Below we’ll highlight many tried and tested methods of saving energy and cutting energy bills!
We all use different types of energy for different things. As such, I want to try and keep this article fairly generic so it will apply to everyone, no matter if they mostly use gas, electric, oil, wood or coal.
Our biggest use of energy is generally in heating or cooling things, so to save most here cut back where you can.
Wear more clothes – I grew up in a farm cottage with a single coal fire in the lounge, the bedroom windows would be frozen on the inside during harsh winter days (get the violins out).
Now I’m not saying we need to go back to that extreme of minimal heating, but we’ve all got too comfortable wearing single layers and turning up the thermostat of our central heating because it’s easy. But how wasteful!
Set your main room for 20°C and bedrooms at 15°C, get some comfortable, warm layers. Keep doors closed and don’t heat spaces needlessly – do you need a warm hallway??
Insulate – Get the best insulation you can afford.
The recommended depth for standard loft insulation is 270mm, this depth is different for other types of insulation. If money’s tight, focus on the warmest rooms first. You might be better off having 270mm over the living room and 100mm everywhere else than 150mm over the whole loft.
Also, kind of akin to this is insulate when you cook. Put lids on pans as you’ll be able to turn the hob down and still cook in the same amount of time.
Wash at lower temperatures – It doesn’t always have to be high heat.
Most detergents can work at lower temperatures than they used to and give the same results. Check the instructions on your dishwasher or washing machine powders to see what you could be washing at effectively.
Dry clothes naturally – You don’t always need to use a dryer.
Use an indoor clothes horse or an outdoor washing line to dry your clothes. Even if you only partially dry them then put them in the dryer to finish them off and give them a nicer feel it’s still saved energy.
Only boil the water you need to – Don’t fill the kettle everytime you make a cuppa.
The average mug is 325ml. Most kettles hold 1700ml up to the max fill mark, so you’re using over five times the energy required for the single mug, and if you don’t have another for a few hours most of that extra energy will be wasted.
Cut down shower time – I used to be terrible for daydreaming in the shower.
I put a kitchen timer in the bathroom and set it for four minutes. We now save water and the energy from heating all the wasted water too. If you wanted to go really extreme you could alternate hot and cold showers!
These next few are all electrical energy saving tips.
Turn off lights – My kids used to drive me mad leaving bathroom and hallway lights on.
I installed PIR controls instead of switches so the lights come on automatically and go off after a certain amount of time once they’ve left the room. It’s not ideal for every room, but works for most rooms. They’re relatively cheap and fairly easily installed by a competent person too.
Make the most of natural light – I have some darker rooms which I’ve fitted sun tunnels to. These work like a skylight window, but are more easily installed and adapted to suit lots of different situations.
Turn off equipment – Don’t leave things on needlessly, even on standby.
I know this has been said a lot, and yes I know it seems like miniscule savings, but it all adds up. A TV at 2 watts on standby is 17.5kWh per year, that’s around £5 at current energy costs, not much, but multiply that across more devices and different devices with potentially higher standby wattages and it can add up. Does the TV in the spare room need to be left on?
Make the most of generation equipment – Don’t rely on export tariffs
If you have solar PV or a small wind turbine, don’t rely on the SEG (smart export guarantee) to pay you, use the energy yourself and save. Why get paid 7.5p for a kWh (the best tariff for most) when you could save 30p+ per kwh by using it and not importing from the grid? (more on this in generation) It can be worth wile installing a solar diverter to divert energy into heating equipment such as room heaters or water heaters. Also, look at liking the information from your Solar PV inverter to a mobile app. I just did this recently and my wife is constantly checking to see when we have enough generation to run the washing machine or dishwasher for free!
Also, if you are looking to upgrade your home it might be worth while getting an EPC report carried out. This usually costs around £150.00, but it can point you in the right direction of which energy saving alteration to implement first.