Energy cutting plan
I live in a flat with 4 roommates. To live with 4kWh a day, I researched all public energy-consuming devices in our flat and my own electronic devices. The research gives me many ideas to cut down on energy consumption in this flat. I divide them into two parts which are “iCut” and “weCut”.
Let’s list the devices in the “iCut” part first. As for me, my daily energy-consuming devices are an electric insulation kettle, a laptop, a sticky note printer, a desk lamp, an iPhone, an electric pressure cooker, an electric toothbrush, and my bedroom lights. So I made my own energy-cutting plan.
- Heat mineral water to 40 Celsius instead of 100 Celsius. — — Drinking boiled water to kill bacteria in the tap water. But here in Italy, mineral water doesn't need sterilization.
- Use a normal toothbrush instead of an electric toothbrush.
- Send online messages instead of using my sticky note printer. — — My friends and I use the printer to print pictures and other messages.
- Reduce the time of using the high-power bedroom lights. — — The bedroom lights are incandescent, which is energy-unfriendly.
And in the “weCut” part, our main daily energy-consuming devices are a natural gas stove, a cooker hood, a microwave oven, a roaster, a fridge, a drum washing machine, a bathroom water heater, and a tap water heater.
Based on the consensus that we all need to reduce the high electricity bills, my roommates agreed to work toward this “4kWh” goal. And the following points are our accurate goals.
1. Cool for all as much as possible.
2. Do laundry together to reduce the use of the drum washing machine.
3. Lower the maximum temperature of the bathroom water heater from 80 Celsius to 60 Celsius.
4. Close all the lights after using them immediately.
Day 1:
iCut:
- Heat mineral water to 40 Celsius instead of 100 Celsius.
Used the electric kettle 3 times and heated the water to 40 Celsius.
2. Use a normal toothbrush instead of an electric toothbrush.
Don’t have the normal toothbrush in the morning.
3. Send online messages instead of using my sticky note printer.
Stop using my sticky note printer.
4. Reduce the time of using the high-power bedroom lights.
open the light at 5:00 pm and close it at 10:00 pm and then use my desk lamp.
weCut:
1. Cool for all as much as possible.
Used the natural gas stove for 40min, and the cooker hood for 10min.
I cooked 1kg of pork meat for four roommates and prepared 500g of vegetable salad, milk, and bread for our dinner. And as a result, the pork meat could still be the next meal for 2 roommates.
2. Do laundry together to reduce the use of the drum washing machine.
Used the drum washing machine once for 1.5h.
Only one roommate washed his cloth.
3. Lower the maximum temperature of the bathroom water heater from 80 Celsius to 60 Celsius.
4. Close all the lights after using them immediately.
Only the light in Bathroom №1 is still on when nobody is in there. — checked in 10:00 pm
