23
January 2019
Save Money On Your Energy
An average energy usage customer can save up to £751 on their energy bills if they are not already taking advantage of these money saving tips.
| Energy Saving Tips | |
| Switch Supplier | £252 |
| Pay By Direct Debit | £100 |
| Turn Down Thermostat | £80 |
| Control Heating | £75 |
| Get a Head | £75 |
| Careful in Kitchen | £37 |
| Switch to LED's | £35 |
| Switch Off Standby | £30 |
| Less Time in Shower | £28 |
| Install Draught proofing | £25 |
| Turn Off Lights | £14 |
| Total savings | £751 |
- Switch Supplier
The new energy price cap came into force on 1 January, saving 11 million customers an average of £76 a year on their gas and electricity bills. It means suppliers had to cut the price of their default tariffs to the level of the cap or below it. The cap affects the unit price of gas and electricity and your actual bill will still depend on how much energy you use.
But the cap still isn’t cheap when compared to switching energy companies. On average those customers on the default price cap could still save £252 by switching supplier (price checked on 22nd January 2019).
The cap will be reviewed in April and October each year and will increase in line with wholesale energy prices. It is expected that the cap will increase by at least £113 (10%) when the cap is increased in April.
That’s a 10% increase which is well above the rate of inflation or pay rises. And the way things are going we could see a similar increase in October.
- Switch to Direct Debit
Switching to paying by Direct Debit can save up to £100 a year as it reduces the administration costs for the supplier which they can pass on to the consumer.
- Turn Down Your Thermostat
Turning down your room thermostat by just one degree can save around £80 a year.
- Take control of your heating
More than half the money spent on fuel bills goes towards providing heating and hot water.
If you don’t already have them installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves and using these controls efficiently could save you around £75 a year.
Whatever the age of your boiler the right controls will allow you to:
- Set your heating and hot water to come on and off when you need them
- Heat only the areas of your home that need heating
- Get a head
If you’ve got a shower that takes hot water straight from your boiler or hot water tank (rather than an electric shower), fit a water efficient shower head. This will reduce your hot water usage while retaining the sensation of a powerful shower.
A water efficient shower head could save a four person household (e.g. a family of four or even a shared student flat) as much as £75 a year on gas for water heating, as well as a further £120 a year on water bills if they have a water meter.
(Calculation is based on the assumption that a family of 4 takes 20 showers a week and replaces a 13 litre/minute power-shower head with a 7.7 litre/min water efficient shower head, and the family are charged £2.97 per cubic meter of water used).
- Careful in your kitchen
You can save around £37 a year from your energy bill just by using your kitchen appliances more carefully:
- Use a bowl to wash up rather than a running tap and save £25 a year in energy bills.
- Cutback your washing machine use by just one cycle per week and save £5 a year on energy.
- Only fill the kettle with the amount of water that you need and save around £7 a year.
- Switch to LEDs
You can now get LED spotlights that are bright enough to replace halogens, as well as regular energy saving bulbs (‘compact fluorescent lamps’ or CFLs). They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and fittings.
If the average household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs, it would cost about £100 and save about £35 a year on bills.
- Switch off Standby
You can save around £30 a year just by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode.
Almost all electrical and electronic appliances can be turned off at the plug without upsetting their programming. You may want to think about getting a standby saver which allows you to turn all your appliances off standby in one go.
Check the instructions for any appliances you aren’t sure about. Some satellite and digital TV recorders may need to be left plugged in so they can keep track of any programmes you want to record.
- Spend less time in the shower
Spending one minute less in the shower each day will save up to £7 a year off your energy bills, per person. If everyone in a four-person household did this it would lead to a total saving of £28 a year
With a water meter this could save a further £12 per person off annual water and sewerage bills giving a total saving of £76 for a four-person household.
- Draught proofing
Unless your home is very new, you will lose some heat through draughts around doors and windows, gaps around the floor, or through the chimney.
Professional draught-proofing of windows, doors and blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can cost around £200, but can save around £25 a year on energy bills. DIY draught proofing can be much cheaper.
Installing a chimney draught excluder could save around £15 a year as well.
- Turn off lights
Turn your lights off when you’re not using them. If you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again, regardless of the type of light.
This will save you around £14 a year on your annual energy bills.
- Get savvy with smart controls
Smart heating controls are the latest innovation to help you control your heating and understand your energy use.
They allow you to control your heating remotely via a mobile app, meaning that you can manage the temperature of your home from wherever you are, at whatever time of day.
