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Natural Gas vs LPG – Price Increases Explained
Recently the news has been full of headlines about rising gas prices, gas supply challenges, and sadly some energy suppliers going out of business.
Making sure your home is well prepared for the colder months ahead can make a big difference to the comfort of your home, as well as helping to keep the costs of your energy bills down and reduce energy wastage when it’s needed most.
With that in mind we’ve prepared some tips on how you can better use the heating in your home during the colder months ahead, how to lower your energy bill in winter, and even do your bit for the planet in the process.
Smart heating controls
Smart heating controls allow you to have greater control over the heating in your home by providing you with the technology to activate the heating at different times of the day, in different rooms using a smart thermostat that can be accessed via a smart phone or tablet.
Some of the perks of a smart heating control include:
Don’t worry if you can’t fit a smart heating control at the moment. Just turning the temperature on your thermostat down by 1C could potentially save you up to £55 a year on bills and help to lower your carbon footprint by up to 300kg.*
Control your lights
Installing dimmer switches in your home can give you much greater control over your daily energy use. Being able to adjust how much light you use in a room as well as when, will all add up over time and consume less energy each month.
Simply getting into the routine of switching lights off whenever you leave a room, or replacing your lights with more energy efficient bulbs (such as LED bulbs) can help with this too.
Avoid wasting water
You’d be surprised how quickly it can add up, but thinking about how you can reduce your use of hot water is an easy way to save money on energy bills. If you’re making a warm drink, consider how much water needs to be in the kettle each time you boil it and only use what you need.
The same goes for bathing and water usage. When you have a shower, try not to run it for too long before you get in and consider reducing the amount of time you spend in the shower. If you were to spend one minute less in the shower every day, as well as fitting a water efficient shower, you could save up to £47 per person on bills* a year and hundreds of litres of water too!
In addition, make sure that whenever you’re washing your clothes or putting the dishwasher on, you’re doing a full load to ensure you’re not wasting water or energy.
Saving energy in the kitchen
There are some small things you can do when you’re cooking and preparing food to help conserve a little bit of energy too.
For example, defrosting food in the fridge instead of in the microwave is a simple way to save some energy consumption as you’re not using any additional energy.
It’s also important not to neglect your oven. Make sure it’s cleaned regularly as this can help it perform more efficiently. When an oven is deep cleaned, it will reach the desired temperature more quickly which helps to conserve energy. It will also distribute heat in a much better, more efficient way compared to a dirty oven. This means that your food will be cooked more evenly too**.
Furthermore, using ceramic or glass baking trays can also help reduce the amount of energy used to cook as they retain heat much better than metal trays.
Unplugging devices and appliances with high energy usage
Another aspect to consider is what appliances and devices in your home use the most energy. Identifying these means you can potentially find ways to use them less.
The electronic devices you have around your house use a surprising amount of energy and account for 19% of total electricity use in the average household, but wet appliances such as washing machines and dishwashers are the highest consumers of electricity and make up 25% of the average household electrical use and 15% of total household bills***. Reducing the frequency you use these appliances could positively impact your energy bills.
You should also try to unplug devices, items, or machines when they’re not in use. It’s surprising how much this can make a difference to the efficiency of your energy consumption, particularly if you discover an appliance you weren’t aware was consuming a high amount of electricity or energy on a daily basis.
We hope these tips can help you find ways to save money on your energy bills this winter. Taking regular but small steps can help you to run your home more efficiently, saving energy and money on your energy bills in the process.
Sources
* https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/hub/quick-tips-to-save-energy/
*** https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/top-five-energy-consuming-home-appliances/
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