Saving energy doesn’t have to mean expensive gadgets or huge lifestyle changes.
It’s really easy to save energy, and money, in your home. And, of course, using less energy is better for the environment too.
Here are ten really easy ways that you can save energy at home and cut your bills:
- Switch off electrical devices – Never leave TVs, radios or other electrical devices on standby. Switching off fully could save around £30 a year. Games consoles, speakers and radios all use energy unless they’re turned off fully … If you switch off one of each, you’d save more than £10 a year. Take your chargers out of the socket too. Mobile phone, laptop, tablet and even toothbrush chargers all use some power when they aren’t connected to anything for charging.
- Use your curtains and blinds in all of the rooms – Letting light in during the day uses warmth from the sun to help warm your home. Closing them at night keeps the heat in. If it’s a really hot day, do the opposite and keep the sun out for a cooler room at night.
- Bleed your radiators – Regularly bleeding radiators keeps them working at their most efficient and needs less energy to produce the heat you need.
- Don’t overfill your kettle – Boiling just the amount of water you need could save nearly £20 a year. If you’re not sure, fill the cup you’re using with water and pour that into the kettle.
- Keep a flask beside the kettle – If you do get how much water you need slightly wrong, don’t waste what you’ve boiled. Keep it in a flask for a head start next time you need hot water.
- Add a dry towel when you tumble – If you’ve got a tumble dryer or combined washing machine and dryer, add a dry towel with every load. The towel helps to absorb water and will dry your clothes more quickly. Or of course, for an even cheaper solution, hang your washing outside on a dry day.
- Clean your filters – Household appliances like washing machines and dishwashers all have filters. Cleaning them regularly makes your appliance work more efficiently … and it’s better for the appliance too.
- Don’t leave space in your fridge or freezer – Opening the door to a partly empty fridge or freezer means a lot of cold air escapes. Filling space with bottles of water, or even cardboard, will mean that the fridge or freezer will be able to cool down quicker.
- Defrost regularly – When your fridge or freezer ices up, it uses a lot more energy. A regular defrost will improve efficiency … and stop that annoying noise when you open the trays!
- Vacuum your fridge – Seriously; vacuuming the coils on the back of your fridge takes away any dust and dirt and means that that everything runs more efficiently. Move the fridge away from the wall for a good clean every couple of months for best effects.
Jack Beckwith from believe housing is an energy efficiency expert. He said: “Most of these things might sound really minor on their own, but each of them makes a difference. Even if you were able to do half of the things on this list, you should notice a difference in your energy use over the course of a year.”
