This week I’ve been looking for green products you can use with appliances you already have and I’ve come across these two gems that will help you to lower your personal emissions and save you some cash too.
The first one is something you can use in your fridge. On average, fridges use 10 kilowatt-hours a week, that’s enough to keep an average kettle on for five hours continuously - you’d certainly get a lot of use out the the Wash-Up with all those cups of tea you could make! The e-cube can change all that. It’s a small, black cube that fits over your fridge’s temperature gauge. The temperature gauge usually measures the air temperature around it and when things are getting a little too hot for it’s liking, it orders things to cool down a bit - cue increased electricity usage.
Food normally takes a lot longer to warm up than air so a lot of that cooling is unnecessary. The e-cube is a plastic box filled with wax which mimics food properties so when it is fitted around your temperature sensor, the sensor will be able to measure the temperature of the actual food, rather than the air, decreasing the amount of time your fridge switches on the cooler. Genius, hey?!
It’s estimated that this super cube can save up to 20% of your energy a year and you can pick one up for £25. According to the Guardian, if one was fitted to each of the 87 million refrigeration units in Britain, carbon dioxide emissions would fall by more than 2 million tonnes a year.
If you’ve got a fridge that’s over 15 years old, chances are that it’s guzzling way more energy than it should be and using harmful CFCs. You might want to upgrade pretty sharpish so that you can drastically reduce your energy bills and your effect on the environment - go all energy efficient and find out what shoppers are saying about A-rated fridges and A-rated fridge freezers to help you decide which would be best for you.
The next product is one you’ve probably all heard about but I thought I’d mention it anyway.
It’s for use in those energy eating tumble dryers. Dryer balls can be put in the dryer with your washing to soften fabrics so you can save a few quid on fabric softener and dryer sheets and help save the environment from harmful chemicals at the same time.
In the reviews from Reevoo, Jane from Leicester says "I can use them for tumble drying my baby’s
clothes without worry as they have no chemicals which was a concern
with the tumble dryer sheets. They don’t dry out either"
On top of all that, they also get more
water out of your clothes quicker which means the dryer doesn’t need to be on so long. Another saving for you - less electricity - and for the environment - less greenhouse gas emissions. Bonus.
If you’re in the market for washing machines, tumble dryers or washer-dryers, make sure you read some reviews before you buy anything so that you don’t waste any more money getting the wrong one. Try and get the most energy efficient one you can by looking at the efficiency rating. Still confused by all this energy efficiency labeling malarkey? Find out more here.
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