Every year in the UK hundreds of millions of pounds worth of energy is wasted in our homes. Energy we are using and paying for can be easily reduced to help us save money on our fuel bills.
The products we have fitted as part of our improvement programmes have been selected because they help conserve energy and save you money.
There are also many little changes you can make around your home that will save you money. Here are our top 10 tips:
- Turn your thermostat down. Reducing your room temperature by 1°C could cut your heating bills by up to 10 percent and typically saves around £55 per year. If you have a programmer, set your heating and hot water to come on only when required rather than all the time.
- Is your water too hot? Your cylinder thermostat should be set at 60°C/140°F.
- Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors.
- Always turn off the lights when you leave a room.
- Don't leave appliances on standby and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.
- Fill up the washing machine, tumble dryer or dishwasher if you can: one full load uses less energy than two half loads.
- Only boil as much water as you need (but remember to cover the elements if you're using an electric kettle).
- Fix leaking taps and make sure they're fully turned off. A dripping hot water tap wastes energy and in one week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath!
- Use energy saving light bulbs. They last up to 10 times longer than ordinary bulbs, and using one can save you around £40 over the lifetime of the bulb. This saving could be around £65 over its lifetime if you're replacing a high wattage incandescent bulb, or one used for more than a few hours a day.
- Do a home energy check. Just click here to visit the Energy Saving Trust website, answer some simple questions about your home and they will give you a free, impartial report telling you how you could save up to £300 a year on your household energy bills.
Naturally there are lots of questions around energy efficiency. We’ve picked 10 of the most common questions and answers below:
Question:
Is it better for me to leave the heating on low while I am out the house rather than turn it off, so that the house takes less time to heat up when I return home?
Answer:
If you want your house to be readily heated up when you wake up in the morning, or come in from an outing, you should use the timer/programmer to switch the heating on a suitable length of time beforehand.
You can time how quickly your home heats up and cools down by switching the boiler on and measuring the time taken to reach a comfortable temperature. If this is, for example, 30 minutes, then set the programmer to switch the heating on 30 minutes in advance of times when you know you will be waking up or arriving home.
Question:
Is it cheaper and more energy efficient to leave your boiler on all day for hot water?
Answer:
It always takes the same amount of energy to heat the same amount of water to the same temperature.
If you heat your water just before you need it, the only energy you use will be what is required to heat the water. But if you heat it in advance, then you have to provide that same energy plus the energy to keep it hot until you get round to using it.
Question:
How often should my boiler be serviced?
Answer:
Your boiler should be serviced once a year. We will contact you to organise the service.
Question
Does a shower really use less water than a bath?
Answer:
It depends on how long you spend showering and how quickly the water flows out of your shower.
For a typical mixer shower, which uses around 9 litres a minute, if you shower for more than ten minutes, you might be at risk of using more water than a bath.
An easy way to test yourself is to leave the plug in the bath while you shower - how full does the bath get? Try and keep your shower time down to 5 minutes whenever possible.
Question:
Is it true that you use more energy to turn lights on and off than to leave them running?
Answer:
No, switching on an energy saving bulb only uses the same amount of power as leaving it on for a minute or two.
Turning the bulb on and off repeatedly may shorten its life, but normal household use won’t cause any problems.
If you’re still using traditional bulbs, remember to switch them off every time you leave a room unoccupied. In the UK alone we waste an incredible £170 million a year by leaving lights on unnecessarily.
Question:
Should I wait until my standard bulbs have burnt out before changing them to energy saving light bulbs?
Answer:
No. The potential for savings from installing energy saving light bulbs are so high that replacing the traditional bulbs that you have at the moment is a good idea.
Question:
How can I cook more efficiently?
Answer:
Use a hob ring that matches the diameter of the pan. Place lids on saucepans. Set the oven to the required temperature and no higher (a higher setting will not warm the oven up more quickly). Turn the temperature down to a simmer once a pan is boiling. Do not open oven door during cooking. Replace damaged seals. Only heat as much water as is required and cover pans. Use a microwave rather than your oven whenever possible. A fan-assisted oven will cost less to run.
Question:
The fan in my bathroom starts automatically when I turn the light on and runs for 10 minutes after the light is switched off. Is this a waste of energy?
Answer:
No. The fan runs for long enough to control water vapour levels in the bathroom. Water vapour can cause condensation and damp if it is not removed.
If the fan did not run you would need to increase the heating to drive out the water vapour instead. If the fan was left on for longer periods that would be a waste of energy.
Question:
How can I cut the amount of water I use?
Answer:
By following a few simple rules, you'll be amazed by how much you can reduce the amount of water you use without compromising your quality of life - it's all about not wasting it.
A running tap uses around 6 litres of water every minute -a family of four could make a saving of around 50 litres each day just by taking care not to leave the tap running while brushing their teeth.
Cutting just one minute off your shower time will cut down your water consumption by 5-10 litres - or as much as 20 litres if you have a power shower.
Question:
Why does condensation appear between the panes of my double glazed windows during the winter?
Answer:
Condensation on double glazed windows is caused by moisture between the glass layers.
When it is cold, the moisture condenses on the outer glass pane, very much like water beading up on the outside of a cold glass of water.
This is a sign that the seal between the two sheets of glass is beginning to fail.
.
Further information
If you have any questions or would like further information about energy efficiency please contact us on 0800 195 3172.