Want to save on Energy Bills? 10 Top Tips!

From April onwards, millions of homeowners will be paying more for their gas & electricity. The price cap set by Ofgen, will see an increase in bills of £693 from £1,277 to £1,971 per year! So if you want to save on energy bills, here are 10 top tips to help you…

Top Tip 1. Wash Clothes at a lower temperature

Benefits of washing at 30˚c vs 40˚c. Washing at 30˚c uses around 38% less energy than washing at 40˚c. This is a brilliant saving. Lower temperatures are also good for helping to preserve colourful dyed fabrics (double benefits)

Considering a new washing machine? Look carefully at energy efficiency ratings to make sure your new appliance is as efficient as possible.

Wash at 30 degrees

Top Tip 2. Draughtproof your home

Draught Proofing your home can be done in many different areas…

• Sealing up any gaps around your home is a good start, using weatherstripping tape around windows and draught excluders at the bottom of doors.
• Investing in Thermal curtains or blinds, will also help stop draughts from windows.
• Installing insulation under your flooring, Our FloorFoam is most popular with use on cold, draughty floors. The addition of the insulation layer helps prevent drafts and cold from rising.

Top Tip 3. Insulate your Conservatory

Insulating your conservatory roof for use all year round use, works in 3 effective ways….

Firstly, by effectively retaining heat in the winter months.

Secondly, by repelling away unwanted heat in the summer.

Finally, it works by slowing down the heat transfer due to it’s multiple layers while preventing condensation, rain and traffic noise!

So after insulating your conservatory it will retain more heat in the winter months so stay warmer for longer. Meaning you do not have to have the heating on as often to keep the conservatory warm.

Top Tip 4. Avoid leaving appliances on stand-by

In most rooms of your house, you probably have at least one home appliance or device, on standby, quietly continuing to drain electricity.

This is part of what’s known as ‘Phantom Load’. Whenever you leave an appliance on standby, rather than switching it off at the plug, it continues to drain energy.

According to Energy Saving Trust research, between 9-16% of the electricity consumed in homes is used to power appliances when they are in this standby mode. This can waste up to £86 on an annual electricity bill!

So each day do a quick check around the house to ensure nothing is left on standby that doesn’t need to be.

Top Tip 5. Insulate your roof and loft

Loft insulation could reduce your energy bills by up to £300 per year, depending on your home!

Insulating your loft floor couldn’t be any easier, following our How To Guide with our loft floor insulation kit. This kit doesn’t use nasty, itchy fibre glass and ensures your floor height isn’t raised, keeping  loft storage boards in place.

EcoQuilt Expert insulation is only 6mm thick when compressed! As opposed to a Mineral Wool alternative which has an approximate thickness of 100mm. Making Ecoquilt a brilliant space saving option.

Insulating under your rafters is also very beneficial for stopping draughts and preserving the heat that rises through your home. We would recommend using Superquilt insulation as this is the highest performing multifoil on the market.

Top Tip 6. Be smarter about water

There are many ways we can use less water, especially hot water as this costs more as it is heated.

The Energy Saving Trust suggest that swapping one bath a week with a 4-minute shower could save you money each year. It may only be a small saving but every little helps.

In the kitchen running your dishwasher only when full saves energy, Uswitch explain that washing a half load of dishes wastes half the energy produced by your dishwasher. Using an Eco cycle also helps to conserve up to 20% of the energy that would be used.

Top Tip 7. Use fewer light bulbs with high wattage

LED lightbulbs are much more efficient than Incandescent lightbulbs. So replacing these throughout your home will save you money. The Energy Saving Trust state that replacing a 60 watt incandescent bulb with a 60 watt LED bulb, could save you up to £4 per bulb per year!

Top Tip 8. Think before boiling your kettle

Use only the amount of water you need when boiling the kettle. Ideal Home state that to boil a full kettle the average price (as of November 2021) was 20.06pence/kWh of electricity. This is set to increase in April, to around 40 pence!

Top Tip 9. Install a smart metre

Installing a Smart meter will give you better visibility of your energy use , so you can see where and how you’re using energy, and therefore where savings could be made.

You can easily track how much energy you are using today, this week, this month or this year on your in-home display.

Top Tip 10. External Wall Insulation

If you cannot insulate your home from the inside walls, this is a great alternative to still ensure your house is insulated but from the outside. External Wall Insulation  is added onto the outside of your house then cladded/boarded over to protect the insulation and for aesthetic purposes. (The diagram below shows this application)

 

So if you want to save on energy bills going forward, put some of these 10 top tips into practise and see how much you can save.

We can help with all your of your home insulation needs, which will help you to save on energy bills. Our handy How to Guides are a great way to help you identify key areas in your home that you can improve quickly and easily to help you save energy.

Or you can use our FREE buying guide which advises you which product to use!