We know that the cost of energy bills can be high, so we've put together some handy tips and tricks which can help you save money on your energy bills.
If you're struggling to keep up with your energy costs, it's so important to contact your supplier, especially if you miss, or are in danger of missing a payment – they may be able to give you advice, or help you find a way to manage your payments. You might also benefit from one of the government’s schemes designed to assist people who struggle with their energy bills.
Visit the Citizen's Advice website for information on the different schemes available.
The below gives a good overview of how much money you could save by doing some simple things in and around your home.
It's also really important that your home is adequately insulated. This includes loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, internal wall insulation and external wall insulation.
If you did all of the below, you could save (per year) on your energy bills. Keep scrolling for more information on how you can achieve these savings.
When your TV and other appliances are on stand-by mode, they're still using electricity. Whilst it’s not possible to switch your fridge and freezer off, items to consider switching off when not in use are:
Adjusting the temperature of your fridge and freezer will help as well. The optimal temperature of your fridge should be between 3 and 5 degrees Celsius, and between -15 and -18 degrees Celsius for your freezer.
Every degree lower requires an additional 5% more energy to process, it all adds up.
You can save £80 per year just by turning your thermostat down by 1 degree. The optimum heat in your home is anywhere between 18-21 degrees Celsius depending on how well insulated your home is.
Here are two videos from Energy Saving Trust showing how to use your thermostat and boiler heating system efficiently:
Traditional lightbulbs waste energy and are bad for the environment. Knowing which lightbulbs are right for your home will save money and the planet.
Low energy lightbulbs have a reputation of not being bright enough, but understanding the difference between Watts and Lumen will make a big difference for the brightness of your home.
The Energy Saving Trust says: 'Typically we're used to looking at Watts to determine how bright a bulb will be. Watts measures power consumption not brightness. Low energy bulbs use fewer Watts than traditional bulbs so you cannot look at Watts to gauge brightness of a low energy bulb. Instead you have to look for a bulb’s lumen output.'
The table below shows the relationship between wattage of traditional bulbs and lumen values of (more efficient) LEDs/CFLs.
| Traditional bulb | LED / CFL bulb |
| 15 watt | 140 lumen |
| 25 watt | 250 lumen |
| 40 watt | 470 lumen |
| 60 watt | 800 lumen |
| 75 watt | 1,050 lumen |
| 100 watt | 1,520 lumen |
The average toilet will use around two gallons of water per flush. This is a huge improvement on the older cisterns that used around eight gallons of water per flush.
You can save more water per flush by using water displacement devices. These devices sit in your toilet cistern and can save 51 litres of water per person, per day.
To find out more about water saving devices, which includes freebies, please visit the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle website.