We cover a lot of energy efficient products and other gadgets that can help you reduce your energy consumption, but how much money can you actually save by living a greener life?

We decided to find out.

We’ve all received high energy bills and wondered where all that electricity went. Fortunately, a lot of it is actually wasted energy! Why is that fortunate? Because it’s easy to eliminate.

You don’t have to be ultra-conscious of your energy to reduce your consumption, in fact, you can save about $350 per year in only 5 easy steps!

Here’s ecogadget’s list of 5 easy steps that will reduce your energy consumption:

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It sometimes amazes me just how easy it is to save a whole bunch of electricity. You don’t have to go completely off-grid to save money on electricity, in fact, many effective tips are as simple as turning something down, or unplugging something else.

Nigel’s Eco Store, one of our favorite online green retailers, has a great list of tips to reduce your energy consumption. I highly recommend reading it!

I figured I’d post some of my favorites here:

• Take shorter showers: a 5 minute shower will use only a third of the water of a bath, and having a 5 minute shower every day will save 400 litres of water a week. Nevermind giving you some extra time in the morning!
• Wash your clothes in colder water. If you can, use a laundry detergent designed for cold water. 90% of the energy used by a washing machine is used in heating the water. If you can’t find cold-water detergent, try turning down the heat a bit. A wash at 60C uses 30% more energy than a wash at 40C.
• This one amazed me: turning your thermostat down 1.5C can save up to 10% on heating bills.
• Get a Savaplug to reduce your refrigerator’s electricity usage by up to 20%.
• Use DryerBalls to save money on your dryer’s costs.

These are just a few of the great tips from the original article at Nigel’s Eco Store. Check it out!

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This is the Savaplug, it’s a brilliant “set-it-and-forget-it” method to save electricity in your home.

Simply plug your fridge into the Savaplug, and it will regulate your refrigerator’s electricity use.

Here’s how it works: when your refrigerator turns it motor on, it uses it’s full power capacity, however once the motor is turned on and running, the fridge no longer needs full power. The Savaplug intelligently recognizes when the motor is up and running, and reduces the flow of electricity to the appliance.

The result? The Savaplug can reduce your fridge’s energy consumption by up to 20%. It works even better on older models.

It’s not compatible with every fridge, an incompatible fridge is often one with a digital display, motorized drink or ice dispenser, or electronic controls. If you have any of these on your fridge, however, you’re already wasting electricty and should think about getting a different fridge if you’re looking for savings.

The manufacturer has a 10 year guarantee on the Savaplug, and claims savings of up to $238 (£120.00) over the 10 year lifespan.

The Savaplug sells for about $50 (£24.99) from Nigel’s Eco Store.

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