Yesterday's almost 90% increase in electricity tariffs did not come as a surprise to many industry watchers. We've had it coming for a very long time now. To help you control your Energy consumption and help keep a few Pesewas in our often hole lined pockets, I have compiled a few tips to help all of us save energy and more importantly money at home.

• Energy efficiency should be an important part of any decision. Only buy home appliances that have the highest energy star ratings.
• Move your refrigerator away from energy emitting appliances e.g cooker or dishwashers, or even in direct sunlight, whilst ensuring air can circulate around the back of your fridge and freezer. Always make sure the door seals are airtight. Regular cleaning behind the fridges and freezers will also ensure that dust does not build up on the compressors which can make them inefficient and waste more energy.
• Only boil as much water as you need. there is no need boiling an electric kettle full of water when all you need is a hot cup of Milo. But remember to cover the elements. Not doing that can be a fire hazard.
• Don't keep the fridge or freezer door open for longer than necessary. We all make the mistake of opening the firdge before deciding on what food or drink we want.
• Covering food with a microwave-safe lid or pierced cling film will hold moisture and speed up cooking times in the microwave.
• Ensure warm foods cool down before placing them in the fridge.
• Defrost food in the fridge overnight rather than microwaving it.
• If you are using an electric oven, Keep the oven door shut as much as possible; make sure the glass door is clean so you can see what's going on. Every time you open the door you lose heat.

• Only turn on the lights when you need them. Replacing a 100W incandescent with a 20W CFL can save on average around GHC30 per year.  They also last up to 10 times longer. For hall lights which are in regular use, this saving could be even greater.
• Make sure items that are not in use are unplugged or switched off at the wall. Putting appliances on standby is one of the biggest waste of electricity at home, and can cost ou upto GHC 75 per year! Please don't be like my good friend who enjoys seeing the red LED light on the DVD player even though she rarely uses it.
• Remember that the energy consumption of your TV is strongly linked to the screen-size. If you are thinking about buying a new TV think carefully about how big a screen you actually need. Smaller TVs are generally cheaper to run
• If you currently have a separate set-top box, or digital recorder, like DSTv or MultiTV, put your television on a different socket so that you can turn the TV off at the mains without disrupting any series link recordings
• Make sure the brightness setting on your TV is suitable for your room. The brighter the TV is set, the more energy it uses. The factory settings on TVs are often too bright for home use.
• Don’t leave your mobile phone on charge all night – it only needs a couple of hours.
• If you have a computer which is downloading or burning a CD switch the monitor off!
• When using your computer, turn off all peripheral equipmnet e.g scanners, webcams, printers etc when thwy are not in use.

• If possible, fill up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher: one full load uses less energy than two half loads. 
• Switch to cold when doing your laundry. 85 – 90% of the energy used to wash your clothes is used to heat the water
• If possible, save on your energy bills by line-drying clothes whenever possible, rather than using the tumble dryer. Your clothes will feel and smell fresher and probably dry more quickly than you expect..
• Spinning your clothes on the washing machine’s highest spin cycle will remove as much water as possible, so they will dry more quickly on the line or in the tumble dryer.
• Spinning your clothes on the washing machine’s highest spin cycle will remove as much water as possible, so they will dry more quickly on the line or in the tumble dryer.
• If you have a washer/dryer make sure you don’t accidentally use the tumble dryer function when you don’t need it.
• Make sure your tumble dryer’s filters are fluff free.
• Don’t dry for longer than needed – it wastes energy.
• Switch your tumble dryer off at the plug socket when not in use.
• Sort out the washed clothes to make sure only the ones that need to be tumble dried get included on the drying cycle

• Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C.
• A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill 10 plastic buckets, so fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off!