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15 Ways to Save Money on Electricity

7/11/2015

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1) Keep Your Freezer Full
If your freezer is full, the frozen items will work to keep the inside of the freezer cold and allow the freezer to use less electricity.
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2) Clean Your Light Fixtures
If your light fixtures are clean, you will probably find you can get away with turning on fewer lights, as there is more light coming from the ones already on.

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3) Give Your Electronics a Holiday
When you go away on holiday, give your electrical appliances a break too and unplug all the clock radios, DVD players, game consoles and TVs. If you’re leaving for an extended period even try and empty out the fridge so you can unplug that too.
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4) Raise the Fridge Temperature 
Don't raise the temperature so far that your food spoils, but just check the setting now – is it on the coldest setting? Probably. Well it doesn’t need to be, turn the thermostat just a few notches warmer and your fridge won’t have to work so hard.
5) Light Free Day
Get into the habit of using no lights for just one day a week. You can make it into a game or challenge for your family, or simply start a romantic candle-lit dinner tradition – all while saving on your power bill.
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6) Air Dry Your Hair
Before you blast your hair with the hair dryer, consider whether you really need to – are you going out, are you going to catch a cold? Probably not, so where you have the opportunity to air dry you hair, do – try washing your hair at night and when you wake up in the morning it’s dry, for free.
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7) Don’t Dispose of Garbage in the Sink
If you have a garbage disposal system in your sink, think before you use it – do you really need to or can you just take your rubbish out to the bin?


8) Don’t Completely Dry Clothes in the Dryer
Taking items from the dryer when they are still damp will help them last longer and it also means you can use your dryer less if you hang them up to dry naturally.
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9) Untangle Your Drying
If you separate your washing before putting it in the dryer the dryer will be much more efficient.


10) Do Consecutive Loads of Laundry
When your dryer is already warmed up, keep washing to take advantage of the warmth, rather than making it heat up from cold again another time.


11) Use Half As Much Light
Go through your house and unscrew every second light bulb and see whether you really do need so much light in your home.


12)Turn Off Lights When TV is On
The TV provides its own light if you need to get up and move around the room and you certainly don’t need the light on to see the TV better – in fact it’s likely to look better in the dark.

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13) Turn Off Your Computer
A simple money saving habit to get into and one which will save you a fortune in power you’re just wasting when your computer sits idle.


14) Stop Your Dishwasher Drying Your Dishes
Turn off the dish drying function of your dishwasher cycle and boost your savings account by letting your dishes dry naturally
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15) Only Use Lights When Needed
Get out of the habit of turning lights on whenever you enter a room. Often by simply opening a curtain you’ll have enough light for general tasks during the day.
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What are some of the common receptacles?

7/11/2015

 
The GFCI Receptacle (GFI):

The GFCI Receptacle (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) continuously monitors power flow from the receptacle to a plugged in electrical device. If one of the conductors supplying power to the protected side of the receptacle should accidently “go to ground”, either by falling into a bath, sink or puddle, the receptacle will trip very quickly, within milli seconds, preventing an electric shock. GFCI’s are used outside buildings and near sources of water. The electrical code requires receptacles within 5ft of a sink to be GFCI Protected. GFCI receptacles need to be installed correctly in order to function safely. If you live in an existing home that has receptacles installed within 5ft of a sink it is recommended to have an electrician test to ensure it is protected by a GFCI outlet and if necessary replace the receptacle with a GFCI outlet.

Kitchen Receptacles:

Kitchen receptacles are setup to provide enough power for the different appliances in your kitchen. They should be either a “Split” receptacle, which has two 15A circuits available at one receptacle, or a 20A T-slot receptacle which is designed to allow more power than a standard 15A receptacle safely. GFCI receptacles are required for any receptacles within 5’ of the sink. If you find you do not have enough power available in your kitchen our Vancouover electricians are able to make recommendations on what you can do to upgrade your kitchen to ensure you have adequate power safely available

Switched Receptacles:

Commonly installed in bedrooms, switched receptacles save money when constructing a home. They are common in older and new homes. Switched receptacles are typically installed as part of a standard duplex receptacle where only one half of the receptacle is switched by the wall switch and the other half is setup to provide continuous power. If replaced incorrectly, a switched receptacle generally results in continuous power at both halves of the receptacle with the switch no longer able to turn the top or bottom half off.

Bedroom Receptacles:

Newer homes have bedroom receptacles protected by an Arc Fault breaker. An Arc fault breaker is designed to detect whenever an arc occurs that could pose a potential fire hazard. Unfortunately, arc fault breakers have been known to generate nuisance tripping, tripping the circuit when everything connected to it appears to be ok. When this happens it is most likely attributed to a defective appliance or load connected to one of the receptacles on the circuit. Older vacuums are particularly known to cause nuisance tripping when connected to a bedroom receptacle fed from an arc fault breaker. Bedroom circuits that have receptacles with no power available should be checked by a qualified electrician

Tamper Resistant Receptacles (TR Receptacles): 

Tamper resistant receptacles can be identified by a “TR” marking on the device. These receptacles are now mandatory in newer homes and day care facilities. The receptacles are designed to prevent children inserting small objects into the electrical slots on the receptacle. They do this via a shutter that requires both blades of a plug to be inserted simultaneously into the receptacle. Users of tamper resistant receptacles may find it difficult to insert a plug into the TR receptacle slots if they apply to much pressure to one of the blades. Users that continue have no power at one of these receptacles may need to have it replaced. Our Vancouver electricians are setup to make on the spot repairs for most tamper resistant receptacles

Church Receptacles

We service and repair all receptacles installed in Churches. We recommend that receptacles installed in churches be commercial grade and Tamper Resistant where ever children may be active. Commercial Grade receptacles are more durable than residential grade. Our electricians service and install receptacles through out the greater Vancouver Area.

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