Your Guide to Saving Energy at Home

Top Tips for Managing Your Home Heating

Heating your home accounts for around 60% of the cost of your energy bills. Finding small ways to improve the efficiency of heating your home can help you make real savings.

The Boiler Setting That Could Reduce Your Energy Usage

Setting your boiler’s flow to the correct temperature is a great way to save energy without losing warmth in your home. In many cases, a boiler’s flow temperature is set higher than it needs to be.

According to the money saving boiler challenge, setting the temperature to around 60 degrees could help you save up to £65 per year.

Setting A Steady Temperature

It’s also important to find a comfortable consistent temperature in the home. Regularly turning the thermostat on and off can result in more wasted energy. A temperature somewhere between 18 and 21ºC is considered to be the best for most homes.

If you’re warm enough, turning your thermostat down by just one degree could save up to £145 per year on your energy bill.

Draught-Proofing and Insulation

If your looking for an easy way to retain more heat in your home, draught-proofing can be the great starting point. Using draught-excluders and applying adhesive strops in between any gaps in windows can help you retain heat.

If your looking to make more of an investment, an insulation assessment could be the way to go. Insulating areas such as walls and your loft could save hundreds of pounds a year on your energy bills. It’s important to speak to an expert before taking on any major insulation renovation projects.

Could Smart Technology Help You Save?

Suppliers are continuing to roll out smart meters to homeowners. Often there is no cost to you when installing a smart meter with your supplier.

A smart meter allows you track your energy usage and costs easily in real time. This can give you a much better picture of what you are spending and the impact of any energy saving measures you use in the home.

You will also benefit from automatic meter readings. This will mean no more estimated billing which can see customers overcharged or needing to pay out more at a later date if your supplier finds you have been undercharged.

If you ‘re to spend a bit more on smart technology, smart thermostats can give you greater control of your energy usage.

Smart thermostats like Nest and Hive allow you to make changes to your heating from anywhere using WIFI control and an interactive phone app. You can even create personalised heating schedules.

Top Tips for Managing Electricity Usage

There a few simple steps we can take to manage the electricity usage in our homes. The type of lighting we use and the appliances we install can have a real impact on electricity bills.

Energy Saving Lightbulbs

Switching to efficient lightbulbs such as LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) can help you lower your energy usage. They use approximately 90% less energy than standard lightbulbs and could save you up to £40 a year on your energy bills.

CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamps) are another option which can be beneficial in larger spaces. They use around 60-80% less energy than traditional lightbulbs and can be recycled when they’ve burnt out.

Check the Energy Labels

Old or overly powerful household appliances can be a real drain on your electricity usage. When it comes time to replace an old appliance, it’s always important to check the energy label before you buy.

Energy labels measure a product’s energy efficiency from a scale of G-A (with A-rated appliances being the most energy efficient). According to the Energy Saving Trust, an A-rated dishwasher would cost around £35 to run whilst the equivalent G-rated dishwasher would cost around £70 a year.

Beware Energy Vampire Devices

Many appliances in the home will continue to use drain power when left in standby mode. These are commonly referred to as energy vampire devices.

It is estimated that switching these appliances off standby mode can save the average household around £45 per year.

Don’t Forget to Review Your Energy Deal

With more domestic energy tariffs returning to the market, it’s important to compare prices to make the most of any energy savings measures.

If it’s been a while since you switched suppliers, it’s likely you will be on a variable rate tariff. This means your unit rate can be changed at any time by your current supplier.

With Love Energy Savings, you can compare the latest fixed rate deals from our trusted energy suppliers.