Article: How to save money (by saving the environment)
How to save money (by saving the environment)
For homes and businesses wanting to save money, reducing their electric bill is a sensible place to start. But cutting back on your energy consumption delivers big wins for the environment too.
Air conditioning and cooling accounts for 46% of energy costs in the average home. But what if you could cut that in half while staying comfortable? Having the right ceiling fan is one of the easiest ways to reduce your bills without losing your cool.
Save in summer
Every time you decrease your thermostat by one degree (in summer, you increase energy consumption by 10%. Introducing an energy-efficient ceiling fan, like the Aeratron AE2+ which costs less to run than charging your cell phone, is a good place to start. But more importantly, selecting the right fan matters – you need one that circulates cool air across the room, rather than simply creating a chaotic wind tunnel that only works if you’re standing directly underneath it.
So installing the right fan – one with an energy-efficient design that provides comfort to the whole room – makes it easier for your room to stay cool. That gives you the option of switching your air conditioner off once the room is cool (and letting the fan circulate cool air in the space), running the AC at a higher (and less expensive) temperature, or perhaps not even needing the air conditioner at all.
Cool your winter heating bills
Using a ceiling fan in winter might sound counter-intuitive, but it’s a smart way to harness gravity by recirculating hot air that rises to the top of the space. In summer, fans are designed to have a colling effect on the skin through evaporation - so using a standard fan in winter would just make you feel colder. With a winter ‘reverse’ function, Aeratron fans are designed to circulate warm air back into your space, instead of having it gather along the ceiling while you shiver down below.
In a typical 2.5 to 3m high room, people need to heat air to around 27C degrees to have comfortable 20C degrees at seat height. With an Aeratron fan pushing hot air back down into the space, you can set your thermostat to 20C – again saving 10% for every degree you drop.
Better for you, better for the environment
While renewable energy is on the rise, in 2019 it accounted for just 11% of the energy used across the US, and 17% of energy generated. That means much of the remaining 83% of energy is sourced from fossil fuels. Reducing energy consumption reduces reliance on potentially harmful energy production methods. But what may surprise you is that all energy sources (even renewables!) have some level of impact on the environment. That includes air and water pollution, wildlife and habitat loss, water and land use, and global warming emissions. Reducing your electric bill saves you money – so you can contribute to saving the environment.
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