Double glazing helps save energy and slash fuel bills
The announcement by British Gas that its gas prices will be cut by 10% next month is great news, and there should be more good news to come as the other major energy firms follow suit.
However, you can probably reduce your fuel bills further by becoming more conscious about your usage and taking steps to become more energy efficient.
MoneySupermarket.com have provided the following top tips to minimise your gas and electricity bills:
1. Turn your thermostat down – now. By reducing your room temperature by just 1°C you could save an astonishing 10% on your annual heating bills.
2. Switch off and save. Don’t leave electrical appliances on standby as it still uses power. Make it a nightly ritual to ensure all lights and appliances are off and watch those savings mount. For example, leaving your computer on ’sleep’ means it is still using 75% of its energy.
3. Almost 25% of heat is lost via poorly insulated roofs. Invest in insulation – it is cheap and effective. What is more, many free grants are available from local councils for pensioners and those on low incomes.
4. Heating the whole house is justifiable for a large family but for working couples and singles, it is more cost-effective to heat only the rooms you use most. Invest in a low energy heater.
5. In the winter months, it pays to close all your curtains as soon as dusk sets – they keep the heat in and are one of the simplest and easiest ways of cutting back on heating bills.
6. Change to energy saving light bulbs. You can save up to £40 over the lifetime of the bulb.
7. Invest in a microwave oven. They are fast and efficient particularly for small families and singles and use a fraction of the energy of a conventional gas or electric cooker.
8. Watch out for draughts around doors (keyholes, letter boxes, gaps in doors and windows). Heat escaping your home is money wasted, so get yourself kitted out. Draught excluder packs are available from most DIY stores and for as little as £60. It is estimated that good draught exclusion around an average terrace can save as much as £25 a year, so it will soon pay for itself.
9. Double glazing is pricey to install but will make a difference to bills over time. Heat loss through windows is cut by a whopping 50% – saving around £100 a year on bills.
10. Don’t fill your kettle each time you go to make a coffee or cup of tea – only use the water you need. It will be quicker to boil and use less energy. It’s a simple tip but makes a difference.
11. Take showers and not baths. While a hot bubble bath may feel like a treat, the cost of heating the water soon mounts up. A shower uses around a third of the water of a bath.
12. If you use a washing machine turn the temperature down to 30°C. Today’s washing powders are so efficient they do not need to be used at high temperatures. Even better, get into the habit of hand-washing and just using your machine’s spin function. It saves both time and money.
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Please Note – We agree with all of this advice, but must stress that we have very affordable energy rated windows on offer at Conservatory Outlet.
While most of the energy saving tips here are good, a few are quite misleading.
Any modern computer reduces its energy consumption to less than a few percent on standby – not just 75% as claimed by the article. It’s not only computers – televisions, stereos, microwave ovens, garage door openers – in fact any appliance with electronic controls will consume a small amount of power while off waiting to be activated. Over a year this adds up – but who wants to plug every appliance in before using it?
Turning the thermostat down by 1 degree C will not save 10% on heating bills unless the outside temperature is quite close to the set temperature. If the inside temperature is 20 C and the outside temperature is -10 C it will have a much smaller effect.
And I was hoping that I could turn down my thermostat by 10 degrees and save 100% on my heating bill….