National Cut Your Energy Costs Day
Monday 10 January is ‘National Cut Your Energy Costs Day’ which aims to encourage people to explore options and share information to help reduce energy costs and improve efficiency.
It’s often the little things you can do to help save money on your energy bill and WCHG’s Financial Inclusion Team has come up with some top energy saving tips which you can read below.
If you need financial support or advice, you can contact the Financial Inclusion Team on 0300 111 0000 / 0800 633 5500 or via the WCHG App, which is available to download via the App Store or Google Play.
- Check your boiler and thermostat settings – turn this down by a couple of degrees and you might not even notice the difference.
- Stop draughts – cover up letterboxes and add draught excluders to doors and windows to keep the warm air in and cold air out.
- Check your radiators – bleed them regularly and try to ensure sure they are away from clothes, furniture or curtains which could absorb their heat.
- Use energy saving lightbulbs – if the average household replaced all of their bulbs with LEDs, it would save about £30 a year on bills.
- Unplug chargers when they are not being used – you can save around £35 a year just by remembering to turn your appliances off standby mode.
- Use energy-efficient electric appliances - look out for the most energy-efficient models to save running costs (Models rated A+++ by the EU as a general guide).
- Wash clothes at a colder temperature and use the ‘small load’ or ‘quick wash’ option – using a washing machine at 30°C rather than 40°C can save you around a third on your bills.
- Have showers rather than baths and time your showers – showers use far less water, so by switching to them and spending less time in them you could save money on both your water and energy bill.
- Turn the tap off – don’t leave a tap running when you’re brushing your teeth, shaving or washing your face. A running tap wastes more than 6 litres of water every minute.
- Cook using a microwave – this is the most energy efficient way to heat up and cook food.
- When using a kettle, only boil the amount of water you need.
- Install a smart meter or a smart thermostat - track the energy you are using minute-by-minute and only heat rooms you are using.
