Saving energy will cut down on your energy consumption, reducing your heating bills. Following this checklist could save you a substantial amount of money, while keeping your home pleasantly-heated:
- Insulate your loft. Effective loft insulation can reduce bills by up to 20% by preventing energy from escaping through the roof.
- Install cavity wall insulation. Older houses lose a significant amount of heat through their external walls. Cavity wall insulation can effectively prevent this.
- Buy Energy Efficient devices. Modern technologies allow for the creation of products which are just as effective as their older counterparts, but use significantly less energy.
- Wash your laundry at 30C. Modern washing detergents are designed to work well at lower temperatures. Studies show that doing the washing at thirty degrees is no less effective than at forty for lightly-stained clothes.
- Draw your curtains at dusk. During the day, keeping the curtains open helps heat the house. At night, keep them shut to keep heat indoors.
- Avoid drying clothes on radiators, as is lowers the room temperature and makes your boiler work harder.
- Install energy efficient light bulbs. They are just as bright as standard bulbs, but last a lot longer and use a lot less energy. While they’re a little more expensive, they easily pay for themselves over their lifespan.
- Only boil as much water as you need. When cooking vegetables, only use enough to cover them, and when boiling a kettle only use a teacup’s worth.
- Don’t leave appliances on standby; turn them off at the plug instead. Appliances still use power when in standby, and the cumulative effect of this can be fairly expensive.
- Turning your thermostat by just 1 degree can knock 10% off your energy bill, and you probably won’t feel the difference.
- Fit your boiler with a new insulating jacket. It’ll pay for itself within months.
