He Ministry of Energy revealed in 2019 that Chilean households are responsible for the 15% of the country’s energy consumption and some 5% carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

During the same study, it was concluded that the use of the refrigerator, lighting and television were responsible for the 52.6% of electricity consumption in an average house.

Moreover, in the same survey, only one 27% of surveyed households indicated that He took steps to reduce his consumption.

As Werner Jara, an academic at the School of Electrical Engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso it is not easy to determine which device is the one that consumes the most energy, because these can vary according to the socio-economic qualification of the household as well as his geographic location .

However, he indicated that a common frame of reference can be established between households at the national level with regard to electrical appliances for cross-use.

Among these, he highlighted the following: the refrigerator, the washing machine, the television and the computer. In addition, he also pointed out that devices that exhibit a increased consumption during the winter are dryers and electric heating systems.

Likewise, Patricio Mendoza, an academic from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University University of Chile pointed out that the electric heater “consumes as much as an iron or a kettle” but since this one is on for hours, you can skip a person’s account”from $25,000 to $50,000 ″.

Mendoza said one of the best ways to save is improve the thermal insulation of houses so that the heaters can reach the correct temperature in the house by operating fewer hours per day”, as well as turn off unused lights .

For its part, Jara recommends to carry out the following operations measures to save :

• Reduce phantom consumption at home, so you should unplug electronic devices that are not in use.
• Improve the insulation of your home by block air leaks in doors and windows . However, it should be mentioned that there must always be a current of air in the dwelling to facilitate the evacuation of gases harmful to health.
• open the fridge only when needed and for short periods.
• Perform full load cycles in washers and dryers give priority to the maximum spin to extract the water then proceed to the drying cycle.
• To use spotlights or led bulbs .
• Use the fully charged electric kettle and store the remaining hot water in thermos .
• If you have an electric shower, you must avoid long baths at high temperatures.
• THE Heating systems with temperature control should not be set above 21°C .
• Prefer natural light and heat open curtains and windows.

According to what was pointed out by the academic of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, by applying these measures people can achieve 20 to 30% energy drop “which will lead to a similar percentage of savings on the electricity bill ”.

The devices, at the time of purchase, have a labeling describing its energy efficiency these were designed according to noted “to facilitate a consumer’s purchasing decision.”

For this reason, the University of Chile academic said that labeling is essential, because “it not only helps to qualify household appliances (with the color scale and the letters from A to G), but also the label indicates the average monthly consumption ”.

This is how Jara pointed out that “Chilean etiquette uses a 7-letter scale, being the products of superior performance those designated by the letter A and those with less efficiency with the letter G”, while “the range of colors It provides the same information where green is associated with high performing products and red with low performing ones.”

Therefore, to save on the electricity bill, the person should pay attention to the level of effectiveness and the monthly consumption of the product.

However, Jara also explained that in the country there is another type of label, a stamp called Star Energy which is usually present in laptops or monitors that respond “with low operating power characteristics hibernation mode, automatic start in periods of inactivity and low consumption Be ready”.

The SEC seal, which includes a QR Code is a label designed by the Superintendence of Electricity and Fuels that allows verification that the products respect the national standards in force .

Mendoza pointed out that the importance of this seal is due to “security aspects ”, since, by scanning the QR code with the mobile phone, the consumer will be able to get all the information about the product .

For this reason, Jara ruled that “the SEC seal is not related to equipment efficiency considers only product aspects and certification data”.