Electricity Usage When Working From Home

From home office equipment to using appliances to heat up food, the average electricity usage when working from home over 6 months are are:

• Computer – having it operate for 8 hours a day with a monitor or two computers is $146
• Laptop – running a laptop with a monitor or using two and having them constantly charged can cost $43
• Lights – leaving the lights on in the room where working, such as the study or living room, can be $116
• Stereo – keeping the stereo on for the whole day can mean it ends up costing $43
• TV – when the TV is on for 4 hours a day it can cost $80
• Kettle – boiling the kettle twice a day can lead to it costing $86
• Microwave – heating up lunches and food can cost $8
• Phone Chargers – charging four phones to full can be $2
• Air Conditioning – using the air conditioner for heating and cooling can add an additional $408
• Heater – the heater being used can increase the bill by $905

To know how much the general household appliances cost in a year we highly recommend reading our blog for more details. 

To reduce electricity usage when working from home there are many different ways to do this. Being overall more energy efficient and aware is the best way to reduce electricity costs while changing certain actions can help.

Temperature

Using the air conditioner and other methods of temperature control often adds to 40% of the overall energy bill. To help reduce money while maintaining a comfortable temperature:

• Have the home properly insulated to prevent heat from escaping
• Try to reduce the number of air gaps that cause air to escape the home, such as gaps around doors
• Close doors and windows in the room where the aircon is in use
• Keep the temperature at an energy efficient level, in summer 24 degrees celsius and in winter 18 to 19 degrees celsius

Light

The lights will often account for 10% of the energy bill and the best way to reduce prices are by:

• Try to work near natural light or outdoors to limit the need for using lights
• Install LED lights as they are the most energy efficient light to choose, reducing costs by 10-20% and last longer
• Using lamps and similar lights instead of ceiling lights to not light up the whole room
• Make sure to turn off lights when they are not needed

Appliances

Home office equipment and other appliances will mostly take up 15% of the energy bill, to reduce their running costs:

• If possible turn appliances to an energy saving mode and when possible turn off the appliance when not in use
• Appliances, such as the printer, may not need to be constantly on and installing a smart powerboard it will save having to constantly unplug the appliance
• Purchase energy efficient appliances that have a higher star rating

Kitchen

Working from home means that some kitchen appliances are used more frequently than they usually would. As the kitchen appliances use 15% of the power the best ways to reduce cost are by:

• Try to decrease the times the fridge and freezer doors are opened
• Fill the kettle to the amount of hot water needed to be boil instead of the whole jug as boiling a lot of water needs a lot of energy
• When possible use the microwave and keep the dishwasher usage to a minimal

Switchboard Upgrade

Sometimes a switchboard upgrade can help lower the overall cost of the energy bill. This is because the new switchboard will be able to handle more electricity consumption than the older switchboard. This means that more energy efficient appliances and new power points can also be added to the house as well.