than a dishwasher. Well, that’s a myth that needs to be treated like a myth. To be truly energy efficient, make sure you fill your dishwasher entirely before turning it on.

5. Keep the Door Closed

What’s the point of using energy to create heat if you leave the door open? This is common sense advice that should stick with you immediately. Don’t let the heat go out by simply making a habit of keeping the doors closed.

6. Turn Down the Thermostat

Your thermostat is a very tricky device. If you set the temperature high, the thermostat won’t stop heating until it reaches the values that it has been instructed to reach. It is said that turning the thermostat down can reduce your heating bills by up to 10%.

7. Turn Down the Temperature of the Washing Machine

Whenever you wash clothes, you should consider two important aspects: First of all, use your washing machine only when you can fill it up with a lot of clothes. There’s no point in using it twice a week when you can be disciplined and wait until more dirty clothes are gathered up.

Secondly, make sure you turn down the temperature of your washing machine to approximately 30 degrees. Because washing machines leverage the same amount of water to get the job done, the temperature doesn’t need to be high.

Takeaways

Saving energy in college is easier than you may think. Every time you turn off the light and consciously think about the fact that you’re saving energy, you will be laying the foundation of a new habit.

Start developing more and more energy-saving habits and you’ll notice the amazing benefits in a very short time. Besides the fact that you’ll feel good about yourself, your energy bills will put you in less trouble every time they pop. More money for you, more benefits for the planet!

Top 7 Plumbing Tips for Your Home to Save Money

The plumbing system is a critical part of your home, and you may face many difficulties with it. If you don’t take care of the problems of your plumbing system, you’ll find yourself having to deal with a  significant repair or replacement cost.

Along with the price, some emergency plumbing problems are likely to happen if you postpone regular maintenance. To help you avoid emergencies, we gathered some simple but useful plumbing tips to reduce many major plumbing problems.

1. Do not allow leaks to continue

Leaks are common plumbing problems both in residential and commercial buildings. If you don’t pay attention to leaks, it can become a severe issue, leaving you with a significant repair cost. Therefore, you have to look out for possible leaks in your piping system and also your taps and fix them immediately.

plumbing tips to save money

The thing is that if you take care of the problem at the first stages, it would be so easy that you can do it yourself. But if you postpone it, you’ll need to call a professional plumbing team such as R & Z Plumbing.

This is the best option to have them check your plumbing system every often to make sure that there is not a problem.

Also Read: Health Risks of Bad Plumbing

2. Change the old valves

Changing the old-fashioned valves is another decision that can save your money in the long run. Although replacing your valves might have a huge initial cost, it will be offset when you receive your bills.

Try to go for eco-friendly valves because they play a significant role in reducing your water consumption. Some experts estimate that it will lead to a 30% saving which is a great deal.

3. Optimize your heating system

Heating systems also play a crucial role in families’ comfort and their living costs as well. Keeping your heater optimized can lead to a significant reduction in your energy bills. Try to ask a professional plumbing system to take a look at your system every winter and make sure that it’s working efficiently.

hydrogen-boiler

Remember that with the advances in tankless water heaters, you don’t keep using tank heaters because they’re not efficient at all.

You can be sure that the money you’re spending on a modern heater will return back to you soon.

4. Insulate your pipes

Another important matter regarding your heating system is the pipe insulation. Hot water that is passing through these pipes can release a great amount of energy to the ambient and therefore waste your money.

If you want to decrease your energy bills, you’d better think of good insulation for these pipes.

You have to insulate all your hot water pipes to prevent waste of energy. Also, you can insulate cold water pipes that go to your heater to prevent the water from being colder. This way, the heater will consume less energy when warming the water.

5. Check your toilet regularly

The toilet is the most critical part of your plumbing system no matter the building, residential or commercial.

A timely service can reduce many of the imminent problems of your toilet and increase the efficiency of your plumbing system.

It’s good to replace the toilet every 10 years to make sure that it’s up-to-date. Modern toilets are great in terms of water efficiency and can help you reduce your water bills.

6. Use washing machine/dishwasher to the full

The amount of load when using washing machines and dishwashers is of great importance. If you use them at partial capacity, you’ll have to face crippling water and electricity bills.

If you have a large family, the problem is easier because you’ll probably have masses of clothes and dishes to take care of.

But if you have a small family, you need to pile up your clothes or dishes to use your machines at full capacity. You have to think of small, eco-friendly machines to make sure you’re doing your tasks efficiently without extra water and energy consumption.

7. Go for smart homes

Fortunately, with the advances in new technologies, we have many other options to increase the efficiency of our plumbing systems and reduce the water bills.

The concept of smart homes is one of the newest advances that is considered to be the future of buildings. According to an expert from Condoly, the attitudes of people in advanced countries like Canada have shifted towards smart homes.

smart-homes

The plumbing system is an integral part of smart homes. You can add them to your plumbing system and see the results.

Here are some cutting-edge items in a smart home plumbing system:

a. Smart pipes

Smart pipes are one of the newest technologies in smart homes. The Internet of Things can connect your pipes to the central computer so that you can monitor the status of your pipes.

You can detect leaks, monitor water consumption, and finally save water using smart pipes.

b. LED temperature monitors

You can use LED temperature monitors to know the temperature of your water and therefore control the amount of your energy consumption.

Conclusion

ِYour plumbing system is a key part of your home and can have a crucial role in your living costs. If you want your plumbing system to perform efficiently, you have to make sure that the system has no leak or any other issue. Of course, a regular maintenance program by a professional team can be the best choice in this regard. Bear in mind that the cost of these regular services will return by preventing more severe problems. Most of the time, you can get a loan to pay for major plumbing work. Personal loans from GadCapital.com are ideal for emergency plumbing repairs because the funds are available the same day you apply.

