If you’re an avid lover of saving energy, not just because it helps save money, but to do it to help benefit the planet too, these tips and tricks will help save energy for not only your household but for the environment too!
There are many ways to save energy, but there are also ways to save energy whilst cutting back on your bills! Here we are going to provide tips and tricks on how to do just that!
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Top 10 Energy Saving Tips For Your Home
Tip #1 A Matter of Degrees
Now, this tip is short but very sweet. The best thing about this tip is that it’s free, simple, and you probably won’t even notice that you’ve done it, but by doing this could cut your energy bills by £75 a year! What is it, you ask? You can save this money and energy by turning down your thermostat by just one degree!
Tip #2 Standby for switch-off!
The real question to ask here is, how many devices/appliances do you leave switched on at the plug, letting them cruise in standby mode when you’re not using them? I think we all know the answer to that because it’s almost certain that we do leave our devices in standby mode!
Even though your devices are not switched on and running, they still use a tiny bit of electricity in standby mode, which can add up over time. With today’s technology, you are able to switch off your electrical goods at the mains without losing their settings. A great example of this is switching off your TV without losing your channels! Switching off your electrical appliances at the mains is simple and effective, which could save you up to £30 a year!
Tip #3 Unplugged chargers
Let’s face it, how many of us charge our mobile devices overnight while we sleep? Yes, it definitely seems like the most obvious thing to do, charge our phones while we aren’t using it. The problem with this is that, once our devices are charged up it carries on using electricity that it doesn’t necessarily need. Say you are asleep for 7-8 hours, your phone will charge within 2 of those hours, leaving a few hours of unnecessary electricity being used!
A better solution to this is to charge your phone just before you go to sleep, then unplug your charger from the wall overnight. You’ll be surprised about how little battery your mobile device uses within those hours of you sleeping, especially if you are in low power mode. Another viable solution for this is to put your phone on charge as soon as you wake up in the morning, before leaving for work.
Tip #4 Bleed your radiators
As deceiving and violent as this may sound, this really is not what you think it is. All you need is a handy radiator key and a bit of tissue paper, and there you have it! A much more efficient heating system. Here’s a guide from BOXT, on how to bleed a radiator.
Tip #5 Install a new boiler
A boiler replacement may not be something you are looking to splash out for, but upgrading your old boiler to a new A-rated condensing boiler which comes with a programmer, room thermostat, and thermostatic radiator controls.
To put it in perspective, a detached house upgrading from a G-rated boiler could save you up to £320 a year! What’s not to love?
Tip #6 Wash clothes at a lower temperature
How hot do you really need your clothes to be while they’re tumbling around in your washing machine? Washing at 30 degrees as opposed to 40 degrees can be a third cheaper! Resulting in savings of £52 a year! Not only that, a huge chunk of energy will be saved by not having to heat the water so much.
Tip #7 Lights out!
Your parents were not lying when they asked you to turn off the lights when you left the room! Better yet, why not replace your old-fashioned, energy-hungry lights with modern, energy-efficient LED’s, which could save around £35 a year! Also, it is worth taking into account that LED’s last much longer than your old-fashioned bulbs… It’s a no brainer!
Tip #8 Stop passing wind!
Not literally but yes, stop passing wind! There’s nothing worse than trying to get cosy on a cold winter night, and you feel a constant chilly draught blowing across the back of your neck. Actually come to think of it, there is something worse, the amount of energy wasted in the process of a draught shivering down your spine!
No fear, the tips are here! This is a relatively easy and quick fix. Known as ‘draught-proofing’, seal all cracks in floors and skirting boards, and draft excluding tape to go around your window frames. This could result in a saving of an additional £20 per year.
Tip #9 Monitoring your usage
Keeping an eye on your energy consumption levels can help you decide if and when you have to change the way you use your energy. It will encourage everybody in your household to adopt good energy-saving habits.
Installing a smart meter allows you to track your consumption accurately with real-time information.
Tip #10 Why not splash out on double glazing?
Yes, it may seem like a big investment at the time of getting double glazing, but this is a marathon, not a sprint!
Double glazing insulates your home from the cold and helps reduce your heating bill, as well as keeping the potentially disturbing noise out too.
If your house is single-glazed, you could save a whopping £160 a year by installing A-rated double glazing windows!
All in all, one of the best money-saving techniques is to simply switch energy supplier, saving up to £243 by choosing a cheaper deal. While this may be one of the easiest ways to save money on energy costs, above are a list of changes that can contribute to keeping the costs down on your overall energy bill.