How to reduce your energy bills

Benefits of reducing your energy usage

One of the major benefits of reducing your energy usage is that you will save money on energy bills. Reducing your energy usage is also a benefit to the planet. If you save energy at home, you can reduce your carbon footprint.

Help the environment

You can help the environment by using less energy around your home. About 22% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from homes. This includes heating, lighting and appliances such as fridges and freezers, according to the Energy Saving Trust (EST). By using less energy at home, you will cut your own carbon emissions. This will help to slow global warming and climate change.

Save money

If you use less gas and electricity, you will save money on energy bills. The EST estimates that by making some small changes around your home, you could save £445 per year. These include draught-proofing any gaps, turning off lights, washing at 30 degrees and not overfilling your kettle.

Even with rising utility prices, cutting usage will mean your bills don’t rise as much as they otherwise would.

Heating and hot water

Heating and hot water are a good place to start:

• Swap one bath a week for a shower. This takes less time and uses less water. It could save you £11 over a year.
• Insulating your hot water cylinder could lead to a saving of £55.
• Keeping showers down to four minutes or less could knock £95 off the average energy bill.
• You’ll also save money by turning on your hot water only when you need it – rather than keeping it on all the time.

Use heating timers effectively

Use heating timers so you only turn central heating on when you need it. You should be able to set a timer for it to come on and off throughout the day, setting it to come on half an hour before you get up, for example. If you’re out during the day, leave it off. You can set it to turn on just before you get home.

Turn down the thermostat

Turn down your thermostat and pull on an extra jumper instead. The UK Health Security Agency recommends that indoor temperatures are a minimum of 18C. Every one degree you turn down your heating helps you save around 10% of your energy bill, according to Citizens Advice.

Turn down radiators

You can turn down radiators in rooms that are not used. Each radiator should have its own heating control where you can turn the heat up or down. You may also be able to do this via a central smart home technology system, if you have one.

Reduce water temperature on your boiler

You may be surprised how low you can reduce the water temperature on your boiler.

• Turn the flow temperature no lower than 65C if you have a conventional boiler with a hot water cylinder.
• If there’s no hot water cylinder and it’s a combi boiler, you could try turning it down to 60C.

Reduce washing machine temperatures

Standard washing machine settings for a mixed wash load often set the temperature at 40C. Most fabric detergents and conditioners will work just as well at a lower temperature.

If you use your washing machine on a 30C cycle and reduce the number of times you use it by one cycle per week, you could shave £29 a year off your energy bills on average.

Fully load washing machines and dishwashers

You can save energy at home by only running the washing machine and dishwasher when they are fully loaded. You’ll be using the appliances less and reducing the amount of water and electricity used.

Lighting and electronics

Modern homes use a huge range of lighting and electronics that run up bills. Electricity saving tips include turning off appliances not in use and using more energy-efficient gadgets. You can make significant electricity savings.

Turn lights off

By turning off all the lights in your home when not using them, you could make £25 a year in electricity savings, according to the EST. Some modern lights connect to smart home technology. They may turn off if there is no activity in a room or you can control them from an app.

Switch to energy-saving lightbulbs

Replacing all of the halogen light bulbs in a house with energy-efficient LED bulbs could save you as much as £3,000 over the lifetime of the bulb. They are designed to last longer, cutting a home’s carbon dioxide emissions by up to 50kg. That’s equivalent to driving a car 145 miles.

Lighting runs up 11% of a home’s energy consumption, according to the EST. Incandescent light bulbs are now banned. Switching from an old 100-watt bulb to an LED bulb could save £14 per bulb per year.

Turn electronics off standby

Even if an electronics device is on standby but not being used, it uses electricity. Turning off TVs and radios at the plug, instead of leaving them on standby, can save around £55 a year.

Avoid using tumble dryers

Tumble dryers are convenient if it’s wet outside but they are costly. If you used a clothes rack or dried your clothes on the line outside instead, you could save £60 a year from your energy bill, according to the EST.

