From sealing doors and windows to electric blankets, 12 top tips to bring down your energy bills as temperatures plummet
AS winter draws in, households will be turning on the heating – if they can afford to.
The Government has limited the average home’s annual energy bill to £2,500 until April, but there is no cap on what YOURS is.
So best just use less power – and save the planet.
Environmental scientist Angela Terry says: “There are steps we can all take, no-cost and low-cost actions.”
Sam Carlisle brings you tips from Angela’s website onehome.org.uk . . .
DEGREES OF CHANGE
Turn down the thermostat by 1C and save £145 a year.
In 1970, the average home was heated to 12C, now heating systems are designed to operate at from 18 to 24C.
Other heating tips are to programme it so it is only on when someone is home – and to shut curtains and blinds once it gets dark, to keep warmth in.
THINK TANK
If you have a hot-water tank rather than a combi boiler make sure the hot water is not turned on constantly, just when you need it.
DON’T BE WISHY-WASHY
Wash clothes at 30C or less, saving the average home £34 a year. Use the eco-settings on your washing machine – or dishwasher – which means lower wash and rinse temperatures.
Limit the washes you do.
Designer Stella McCartney said: “Let the dirt dry and brush it off.”
If it’s OK for Stella . . .
WRAP UP SNUG
Get an electric blanket ideal for snuggling up on the sofa of an evening, or in bed.
Octopus Energy says this costs two to four pence an hour, whereas it costs about £4 a day to heat the average home.
Buy at Dunelm, Argos or Lakeland, from £30 up to £80. One with different settings can help save.
FREE GADGETS
Water firms often offer these, to cut use. Special shower-heads can save up to £45 a year and an extra £25 if you use a meter.
Cistern bags save on loo flushes, and aerators mix air into tap water to cut use.
Talking of gadgets, electrical ones should be turned off at night rather than left on standby.
FREE MONEY
Check if you are eligible for any grants. People in low-income households and on certain benefits can apply for grants, or to have work done on their homes, through schemes like the Energy Company Obligation.
See gov.uk/helpforhouseholds, and the Ofgem website to see if you qualify.
RAD FAB
Buy specialist foil to reflect the heat produced from radiators back off the wall and into the room.
A five-metre roll will insulate three radiators. Only use this on outside walls, and it works best on uninsulated, solid walls.
You can expect to break even on a £25 outlay within 12 months.
GAME OF DRAUGHTS
Seal doors, skirting boards and windows with foam, copper or brush strips. Fill gaps in wooden floors with acrylic.
An unused fireplace can let heat out, so block with a chimney baloon, £17 at Amazon.
To plug more waste, curtains with thermal linings are available from Wayfair and Dunelm from £25 upwards.
TO FILL OR NOT TO FILL
Do not overfill the kettle. By boiling too much water each time you make a cuppa, you could be losing up to £43 a year.
But DO fill the dish-washer.
Reducing its use by one run per week for a year could save you £17.
PIPES OF PEACE
Cover accessible hot-water pipes with foam lagging, and use cable ties, duct tape or wire to keep it in place – then you can rest easy that your are saving money.
Estimated savings for lagging your pipes come in at around £18 a year, and the insulation costs around £10 for five metres.
COOK UP A SAVING
Use a microwave rather than oven if possible.
Cooking a baked potato in the latter would cost around 27p but just 3p in the former because a microwave uses less energy and you do not use it for as long.
LOFTY IDEAL
If you can, do invest in insulating your attic – it will pay off. Homes without this lose up to 25 per cent of their heat through the roof.
It is a manageable DIY job.
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Or use an approved installer, who for a semi-detached house would charge on average £530.
You should break even in 1.4 years through the energy savings.