Energy Saving Tips

With gas and electricity prices going through the roof at the moment and more price hikes on the way. It’s more important than ever to make sure our homes are as energy efficient as possible.

Take a look at our tips to help you save energy and money.

Turn Down Your Thermostat

A really effective way to save energy is to turn down your thermostat. If you turned it down 1 degree you could save around 4% on your bills. Did you know? Most healthy adults can cope with temperatures of 18 degrees, but a majority of people think 20-22C is the optimum temperature.

Change Your Bulbs

An LED bulb consumes around 10W on average. However, the older incandescent bulbs to around 60W, and the earlier produced energy-saving bulbs at around 14W. So, upgrading your bubs should save energy and money. It costs about £23 a year to run an incandescent bulb, whereas a modern LED bulb costs around £3.60 per bulb – if you are able to change all the bulbs in your home, it adds up to a great saving over the year.

Get Rid of Draughts

Having drafts in your windows and doors will release the heat out of your home. Adding draught excluders to the bottom of doors and around window frames or adding thick curtains to your windows will help to minimise heat loss. Looking at costs before the increase, doing this could help you save about £65 a year.

Insulate

A lot of heat loss from properties is due to poor insulation. Check that you have the correct insulation in your loft (250 – 270mm), your cavity wall, and your hot water pipes and tanks, as this will save a lot of energy. Wall losses can be around 33% and lofts around 25% - at those percentages, it will soon add up!

Washing/Drying

Dishwashers, washing machines, and dryers consume lots of electricity. Wash your clothes on the lowest temperature you can, modern detergents work well when using a 30C cycle. Also, make sure you wash full loads to cut down on usage. The same for a dishwasher – make sure your machine is full and running at the lowest temperature possible. If it’s a sunny day, line dry your clothes instead of using the tumble dryer.

Kitchen

Try to use your kitchen equipment effectively. Add only the water you need to your kettle; it’s amazing how much extra electricity you’ll use boiling water you don’t actually need. Where possible, use a microwave over your oven, as it will use significantly less energy than a gas or electric oven. Using your microwave for an hour every day costs about half the total energy of a natural gas oven and 60% less than electric ovens.

Switch It Off

Most people leave a large number of appliances and devices on standby, so they are still drawing electricity. When your devices are all charged, unplug them, not only will this save energy, but it’s also good for battery life too.

With energy prices being so high and continuing to rise, now’s the time to make your home more energy efficient.

If you can make a few small changes in your home, you should lower your usage and save some money.  

Looking to downsize to a smaller home? Our team will be happy to chat. 

Get in touch with us here.