8 Ways to Cut Your Energy Bills and Save Money

We’d all like to save a bit more money, especially in the current climate with living and energy costs rising, who doesn’t want more for their money? However, this is often much easier said then done whilst we’d all like the ability to be more frugal it does often come much easier to some than others. Nevertheless, when it comes to your home, small changes can actually mean big results and you could get your property more energy efficient.

 

1) Turn off and unplug appliances - Turn appliances off at the plug to save an average of £30 a year. Use plug sockets that can be turned on and off via your phone, to make sure you switch unused appliances off. You could use cheaper timer plugs to schedule turning appliances off.

 

2) Set timers/ use a programmable Thermostat – If your heating bills are leaving you with a chill then set a timer for your heating to come on only at times it’s needed, for example half an hour before you get home from work so it’s nice and toasty for when you get home. This also allows you to ensure your heating isn’t on all the time and wasting energy. You could also try and occasionally turn the heating off completely!

 

3) Stop the draught - Stopping heat from escaping through unwanted gaps could help you save up to £20 a year, although you could save far more with professional draught-proofing. Take a look at the following areas: 

 

• Windows: Use draught-proofing strips around the frame. Brush strips work better for sash windows. 

• Doors: Use draught-proofing strips for gaps around the edges, and brush or hinged-flap draught excluders on the bottom of doors. 

• Chimney and fireplaces: If you don't use your fireplace, use an inflatable pillow to block the chimney, or fit a cap over the chimney pot. If you have an open chimney, this alone could save you £15 a year. 

• Floorboards and skirting: Floorboards need to move, so use a flexible silicone-based filler to fill the gaps. 

• Loft hatches: You can prevent hot air escaping by using draught-proofing foam strips.

 

4) Get a new boiler - More than half of what you spend on energy in a year goes on heating. So, replacing an old, inefficient boiler with a modern energy-efficient one makes a big difference to your bill. If you upgrade an old G-rated gas boiler with a new A-rated condensing model, including a programmer, you could trim your fuel bills by as much as £652 a year. If you don’t currently have heating controls, installing them at the same time will help you to save even more money. A condensing boiler is a good choice if you’re looking for efficiency. They capture waste heat released from the flue, and use it to heat water returning from your central heating system. But a new boiler is expensive, costing between £1,200 and £3,800 when you include installation. Expect to pay at the higher end of the scale if you’re replacing a conventional heat-only boiler with a condensing combi boiler. So, if saving money is your priority, it’s probably not worth replacing your current boiler until it’s beyond economic repair. 

 

5) Replace your light bulbs and remember to turn lights off - Energy-saving light bulbs can help you to cut your energy bills easily. An LED light bulb costs around £1.71 a year to run . Over its lifetime, it could cut around £180 from your energy bills, compared with an old-style bulb. Turning lights off is also a must if you want to cut electricity costs. Turning off your lights will reduce energy consumption related to lighting, as well as energy consumption used to cool your home.

 

6) What about water? - You can save around £25 a year by washing up in a bowl rather than using a running tap. Buying a more efficient shower head can save you as much as £18 per person a year on energy bills, plus an additional amount if you have a water meter. If you fit a shower timer in your bathroom, you could save up to £7 per person each year by cutting just one minute off every shower. When it comes to your washing machine you can save energy by washing a full load on 30 degrees. Also make sure you regularly check your toilet for leaks, a leaking toilet can waste more than 100 gallons of water a day and equate to a hefty water bill!

 

7) Change your energy supplier – We know, que eye roll but in recent years it’s now become easier than ever to find a better deal and change your energy provider. Comparison websites take the stress out of trolling through different websites with different deals and a lot of providers have made switching a quick and simple form to complete online. Switching providers can save up to £300 a year, so surely it’s worth setting some time aside? Don’t forget you can also now purchase a smart meter which helps you keep track of how much energy you are using. 

 

8) Invest in a ventilation solution - Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) is a whole house ventilation system that both supplies and extracts air throughout a property. Heat recovery is a domestic heat recovery system, which is increasingly used to reduce the heating and cooling demands of buildings. Heat recovery systems typically recover about 60–95% of the heat in exhaust air and have significantly improved the energy efficiency of buildings.

 

A heat recovery ventilation system works by extracting moist and stale air from wet rooms in your home, it recovers the usually lost heat from the extracted air. It also supplies clean, filtered fresh air that is heated from the recovered warmth of the extracted heat. Heat recovery ventilation, also known as mechanical ventilation heat recovery, is an energy recovery ventilation system which works between two sources at different temperatures. Heat recovery is a method which is increasingly used to reduce the heating and cooling demands of buildings.

 

A Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation (MVHR) is a system that works to extract excess moisture in the air yet also recovers the heat, meaning that it provides your home with ventilated air but doesn't take out any necessary warmth. A MVHR unit can make your home more energy efficient when installed correctly, extracting moisture caused by condensation which can be especially prevalent in wet rooms like bathrooms and kitchens. Because the fresh air is pre-warmed, heat loss from ventilation is largely avoided. This means the householder can spend less on heating their property, reducing costs by around 25%, therefore saving money and ensuring a healthy, well ventilated home.