Money Saving Girl Money Saving Tips and Ideas
Related Articles
The cost of raising including higher energy prices meant many of us had to audit and optmise our spend on gas and electricity.
Slowly but surely energy deals are showing up. MoneySavingExpert has a calculator on their site that helps you decide whether to fix a deal with your utility provider or not.
Check it out –> Is it time to fix your energy or stay on the Price Cap? (moneysavingexpert.com).
Below are 7 simple energy saving hacks you can easily implement in your home! I hope you enjoy the tips! “
Table of Contents
1. Adjust the settings on your radiators.
Did you know that hot water used for heating the home accounts for half of the heating bill? Therefo .re its wise to have thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) installed on our radiators. If you have them (most o us do) make sure you use them to them to their full potential. Set the thermostat to 20 degrees. According to Martin Lewis lowering down the temperature by 1 degree results in energy saving of £95-100 a year on average!
2. Investigate places losing most heat
Identifying where are the places losing most energy is another way on a way to energy savings! According to sites such as Library of Things or Fat Llama there has been a higher interest in renting thermal cameras last year. A thermal camera can be borrowed for ca £15 per day. Octopus Energy provider also provides thermal cameras to its customers and for free! You can check draft areas in obvious places such as windows, doors or fire place. Fro fire place you can defiately get a draft excluder.
3. Use an App
There are plenty of apps allowing you to monitor your energy usage and making suggestions for tailored changes. My favourite one is the Ivie app as it tracks energy usage and offers personalised energy-saving tips! It promises to help you reduce monthly electricity use by 18% and gas use by 24%.
The Hugo Energy app illustrates energy usage in easy to understand graphs and charts. It allows you to set allerts and notifies you when you go over a set limit. It also compares tariffs from other utility suppliers. Another app called Utrack works in a similar way (compares existing utility deals).
4. Turn down your hot water temperature
Most UK homes have their hot water temperature set to 60 degrees, I believe we did too! Changing it to 42 degrees on a combi bioler could save on average £17 a year on energy! However it doesn’t water for hot water tanks as water in them needs heating to 69 degrees to reduce the risk of legionella.
5. Tweak your boiler settings
Another setting to check on your combi boiler is ‘flow temperature’ (tempertire of the water that your boiler sneds out to the radiators). It is also often set higher than necessary! Reducing the flow temperature to 60 degrees is one of the biggest one-off savings people can make (it can help save £65 annually). It laos makes the boiler work more efficiently, without a noticeable difference to how warm your house feels.
Reducing your boiler’s flow temperature by somewhere in the region of 5-10°C should reduce your gas bills by several per cent.
Boiler Flow Temperature
*ca £65 annually
6. Get paid to use less energy
Anyone with a smart meter can signed up to the National Grid ESO’s Demand Flexibility Service (DFS), which rewards households for using less electricity during the peak periods. Each of the utility supplier provides a slightly different scheme, some dont take part. Google ‘National Grid ESO’s Demand Flexibility Service (DFS)’ to check if yours utility provider offers any energy savings.
7. Ensure your appliances are most energy efficient
The energy ratings for appliances underwent significant changes recently. As of March 1, 2021, a new energy label system was introduced in the UK, replacing the previous A+, A++, and A+++ ratings with a simpler scale from A to G1. Here are the key modifications:
- New Rating Scale:
- The confusing A+, A++, and A+++ ratings were removed.
- The new scale ranges from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient).
- This reset provides room for improvement and encourages manufacturers to strive for greater sustainability.
- Specific Changes:
- Washer-Dryers: They now receive two separate ratings—one for washing and another for drying.
- Energy Consumption: The label presents energy consumption in terms of kWh per year, kWh per 1,000 hours, or kWh per 100 cycles, depending on the product group. This replaces the old estimated annual usage.
- Extra Information: Additional details vary by appliance type. For example:
- Dishwashers display place settings, water use per wash, wash duration, and noise level.
- Refrigerators indicate chilled and frozen compartment capacities and noise levels.
- TVs show energy ratings, consumption during HDR content display, screen size, and pixel dimensions.
- Washing machines and washer-dryers provide eco program details, spin dry ratings, and noise levels.
- Which? Eco Buy Label:
When shopping for appliances, keep an eye out for the new energy labels to make informed and sustainable choices! 🌿🌟
