26 tips of saving on your UMEME YAKA power bill

By
Roger Bambino
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The UMEME yaka power savings

We all love to save on the core utility bills that we pay periodically to the different companies and UMEME YAKA electricity bills are no exception. Here are 26 ways in which you can save on your UMEME Yaka power bill. The tips are categorized based on the most popular domestic electric appliances.

 

Lighting & charging

    1. Switch to LEDs or compact fluorescent light bulbs – you could save up to 80% energy per ordinary incandescent bulb.
    2. Use task lighting, which focuses light where it’s needed. A reading lamp, for example, lights only reading material rather than the whole room.
    3. Dirty tube lights and bulbs reflect less light and can absorb 50 percent of the light; dust your tube lights and lamps regularly.
    4. If possible, put lamps in corners of rooms, where they can reflect light from two wall surfaces instead of one.
    5. Encourage children to utilize morning hours and broad day sun light for studies, rather than burning mid-night lamps.
    6. Turn your television, DVD and stereo off by turning it off at the wall instead of using the remote.
    7. Did you know your phone charger is still using energy even when your phone is not attached? Up to 10% of your electricity could be used by gadgets and appliances that are on standby.

 

Computers

    1. Screen savers save computer screens, not energy.
    2. Start-ups and shutdown do not use any extra energy. In fact, shutting computers down when you are finished using them actually reduces system wear and saves energy.
    3. Setting computers, monitors and copiers to sleep-mode when not in use helps cut energy costs by approximately 40%
    4. If your computer must be left on, turn off the monitor; this device alone uses more than half the system’s energy.

 

Fridge

    1. Your fridge is always on, making it one of your most expensive appliances. Make sure the door seal is tight and free from gaps so cold air can’t escape. If you have a second fridge or freezer, only turn it on when you need it.
    2. Do no put uncovered liquids in the refrigerator. The liquids give off vapors that add to the compressor workload.
    3. Allow hot food to cool off before putting it in the refrigerator.
    4. When dust builds up on refrigerator’s condenser coils, the motor works harder and uses more electricity. Clean the coils regularly to make sure that air can circulate freely.
    5. Make sure that you are using a refrigerator that is approximately sized for your needs. If your fridge is too small, you may be overworking. If it is too large, then you are potentially wasting energy and home space.

 

Washing & drying

    1. Use Cold water, as almost 90% of the energy consumed by washing machines goes to heating the water. Set the washing machine temperature to cold or warm and the rinse temperature to cold as often as possible.
    2. Adding too much detergent actually hampers effective washing action and may require more energy in the form of extra rinses.
    3. Soak or pre-wash the cloths for effective cleaning.
    4. Dry your clothes on a line rather than using your dryer
    5. Try and do your ironing in large batches that way you wont waste energy heating and reheating your iron every time.

 

Cooking

  1. Rearrange oven shelves before turning your oven on and don’t peep at food in the oven! Every time you open the oven door, 4°-5° is lost.
  2. Microwaves cook food from the outside edge toward the center of the dish, so if you’re cooking more than one item, place larger and thicker items on the outside
  3.  When cooking, keep lids on your pots to reduce cooking time.
  4. If you are buying a toaster, don’t buy an extra-long slot one, if you aren’t going to use up all the extra-long slots, because the extra energy / heat is just going to be wasted going up the open space.
  5. Small appliances use less power than larger ones. Save money by using a microwave oven rather than a regular electric oven/stove.
All tips courtesy of UMEME