Even with the government’s intervention to help lower energy rates, we’re all still acutely aware that our bills are higher than ever before. So, other than putting on more layers and doing laps around the living room, here are a few of our favourite top tips to help keep your home warm and energy bills low this winter.
Turn your thermostat down
If you do one thing, do this. By turning your thermostat down just 1 degree, you could save up to 10% on your energy bills.
Turn your appliances off standby
Standby is the energy used by electric appliances when not in use. If you switch them off at the mains, you could save around £65 a year according to the Energy Saving Trust.
Draught-proof
Your home can lose up to 10-15% of its heat through doors and floors, 25% through the roof and 35% through walls. Some of the key places to check are, windows, loft hatches, floorboards, and pipework that leads outside. There are many affordable products on the market to help prevent winter draughts, but it’s also a good idea to remember simple hacks like, closing internal doors to prevent heat escaping individual rooms.
Don’t block radiators
This might seem obvious, but if you’ve ever moved into a new home and wondered why on earth the radiator is where it is, then thought nothing of putting a sofa in front of it, we’re talking to you. Blocking radiators prevents heat from circulating efficiently around your home, wasting both energy and money. Make sure you have a large enough gap between your radiators and furniture to feel the benefits.
Bleed your radiators
To ensure your home heating system is operating efficiently, you might need to occasionally bleed your radiators. If your radiator is not heating up properly or it’s hot at the bottom and cold on top, that is a sign that it needs bleeding. Worry not, you just need a radiator key (from most hardware stores) and some tissue (if you’re a beginner, you might want a plastic tub for any spills). Make sure your heating is off to prevent any burns, locate the bleed point and use the key to open the valve anti-clockwise, just enough to hear air escaping (hissing sound). Once the hissing stops, water will follow, so be prepared to quickly close the valve off again.
Do a full laundry load
Sounds obvious, but in theory when you have school PE kit demands and a forgotten meeting, we often put the machine on without thinking. But if you reduce your washing loads by one each week for a year and wash at 30 degrees, you could save around £34 a year.
Reduce your shower time
We all love a nice hot shower on a cold winter morning, but how often do you check the time whilst you’re daydreaming about the Maldives. If you cut your families shower time to just 4 minutes each, you could save around £95 a year (based on a 3-bed household).
Swap to LED bulbs and turn lights off
One of the simplest savings to be made. Turn off your lights. If you leave a room, turn off the light. You could save around £25 a year on your annual energy bill by simply remembering to turn off the lights you aren’t using. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to switch up your bulbs to LED lights. Not only could you reduce your carbon emissions by 40kg a year, but you could also save yourself around £7 per bulb, per year (based on 60watt).
All stats are from the Energy Saving Trust and correct at time of print.