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electrician

There are always ways to save money; especially in a society like America or Australia. We just become so used to creature comforts we forget we don’t need a majority of the things we spend money on.

There are options for saving money you may never even have considered. Here we’ll cover five ways to cut down your electric bill in a practical way that doesn’t involve anything too extreme, but a few things you may not have considered.

Carefully Monitor Electricity Use To Find Eliminate Waste

Where is the highest draw for your electricity? Is it in heating, in A/C, among the electrical devices you use? Look at the things in your home that use electricity, monitor how long they regularly operate, and calculate out what percentage of your monthly bill they represent. Toasters, washers, dryers, dishwashers, HVAC—these tend to be the high costs.

That said, lights can be expensive, too. It’s much like a leaky faucet. Sure, it’s only a drip every two seconds; but you’re losing a gallon a day. Well, leave the lights on all day and night, and that costs you money. When you leave a room, turn off the lights.

Invest In “Low” Or “No” Energy Appliances

There are actually low-energy lighting fixtures that use motion sensors to illuminate a space when someone walks through, only turning on when people are in the room. Additionally, you can buy low-energy appliances built to use a minimum of electricity. Beyond that, certain products exist that use no electricity at all.

For example, there are gravity lamps that work sort of like a cuckoo clock, where weight in conjunction with a fulcrum provides energy. When the weight hits the ground, you just reset it, and off you go.

Lights like these being used as alternatives to primary lighting can pay for themselves over time. Beyond gravity lights, consider LEDs as a replacement for incandescent bulbs. These provide high levels of light for low levels of electricity, and may even be more energy-efficient than things like gravity lamps owing to initial purchase expense and overall lifetime.

Explore Local Energy Rates—That Alone Might Halve It

The larger your community, the higher the likelihood you’ll have more than one choice for electricity. The way that electricity is produced, and the way the company producing the electricity runs itself, will do much to impact the price. Sometimes people buy a property with utility bills that they never question, they just keep paying.

Well, if you go to the following website, you may find that cutting the electrical bill in half every month is as simple as switching providers. Some energy operations use wind and solar, and the result is it costs them more to produce electricity. Traditional methods are often a lot more cost-effective.

Change Your Expectation On Levels Of Comfort

Electricity overuse often has to do with creature comforts. Maybe you’ve got a room in your house with a little fountain that plugs into a wall. It’s beautiful, and provides a fine ambiance—but it’s on 24/7; meaning it’s a constant drain costing you a predictable amount of money every year. Perhaps find another way of getting that ambiance, or eliminate it.

Off-Grid Alternative Energy And Associated Tax Relief

A solar array will cost about $100 per 100-Watt solar panel. A full family house will want about 50 panels; so you’re looking at $5k for those alone. You’ll probably spend another $5k on mounting equipment, cables, surge controllers, power inverters, and battery arrays—if you go the DIY route, which most folks can figure out.

For another $5k, you can install a wind-turbine as a backup. For $15k, you can be grid-independent. Add a diesel generator in the garage in the event the sun goes away or the wind stops, and you’ve always got energy when you need it in a way that’s totally independent of grid-based electricity.

Americans use about 10,909 kWh (kilo-Watt hours) of electricity a year, at about 13.31 cents per kWh. That’s a little under $1,452 a year. Spend $15k on grid-independent power, and in less than 10 years, you’ll be making money on your investment—you’ll have totally eliminated the bill; that’s a bit more than halving it! Also, some states offer tax incentives for green energy, which can offset installation costs.

Energy Reduction Options To Consider

Explore alternative solutions and tax breaks, change comfort expectations, seek cheaper electrical options in your area, invest in low-energy devices like LEDs or gravity lamps, and monitor how you use electricity to trim the fat. Moves like these cut your electrical bill in half, and may almost eliminate it.

Electrical systems are complex and potentially dangerous, which is reason enough to let an experienced and knowledgeable electrician do the work instead of you. Although homeowners are never advised to try to DIY repairs, Australians know that amateur repairs are even illegal. The law here is much tougher than in other countries, and under the Electrical Safety Act of 2002, unlicensed electrical work includes”the manufacturing, constructing, installing, testing, maintaining, repairing, altering, removing, or replacing of electrical equipment.” Apart from dizzying fines, rest assured that your home insurance provider won’t have much sympathy for your heroic DIY buzz work. Let’s look into a few situations when an electrician’s expertise can save the day.

Early malfunction signs

To an amateur, diagnosing an electrical problem might appear complicated and abstract. Still, there are several early warning signs that can tell you something’s wrong. For example, the smell of burning plastic at a power outlet, appliance or a switchboard. The second level of emergency is discoloration of any outlet cable or appliance. Situations like these might be so urgent that you can’t wait for the electrician to arrive. As soon as you notice signs like these, turn off the electricity in your home by flipping down the three main circuit breakers on your switchboard. This is something every member of the household should know how to do. Ideally, you should know which breaker shuts down what, but in an emergency, there’s no time for taking chances.

Hazards of DIY repairs

electrician
According to Fire & Rescue NSW report, in 2014 there were 150 home fires and five deaths, with electrical malfunctions being the top cause, after unattended cooking. In the short period between 2002 and 2004, about 1,500 people in Australia were hospitalized for electrical injuries, with 162 electrical-related deaths between 2001 and 2004. Although these figures may seem low when compared to other household dangers, they are not to be ignored. Apart from immediate physical injury, any kind of amateur repair attempt can result in serious property damage. AT the very least, an inexpert intervention can damage the appliance or the electrical fixture you are trying to repair. However, there is always a risk of fire, with damages that definitely outweigh the expenses of a professional electrician you should have called in the first place.

Skills that keep electricians in business

Aside from understanding electric currents, voltage, power ratings, etc., a professional electrician understands the mechanical aspects of the components they need to install. Pinpointing the problem in the shortest time frame largely depends on the electrician’s understanding of how the system operates. In many situations, complex components need to be taken apart in order to access the problematic area. Finally, an electrician should understand and apply various electrical codes and laws by which they’re regulated. Some projects you had in mind will require permission from city planning offices. When a home inspector comes by, they need to make sure that everything your licenced Sydney electrician has done meets all the code requirements and regulations of the trade.

Knowledge you can’t buy

home repair
Experienced electricians can perform a wide range of electrical jobs. Apart from being familiar with all sorts of electrical components and their function, they possess a vast knowledge of electrical currents, their properties and side effects, such as electromagnetic and thermal. By knowing how electrical circuits interact with one another, and how they need to be grounded properly, an electrician can ensure that your whole system functions seamlessly. Anyone can purchase a new part or cable, and even learn how to replace a broken one, but only licenced electricians can see “the big picture” and can guarantee the safety of their work.

After all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed, unless you are a commercial licensed electrician yourself, better leave everything to professionals. Apart from changing the light bulb and manipulating circuit breakers in an emergency, anything above isn’t worth risking injury, property damage and voided insurance policy. Your best course of action would be to learn how to recognize a problem early on and contact an emergency electrician who operates in your neighbourhood.