Common Brands Of Washers And Dryers

We’ve discovered a few excellent washing machines to suit various budgets and methods of washing clothes after washing hundreds of dollars worth of fabric stained with pig blood and body oils of unknown origin, visiting some washer brands’ quality-testing labs (and one factory), looking into the state of appliance reliability, and trying to debunk some laundry-related urban legends (and the best dryers to match).

Best Brands Of Washers And Dryers

On our list’s top spot is the LG WM4000H front-loader.

How did we test?

Cleaning effectiveness

To evaluate how successfully each washer cleared stains during the Normal cycle, we utilized industry-recognized stain test strips.

Textile handling

We used industry-standard fabric samples for our test loads in order to demonstrate how kind (or not) washers are to the fabric.

Use of water

In order to analyze water usage and measure water temperature throughout several cycles, we set up washers to drain into garbage cans.

Smart elements

Wi-Fi-enabled models were linked to test how user-friendly their apps were, as well as how useful the notifications and remote control were.

First place: LG WM4000H

The LG WM4000H is a top-notch machine. It was among the finest washers we tried at getting rid of all kinds of stains, and it also treated materials with more care than most of the others. The WM4000H boasts one of the broadest selections of wash settings, including a stain-loosening prewash option, extremely high temperatures, and additional rinses. It can wash a load far faster than a conventional high-efficiency washer.

The WM4000H is a front-load washer with a large capacity, quiet operation, and exceptional water and energy efficiency. Even the door prop has a special design to help avoid the unpleasant mildew odor. In addition to being more user-friendly and feature-rich than those of our other recommendations, we found the Wi-Fi-connected features to be helpful, including the end-of-cycle notifications, maintenance alerts, remote start, and extra downloaded wash programs.

Although reliability is difficult to forecast, according to a number of sources, LG front-loaders have recently had some of the lowest repair rates among major washers. (They won’t, however, survive as long as the old Maytag your parents had.) In comparison to most of the other dryers we tested, the matching LG DLEX4000 dryer dried loads more quickly.

In the odd event that you need a warranty repair, it may be a problem because the LG washer and dryer’s control panels are difficult to operate in low light, and LG’s customer service is terrible.

The WM4000H and the complementary dryer (which is available in electric or gas) may be stacked; in fact, any 27-inch LG dryer, regardless of age, can be stacked on top of the WM4000H. The WM3600H from LG is a comparable washer that is less expensive but skips a few helpful functions.

Second place: GE GFW650

In our tests, the GE GFW650 cleaned identically to the LG WM4000H and was as kind to textiles. Additionally, compared to the other washers we evaluated, it takes extra steps to lessen possible mildew and mold issues: The washer offers a venting option that you may use after a cycle has been done to dry the drum with the door closed.

The gasket, detergent tray, and drain hose are manufactured with antibacterial Microban. The GFW650 is not our top selection since, according to our tests, it took the WM4000H roughly 20 minutes longer to wash a load on Normal. In addition, we discovered that LG full-size washers are more reliable than GE’s.

The GFW650 offers a variety of wash programs, as well as choices for presoaking and extra-hot water, like the WM4000H. Although LG’s ThinQ app is superior at providing performance reports and diagnostics, GE’s SmartHQ app offers many of the same features as LG’s ThinQ if you connect your washer and dryer to Wi-Fi and are successful in doing so.

These features include cycle-end notifications, downloadable wash programs, and remote start. The GE GFW650 includes a reversible door, an inside light, and a detergent auto-dispensing option. While drying a load on Normal, the GE GFD65 dryer took around 10 more minutes than the LG DLEX4000. Both gas and electric versions are available.

Upgrade Option

Nowadays, just a few manufacturers provide reliable washers, and some of those powerful models are practically laundromat washers—often noisy, harsh on fabrics, inefficient, and not the best at cleaning. The Miele WXD160 is the exact antithesis of everything said above, yet it was nevertheless designed to survive for 20 years.

In our tests, it removed stains exactly as well as the LG WM4000H; however, it should last twice as long and only costs a few hundred extras. The disadvantage is that it’s a little washer. Its capacity is almost half that of a regular 27-inch model. In some US regions, it might also be challenging to locate Miele models and experts.

Another oddity is that the Miele TXD160, the dryer that matches it, is a ventless heat-pump type. The TXD160 is far more energy efficient as a consequence, but it takes roughly twice as long to dry clothing as a typical vented dryer. You can connect it—and the washer—anywhere you have a typical 120-volt outlet.

Budget Option

We advise thinking about whatever top-loader with an agitator you can get on sale from Whirlpool or Maytag (they’re the identical basic machines, with slightly different features) that is somewhere in the area of $600 if you can’t or won’t spend much on a washer. The Maytag MVWC465HW passed our tests and proved to be a reliable cleaner.

It’s reasonably effective and gentle with its usual Normal cycle. Additionally, it includes a few options that allow it to behave more traditionally, as some people prefer top-loaders to front-loaders. These settings include a Deep Water Wash option for more water and a Powerwash setting for more vigorous agitation.

The LG DLEX4000 dried our test load on Normal in around 15 minutes less time than the same Maytag MEDC465HW dryer, which has a speed-dry setting. However, it does the job, and some individuals might like the simple controls and lack of frills.

Because this isn’t the Maytag of yesteryear and Whirlpool’s reputation has changed, we can’t say with certainty if the Maytag set is particularly dependable or long-lasting. (Although we weren’t using the washer as it was meant to be used, we actually broke one portion of the washer during testing.)

Additionally, you could find yourself paying more on utilities and new clothing than you would if you were using a front-loader, which is a kinder and more effective machine. However, if saving money on the purchase is your top goal, we believe a product like this Maytag offering is your best option.