• Choose the right type of fan to cool down a particular place. Desk fans are the most effective fans for small rooms. Stand fans, on the other hand, are best for medium-sized rooms. They offer great flexibility in providing the cool breeze you want because of their adjustable height levels. For large or spacious rooms, consider using ceiling fans. Ceiling fans have larger blades compared with other types of fans. The longer the blades, the more air they can push around. Ceiling fans are very efficient in stirring the cooler air along the floor to provide the necessary cooling in a room.
• Get the right size of ceiling fan for your room. The sizes of a ceiling fan commonly range from 34” to 56” in diameter. Generally, a 36” fan is suitable for rooms that measure up to 9’x12’. A 48” fan is practical for rooms up to 12’x15’, and a 56” fan suits rooms larger than 12’x15’. A long and narrow room may require two fans for effective air circulation. Undersized fans are not effective to use because these would not provide you the cooling requirements and comfort that you need.
• Properly set your fan speed according to your cooling needs. The speed level setting of a fan is directly proportional to its energy consumption. The faster your fan blades rotate the more energy your electric fan consumes.
• Use the oscillating feature of your desk fan to efficiently provide the cooling effect you need. Lock the oscillator when fan is needed in one direction only.
• Turn off your electric fans when no one is using it.
• Perform regular maintenance to keep your electric fan running more efficiently. Maintenance activities can save up to 30% of fan energy.
• Clean your electric fans regularly, to keep them running efficiently. Remove the dust accumulated at the fan blades, motor housings, and grills as it reduces the air current generated by the fan. Cobwebs, dust and other forms of impurities piling up at the motor’s cover prevent air to naturally provide the cooling needed by the motor or heat produced by the motor to be released. This causes additional heating of the motor’s windings, which leads to more consumption of energy.
  

When buying a new air conditioner, look for the Energy Guide (yellow label) attached to the unit and check the Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER). As a general rule for units with the same cooling capacity, a higher EER means a more efficient unit and a lower operating cost.

EER Energy Guide

• Choosing the right size of air conditioning unit for your room size can help you save on electricity. Oversized air conditioners are not energy efficient. With the right unit size, your air conditioner will operate properly for peak efficiency and would require low maintenance only. Follow the steps below and know the right size of air conditioner for your room.
1. Determine the floor area (in square meters) of the room or space you want to install an air conditioner in. For example, the floor area of a room with a length of 5 meters and a width of 4 meters is 20 square meters.
2. Use the formula below to estimate the required cooling capacity.
   Cooling capacity = size of the room (m²) x 500 kJ/hr – m²
   Substitute the computed floor area as the size of the room and then multiply this value by the constant 500kJ/hr – m². The resulting value is the estimated cooling capacity of the air conditioner that you need to install.
3. Look for a unit with matching cooling capacity as shown on the Energy Guide. If the matching cooling capacity is not available, choose the one with the next higher value.
4. Get the highest Energy Efficiency Ration (EER) rating that your budget can afford. Remember that the higher the EER, the more savings you get from operating the unit.
• Install the aircon in a cool area. A unit operating in the shade uses 10 percent less electricity than the same unit operating in direct sunlight. Plant trees or construct coverings to provide shade for your aircon but be sure not to block the airflow.
• Check the insulation of your room. Spaces from the windows, doors and the airconditioner installation point may cause cold air to leak or heat to enter the room, making the unit work harder to provide the needed cooling.
• Don’t place lamps, television and other items, which can be a source of heat near your unit. The thermostat senses the heat given off by these items, causing your unit to run longer than necessary.
• Support your aircon’s cooling performance by draping windows with curtains, blinds and other similar accessories to block the sun’s rays. Consider also using an interior fan in conjunction with your airconditioner to help spread cool air more effectively without greatly increasing electricity consumption.
• Make sure that the thermostat is functioning correctly. Set your thermostat at the highest comfortable temperature as possible. A comfortable room temperature setting is about 24 degrees Celsius. Setting your thermostat at a colder setting than normal when turning your unit on will not help cool your room any faster. Rather, it could result in excessive cooling and, therefore, unnecessary expense.
• Set the fan speed on high, except on very humid days. When humidity is high, set the fan speed on low for more comfort. The low speed on humid days will cool your room better and will help remove moisture from the air because of slower air movement through the cooling equipment.
• Check the filter once a month by holding it up against the light. If you can’t see through it, it’s time to clean or replace the filter.
• Straighten any bent fins. Straightening the fins increases the efficiency of the air flow through the coils and adds to the overall cooling effect produced by the air conditioner.
• Regularly clean the condenser for your unit to efficiently expel the heat load of your airconditioned room.

• Avoid running several sets at the same time because this multiplies your entertainment costs. It would be wise to agree on what program to watch and use one TV set only.
• Switch off your TV set when no one is watching. If you are using a transformer, unplug it because it consumes electricity.
• Don’t use the standby mode because this uses 10% to as much as 60% of the electricity that would be used by your TV set if it were switched on.
• Too much television viewing and playing of video games of kids can be substituted by educational board games and teaching them light sports to lessen television electricity consumption.
• Replace old TV tube sets with solid-state TV sets because these types use significantly less energy.
• Choose the appropriate television size suitable for your entertainment needs, taking into consideration units with lower wattage ratings. Bigger television sets would most likely have higher wattage ratings, thus, consume more energy. The screen size of your TV should be based on your viewing distance from the unit. Follow these steps to determine the recommended screen size for your high-definition TV (HDTV).
1. Measure the viewing distance starting from the viewing area, like sofa or bed, to where you will place the HDTV unit.
2. Use this formula to compute televiewing distances in feet
   Minimum viewing distance = measured viewing distance x 1.5
   Maximum viewing distance = measured viewing distance x 3
3. Refer to this table to identify the ideal screen size.



HDTV Screen Size (inches)	Minimum Viewing Distance (feet)	Maximum Viewing Distance (feet)
21	2.6	5.3
27	3.4	6.8
32	4.0	8.0
42	5.3	10.5
46	5.8	11.5
50	6.3	12.5
55	6.9	13.8
60	7.5	15.0
65	8.1	16.3
105	13.1	26.3
155	19.4	38.8

Source: http://www.hdtv.org.co.uk

• When your computer or monitor is not in use, turn it off to reduce energy consumption. The monitor uses as much as 60% of the power used by your computer. The other 40% is used to keep the hard drive spinning and to power the electronics. Less energy is consumed when computers or monitors are turned on and off as often as required than when left on over time.
• If your computer makes use of a transformer or kept at standby mode, unplug it because these situations still consume electricity.
• Invest in energy-efficient computers and printers which save up to 90% electricity than standard models.
• Choose the right monitor size for your needs. Bigger monitors consume more electricity than smaller ones. For example, a 17-inch monitor consumes 35% more electricity than a 14-inch monitor.
• Replace your old computer monitor with a LCD monitor since it consumes less energy.
• Study and use your computer’s power saving features. The sleep mode automatically converts the computer to a low-energy mode when not in use, cutting energy usage to less than half. The energy saving mode turns the monitor and hard disk off after a few minutes of being idle.

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