Monthly electricity bills skyrocketed after the pandemic hit this year. Earlier, while you spent the better part of the day at the office, your electrical gadgets at home remained switched off.

Now, as you spend entire days at home, almost every light, fan, appliance, and gadgets stay switched on as you and your kids take care of the home, office, and school responsibilities simultaneously. Add to that the approaching winter, and you will also add heating to the list. 

Here are some ways in which you can cut down on energy bills when you work from home this winter. 

1. Use Shared Workspace

While quiet and privacy are important while working, try to share your workspace as much as you can. You and your spouse can share the same room or same floor while working so that you need to switch on the lights in that part only.

Only move to the other room when you have important business calls, and you cannot afford any distractions. 

2. Use Heating Intelligently

Make sure to check the temperature of your boiler every couple of days. You do not need water close to boiling point at all times.

Lowering the temperature down by even 1-degree could save you 10 percent electricity bill every month. Installing an automated thermostat is also a good idea. It will kick in when the temperature drops below a certain point and will remain switched off at other times. 

3. Wearing Warm Clothes

While this seems very obvious, there are still some who dress very lightly indoors because they want to be very comfortable. However, dressing up in layers while you are indoors will mean you will stay warmer and that will prevent you from switching on the heater for long. Wear socks and long sleeves and you will be comfortable and presentable for your virtual meets. 

4. Switch Off at Night

Working from home has made us rely heavily on gadgets more than ever before. So, most of the time our phones, tabs, laptops, and computers are switched on or are set up to charge. This, in addition to using appliances like coffee machines, microwaves, or toasters in greater frequency.

So, at the end of the day, make sure you switch off everything. Do not leave any gadget on standby as they lose some amount of charge even then, and you have to charge the devices all over again.

Even when they are switched on and you are working, simple steps like reducing the screen brightness or switching on the battery saver mode will save energy considerably. Switch to default settings only when you need to use specific features.

5. Invest in Energy-efficient Lighting

Thankfully, a lot of lights are now designed to save energy. They use 75% less energy and also last 25 times longer than ordinary lights. Install them in your study and living rooms, because evenings set in very quickly in the winters and it gets dark pretty quickly. In the daytime, try to sit by the window for natural light.

With these tips, you will end up saving a lot of energy this winter as you continue to work from home.