Six Hand-Held Appliances That Will Save Money on Your Electricity Bills
Everything is more expensive these days, but rising energy prices are especially annoying since they are so crucial to modern life. When energy costs skyrocket, it can feel like it’s become too expensive to simply exist, and when you have to pause to count the cost of essentials, life can feel tedious.
The kitchen is a prime suspect when it comes to rising energy bills; running your kitchen costs between $391 and $1,777 per year , depending on where you live, and about 75% of energy is consumed by appliances when they’re off, so you can try to reduce your electricity consumption by unplugging them when they’re off. not used. But if you want to cut that bill even further, you can take the extra step of getting rid of some of the most common electrical appliances altogether, replacing them with hand-operated (or, in some cases, foot-operated) alternatives.
With your own hands
Dishwashers are much better than washing dishes by hand in almost every way, especially if you choose a high-energy dishwasher, but if you want to save on utilities, washing dishes by hand in cold water is a lifesaver. about 45 dollars per year . It’s a lot? Not on its own, but if it’s part of an overall plan with a manual drive, it can add up.
Manual washing machine
Washing machines and dryers have become so common that we forget that clothes can be easily washed and dried without any electricity or natural gas. Hand- or foot-powered washing machines, combined with air drying your clothes on a drying rack or clothes line, can save you about $115 a year and keep your clothes clean just as well.
Coffee maker with pour over
By turning off your home coffee maker, you can save about $14 a year . A fancy manual espresso maker like this one from Rok makes great shots of espresso without electricity, and a simple pour-over coffee maker will brew a lot of coffee without electricity (though admittedly you’ll have to heat the water somehow). Combine them with a manual coffee grinder and you can completely eliminate energy tax from your morning cuppa.
Foot Blender
No, you are not going to start the blender by hand, but you can start the blender with your foot . The Fender Blender is designed to attach to a stationary bike and allows you to use your leg power to blend whatever you need. It actually works a lot better than you might imagine, as you can see here – and you get a little exercise to justify any treat you make for yourself.
The cost of running a blender depends on how often you use it (and, of course, local energy costs), but if you use the blender once a day for a year, you can save about $15 by choosing the manual version. .
Good old whisk
Using a mixer every day will cost you about $12 a year , and using an electric egg beater every day provides similar cost savings, so replacing your whisk and hand mixer could save you about $24 a year.
Manual foot chopper
Using a food processor will only cost you $2 a year unless you use it constantly . However, that’s $2 you won’t have to spend if you use a manual chopper/harvester instead.
all savings
On average, you’ll save about $215 a year if you use these hand tools instead of their electric versions, although that number could rise if electricity prices continue to rise. Plus, of course, having a hand-cranked kitchen and laundry means that power outages, blackouts, and social collapse won’t slow you down—add a hand-crank generator and a radio , and you’ll survive the apocalypse in style.