Simple ways to reduce energy use and lower your bills

These are some expert suggestions that will help you reduce your gas and electricity usage, examine your energy tariff, and save money while improving the comfort of your home. Some of our best advice only takes a few minutes, so you can start lowering your energy costs right away. Discover how making a few simple adjustments can result in significant annual savings by reading on.

Service your boiler and modify the flow temperature

The majority of households spend more than half of their annual energy budget on central heating. Therefore, switching to a new, energy-efficient gas heater instead of an outdated, inefficient one could significantly reduce your bills. The Energy Saving Trust estimates that replacing an old G-rated gas boiler with a new A-rated condensing one with a programmer, room thermostat, and thermostatic radiator valves in a typical three-bed semi-detached house would result in annual savings of £540. This estimate is based on energy prices in October 2022. You may save £840 a year if you reside in a detached property. A mid-floor apartment would allow you to save £230 a year. You can get in touch with experts like estate agents in Winchester to find the property that will best suit your budget.

Examine your energy bill for potential little savings

Most consumers shouldn’t transfer energy suppliers at this time. Currently, very few, if any, suppliers are providing fixed tariffs that are worthwhile switching to. On October 1, 2022, the out-of-contract tariff price cap increased. Even if the government’s Energy Price Guarantee is reducing bills, the new rates are still higher than they were previously. As a result, the majority of homes in the nation are currently paying higher energy expenses than they were previously. There are a few simple techniques to negotiate lower energy bills with your energy provider:

– Select online account management and paperless billing (some companies charge extra for paper bills)

– Pay using a debit card. Typically, this is less expensive than paying a bill when it arrives.

– To ensure that your charge is accurate, send regular metre readings. If you have a smart metre, it will perform this task automatically. If any direct debit increases seem excessive, you should question them. Your energy provider should be able to explain the adjustments, and over the course of a year, your usage and payments ought to be in balance.

Utilise equipment more effectively

The appliances in your home are responsible for a large portion of your annual electricity usage. Using your appliances more effectively can reduce your annual costs by valuable pounds. The annual running costs of each large appliance are revealed by our laboratory tests. The findings can be used to determine where savings might be made and how much on average it costs to run various appliances.

Purchasing new, energy-efficient equipment

If you’re in the market for a new appliance, adopting energy-efficient models will reduce your electricity costs. For instance, based on size, running costs for washing machines under the new October 2022 energy unit rates can range from £31 to £115 annually. Over the course of an appliance’s lifetime, these little discrepancies can add up to significant variations in overall costs. For more information, see our guide on washing machines that are energy efficient.

– The EU energy-efficiency grade is the clearest sign of a product’s energy efficiency.

– To better determine which appliances consume less energy, we measure energy usage in a manner that simulates how you actually use them.

The largest savings calculated from Which? product tests based on the difference between the highest and lowest annual running costs are shown below. These numbers are based on the Energy Price Guarantee for October 2022:

Refrigerator-freezer: £167.61

Washing machine: £83.78 Tumble dryer: £188.21

Washing machine: £71.09

Theoretically, you could save up to £510 a year on energy costs if you replaced the four appliances in your home that used the most energy with the ones that used the least.

Insulation

According to estimates from the Energy Saving Trust based on figures from October 2022, insulating your loft may result in annual savings of up to £590 for a detached home. A typical semi-detached home may save £355 a year on energy costs by installing loft insulation from zero to a thickness of 270mm. This is because less heat will escape through the roof. It costs £330 a year to live in a mid-terrace home. A semi-detached property costs about £480, so the savings would be recouped in under two years.

Change the light bulbs

It’s an old piece of advice that the majority of us have already followed. However, it’s also important to note that energy-saving light bulbs can significantly reduce your energy costs. Since lighting accounts for 11% of the average UK home’s electricity use, it is definitely something to think about. The most energy-efficient light bulbs are LEDs, which consume nearly 90% less electricity than conventional incandescent lights. Compared to conventional bulbs, CFL bulbs consume 70–80% less energy. According to the Energy Saving Trust, replacing a single 100-watt incandescent bulb with an LED one could result in annual savings of £15 pounds. A 50-watt halogen lamp might be replaced with an LED for a £6 annual savings. These savings might add up to a lot of money when you sum up all the lightbulbs in your home.

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