Heated blankets

Lakeland says it costs round 5p an hour on average to keep an electric heated blanket on. The exact amount will depend on the type of blanket you have and how long you keep it turned on. But this could be cheaper than heating your entire home. It’s worth working out the costs of both, adding in the cost of the blanket too.

Upgrade appliances

By upgrading to energy-efficient appliances, you should be able to save money on your bills as they will use less energy. Electrical appliances such as washing machines and fridges are given a rating based on how much energy they use.

There is a scale from A+++ to G, with G being the least efficient and using the most energy to run. When replacing white goods, choose the highest efficiency appliance you can afford. It will be cheaper to run.

Insulating your home

Thoroughly insulating your home can boost your home’s energy efficiency and you save money on your bills. There are several different types of insulation available. They vary in price and potential savings. Cost-effective energy solutions such as loft insulation can make a big difference. Here are the most common, with their potential costs, according to the EST:

Loft insulation costs around £930 for a semi-detached house or £880 for a mid-terrace house. A quarter of a home’s heat is lost through the roof so there are significant savings to be made on your bills.

Cavity wall insulation costs an average of £2,700 for a semi-detached house or £1,500 for a mid-terrace house. If you live in a home built after the 1920s it may have cavity walls, which have a gap in-between where heat can escape.

Solid wall insulation is more expensive and it’s suitable for older homes, built before the 1920s, with solid walls. The brick within the wall is insulated and for a three-bed semi-detached house external wall insulation can cost around £12,000 while internal wall insulation is around £7,500.

Floor insulation can cost around £4,700. Insulation can be placed above concrete or timber floors to improve the home’s energy efficiency rating.

Average savings of home insulation (from the EST)

You may be able to get free, or discounted, insulation through your energy provider or via a government scheme. Sadly, the government’s Green Deal doesn’t exist any more. It gave discounted insulation through green energy suppliers. But there are other options.

The government has a free eligibility checker tool that can show you the types of insulation you may be able to apply for.

Energy suppliers

Energy prices are capped by the regulator, Ofgem’s, price controls. This means energy providers can’t charge most customers more than a fixed amount for gas and electricity. This level is reviewed every quarter and has bounced up and down recently. So while an energy supplier comparison may not save you money, there are several ways to help budget your energy bills.

Pay by direct debit

Paying by direct debit is the cheapest way to pay for your energy bill. Companies offer discounts for direct debit customers. You’ll save around 7% compared with paying manually each time you receive your bill, according to British Gas.

Should you switch supplier?

If you switch from a variable rate tariff, where the price can change, to a fixed-rate tariff, where the price is locked in, you could save money. Check the fixed rates available from a range of suppliers.

Can a smart meter help?

Smart meters are free and available from energy suppliers. They show you exactly how much energy you’re using around the house. While they can’t technically save you money, they can show you which household appliances cause surges in energy usage. You can then use those less or turn them off.

Smart meters also send data about your energy usage straight to your supplier so you no longer have to give manual readings.

Financial support

Financial support is available if you are struggling to pay your energy bills. You are not alone. More than 5.3 million people are in debt to their energy supplier, according to Citizens Advice.

You can contact your energy supplier and it must provide you with help. This might be:

An affordable repayment plan

Advice on where you can save money

Lower bills.

It should also tell you about any hardship programmes available or energy saving grants. Many of these schemes are open to anyone, whoever their energy supplier is. Some have eligibility requirements that you’ll need to meet to apply.

Examples include the following:

• British Gas Energy Trust
• EDF Customer Support Fund
• E.on Next Energy Fund
• Scottish Power Hardship Fund
• OVO Customer Support Package
• Shell Energy’s Help Fund
• Octo Assist Fund

Summary – Reducing your energy bills

You can save money by reducing your energy bills and there are lots of small changes you can make that can make a big financial difference.

While we may not yet be at the stage of carbon neutral homes in the UK, any change you can make will help. Switch off the lights. Unplug appliances. Upgrade to more energy-efficient appliances when you can. And insulate your home.

While all of these won’t always apply, if you can begin to implement those that do, you should see your energy bills reduce. This saves you money, cuts down your carbon emissions and helps to save the planet too.