Winter is coming and we’ve been warned of yet another price hike in our energy bills, so here’s our Energy Saving Tips. We’ve thought of just a few ways in which you can dramatically increase your home’s energy efficiency and save money in the long term. A lot of this may be intuitive but there should be some useful tips here. This may be especially important too, if you’ve got tenants with an all-inclusive contract.
5 – Cooking
Cooking uses a lot of energy especially if you’re using large gas hobs or frequently use the oven. When cooking in the hob, cover your pans and don’t use inordinate amounts of water as you’ll be wasting energy. When using the oven, try and cook a fair few things in it at once or your pointlessly heating it up – a microwave is far more efficient. Oh and make sure you don’t leave the cooker on as you risk creating a fire which if negligence is proved may not be covered by your property insurance.
4 – Lighting
A seemingly obvious one but still a big problem – switch it off, or get energy saving lightbulbs. Did you know that your average filament bulb is only 5% efficient? The rest of the energy is given off in heat. Energy saving lightbulbs last up to 10 times as long and are up to 95% efficient too! Oh and for your Christmas lights try and get LED ones as theyre extremely efficient and cheap to run.
3 – Hot Water
Hot water tanks can be extremely inefficient, and many still operate without insulation. If you cover it in a simple insulation jacket the cost savings will soon become evident. Try to take showers rather than baths and again, look at the thermostat – you don’t need boiling water, about 60°C will do. When washing up fill a washing up basin and don’t waste hot running water.
2 – Heating
Heating is crucial and we’re not saying that you should by any means live in the cold with lots of jumpers – no, a home is meant to be comfortable. If you turn the heating down by a modest 1 °C, you can save about 10% energy, a saving that you will notice but a drop in temperature you won’t.
1 – Insulation
Perhaps the most important factor which will save you money is to have insulation. An un-insulated house will lose about a third more energy than an insulated one. Your attic can easily be installed with insulation between the beams. Cavity wall insulation is slightly more problematic to install but you should see savings of around £150 a year in a small house which has had cavity wall and loft insulation installed.