5 easy ways to save energy in your urban home

A smaller electricity bill means more money to spare, but energy-efficient living is also fantastic for the environment. The Joo team sat down together to find out hassle-free ways to save energy in an urban rental apartment. Why not put these five easy tips to the test?

Cook smarter and more at one go

By cooking cleverly you’ll use less power without any extra fuss. If you make food on the hob, choose a saucepan of the same size as the cooking ring and keep the lid on, so no heat goes to waste. Cook veggies, rice and pasta in as little water as possible. To go easier on your fridge, let the hot food cool down on the table first.

For oven meals it’s always a good idea to cook more at one go – that’s also a great excuse to invite friends or neighbours to dinner. Once the oven’s hot, it makes sense to bake an apple pie for dessert, too. Even better, start a cooking club in your apartment complex. You’ll all have more fun, and only one hob needs to be heated each night.

Turn off the lights and switch to LED bulbs

We all have childhood memories of being told to turn off the lights when we leave the room. It’s still pointless lighting up an empty space, but switching your old halogen and incandescent light bulbs to energy efficient LEDs will make an even bigger difference. LED light bulbs use up to 80 percent less energy than traditional light bulbs and also last much longer.

Only wash full loads

Would tomorrow’s breakfast dishes still fit in the dishwasher? Will you run out of socks if you wait until the weekend to do the laundry? By washing full loads and doing your laundry in 40 rather than 60 degrees, you’ll cut electricity consumption by nearly a half. Airing clothes on the communal balcony is a fabulous way to freshen them up in no time.

Put your devices to sleep, too

Electronics from phones to games consoles, computers and TVs consume a surprisingly large amount of power. On average 7 percent of the home electricity bill comes from Netflix, games, social media and other entertainment. You don’t need electric plugs to read a book, go to a restaurant with friends or head out for a run – in fact, by running you’ll get naturally energised!

A big share of the energy required by electronics is consumed on standby, so it’s best to turn gadgets off completely when you leave the house or go to sleep. Power saving mode is super handy, too! If you can, choose a laptop over an electricity-guzzling desktop.

Time your underfloor heating right

Underfloor heating in the bathroom keeps floors and surfaces dry and prevents humidity damage. That’s why it can’t be turned off even to save energy, but there’s nothing wrong with turning it down a degree or two. If you have a control panel for adjusting it, you can turn the heating on an hour or so before having a shower and turn it off again when the bathroom is dry. When you go out for the day, you can reduce the temperature to about 22 degrees.

Feel energised by helping the environment

In your carefree Joo Kodit rental apartment you also save energy because all its major kitchen appliances are new. New appliances can only need as little as half the power of old ones. In addition to this, all our new developments have the best energy efficiency rating A.

What’s more, we believe that being good to the environment is also an endless source of positive energy. That’s why we say Joo (which means yes in Finnish) to short showers, keep windows closed in cold weather, and want to encourage all Joo residents to strive for energy-efficient rental living. We hope we’ve done just that with these tips.