While we are confined to our homes, do you have any energy saving tips that could help us reduce our fuel bills?
Yes, there are a number of things we can all do that won’t cost anything at all, but that could help to reduce our energy bills.
Tips for saving money on your heating
- Turn your room thermostat down by just one degree and it could save you up to £80* a year.
- Only heat the rooms you are using.If you have rooms you don’t use, turn the radiators off or if you have thermostatic radiator valves, turn them right down.
- If you have a hot water storage cylinder, turn the temperature down to 60°C/140°F. To prevent the growth of harmful bacteria it should not be lower than this temperature.
- Make sure the cylinder is well insulated. Most modern cylinders already have good insulation, but if yours is an older style, and you can see bare metal, a well fitted tank jacket could save you around £20*** a year – more if you use the electric immersion heater to warm your water!
- Don’t put clothes on your radiators, or furniture near to them. The hot air needs to circulate around a room, and so blocking the radiators could affect how warm your rooms are.
- Close curtains at dusk to help keep the warmth in and the cold out; thermal or heavy curtains will help to stop heat escaping through the windows.
Other top energy saving tips around the home
- Turn your appliances off standby – you can even buy a standby saver with a remote control to switch everything off standby at once! Remembering to unplug phone chargers and switch appliances off standby could save around £30* a year.
- Using a bowl to wash up, rather than letting the hot water tap run could save £25* on your energy bill and even more if you have a water meter.
- Only boiling the amount of water you need in the electric kettle, rather than filling it up and allowing most of the water to go cold again, could save around £6* a year.
- Make sure your washing machine and dishwasher are full before you turn them on.Reducing the number of times you use the washing machine by just one a week could save you £5* a year.
- Turn off the lights when you leave a room.
Jobs to do in the future
Here are our top tips for saving energy in the future when we can get out and about again:
- Draught-proof your home – did you know doors, windows, floors and even key holes can create a draught, letting heat escape from your home? Using draught sealant on doors and windows can really help keep the heat in and the cold out. A draught excluder is also a great way to keep your home warm, and you can even make your own. Full draught-proofing can save you, on average, £20* a year. If you have a chimney, a chimney draught excluder could save a further £15* a year.
- Get your loft insulated – it could save you around £200** a year. It’s a simple and effective way to reduce your heating bills.
- If you don’t have them, consider installing heating controls.A programmer, room thermostat and thermostatic radiator valves can potentially save you up to £80**** a year.
- If your shower uses water straight from a combi boiler or from a hot water cylinder (i.e.it is not an electric shower), fitting a water efficient shower head could save a family of four around £70* a year on gas for water heating, and a further £115 a year on water bills if you have a water meter.
* Energy saving tips from the Energy Saving Trust
** Roof and loft insulation
*** Insulating tanks, pipes and radiators
**** Thermostats and controls
