Reducing energy consumption little by little can save you a lot of money each and every year.

There are many tips and tricks that homeowners can use to conserve energy expenditure.

When in the kitchen…

  • Boil the water using the kettle or by covering the pan with a lid – the water will boil faster, saving less time and energy.
  • You can turn the heat off earlier when boiling an egg and let the residual heat finish cooking the egg.
  • Plan ahead when thinking about cooking something that is frozen – give the frozen food enough time to defrost, otherwise you will have to consume energy using a microwave or an oven.
  • Warm the kitchen area with residual heat from the oven – once you have used the oven for cooking, you can keep the oven door oven to provide extra heat in the kitchen (be considerate of the pets and children!).
  • Have your fridge placed away from a heat source or direct sunlight and don’t keep your fridge colder that it would typically need to be. As a point of reference, your fridge should be set at 3°C, whilst your freezer should be set at -18°C
  • Remember to also defrost both the fridge and freezer quite regularly, as the more ice will build up, the harder the fridge and freezer will have to work, thus consuming more energy.
Home Energy Smart meter in the kitchen measuring temperature

Energy saving habits throughout your home

  • After washing clothes and other textiles, using natural outdoor drying methods can also save money and electricity on buying driers, using the washing machine to dry or relying on radiator heat.
  • Another great way to conserve energy is to turn down your thermostat. With only one degree lower can save you around £80 per year.
  • Take more showers and less baths. According to the Energy Saving Trust, if everyone in a family of 4 swapped one bath a week for a 5-minute shower, they’d would reduce electricity and gas costs by £20 per year.
  • Spend less time in the shower. With just one minute less under the shower each day could shave £7 per year off your bills3. In a 4 person household, that’s £28 per year.
  • If you have a garage, ensure doors are closed and insulated the entire time.
  • Keep curtains and blinds open during the day, to let in the warmth of the sun. Then close them at night, to keep the heat in and the cold out.

Be in control of your heating to conserve energy

Unknown to most, nearly two-thirds of the energy used in UK homes goes on heating – which accounts for half of our bills. By adding water and heating together, it rises to two-thirds of our average costs.

Many households, for example, will run their heating systems not taking into account of each room’s temperature requirements. By using your heating contols efficiently, you could potentially save a lot of money. We tend to think of our heating bills in terms of fuel costs – but what we’re really paying for is heat loss.

The lower the heat loss, the lower the energy use. In this aspect insulation and other heating saving methods, could be considered.