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Save money and energy in the home: Easy English

There are a lot of little ways you can save energy and money throughout your home.
3 min read
Published on 11 Jun, 2025

We’ve listed seven of the most common ways you can save energy in your home below.

Computer/laptop/tablet

  • Set your computer or laptop to automatically enter sleep mode after you haven’t used it for a few minutes and/or hibernate mode after half an hour. This way, if you forget or step away for longer than you expect, you’re still saving energy., you’re still saving energy.

  • Did you know screensavers don’t save energy? It’s best to turn your device’s screen off when you’re no longer using it – or better yet, shut it down and switch it off at the wall.

Woman sitting on stairs with tablet

Dishwasher

  • If you have a dishwasher, use the ‘eco’ setting to lower its energy and water consumption. Wait until full before turning on.

  • If you have solar panels, run the dishwasher in the middle of the day to use your solar power and minimise drawing from the grid.

Electric cooktop

  • Use a pan the same size or as close to the same size as your cooktop to ensure i minimal energy wastage.

  • Remember to put lids on saucepans where appropriate – the food will cook quicker and at a lower heat, helping you save energy and money.

Entertainment devices

  • Plug your TVs, DVD players and other entertainment devices into a standby power control board. A control board can automatically switch them off for you when not in use.

  • After charging portable devices like smartphones, tablets or laptops, switch their charger off at the wall, as many of them continue to draw power – even when a device isn’t plugged in.

Woman sitting on bed with phone drinking coffee

Kettle

  • Kettles can use a lot of energy, so only heat the amount of water you need.

Toaster oven 

  • To heat food in an oven, consider a toaster oven, which uses less than half the energy of a traditional full-sized oven.

  • If you can safely reach the oven power point, turn it off at the wall when not in use to minimise standby power wastage.

All devices/appliances

  • When buying a new device, choose one with a high Energy Star Rating as it will help you save on your electricity costs. The more stars, the higher the energy efficiency. 

Learn more about saving energy and money with our downloadable Easy English guide.

This article is part of our series highlighting the availability of AGL’s Easy English guides which are designed to assist our culturally and linguistically diverse customers across Australia to have better access to information about their energy accounts.

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