8 creative energy saving ideas

If you’ve got kids, turn saving energy into a weekly or monthly competition, with prizes for whoever saves the most (or something smaller each time they do something that saves energy). Or you could use a penalty system to award ‘bad’ points for wastage with the winner being whoever has the fewest points at the end of the week or month.

Check out your previous year’s energy consumption ahead of the next billing period then set out to beat it (meaning use less, not more). Maybe put your target in dollar terms and put the difference – the amount you come in under budget – toward something you want.

As a variation on ‘date night’, pick one night a week to use next to no electricity (no cooking, no TV, no devices, and no more than one light on at a time). Get fish and chips and make your own entertainment, from board games to reading to a family art project.

Not counting the fridge, which has to be on all the time, count how many other appliances and devices you have that could be plugged in at any one time – the absolute maximum. Now pick a practical but challenging number (maybe four or five?) and work hard not to exceed that by turning one off before turning a different one on.

Find a few like-minded friends and neighbours and take turns having a night at each other’s places. You’ll use a little bit more energy on the night it’s your turn to host but save considerably by not being home on the other three or four nights each month.

A bit of a variation on the previous idea. Cook enough food for several meals in one big cook up and share it with two neighbouring couples or families – having arranged for them to return the favour, of course. Two or three meals for the energy cost of one, plus the extra variety of meals you might not cook for yourself (plus a couple of nights off from cooking).

Save money and get fit at the same time by turning your old-school stationary exercise bike into a generator. Here Popular Mechanics explains how to do it yourself, or you could invest in something like the Pedal-A-Watt generator stand (a standard bike just slots in to it), or the Upcycle EcoCharger. As the Green Microgym website explains: “the 50-150 watts you create can power a phone, tablet, laptop, and even a TV with no more effort than a regular workout”.