Electricity is expensive, so you need to find ways to cut back! Cooking is a big portion of usage, so if you use your oven a lot, bake or roast a few things at once and put some of the meals in your fridge or freezer. This ties in nicely with keeping your fridge and freezer well-stocked, as this means these appliances don’t have to work so hard.
You can also use your oven to heat your kitchen. After cooking, leave the oven door open for a bit, as it’ll give out enough heat to warm the room up. Little steps like this means you’ll always have a few quid spare so you don’t have to turn to the likes of wonga.com when you get an unexpected bill!
Make sure you’re using the right size hob ring for the right size of pan. If you’re using a small pan, use a small ring. This also applies to gas hobs.
Around 90 per cent of the energy used by a washing machine goes into heating the water, so wash at 30°C. For loads like towels or bedding, wash at 60°C, but make sure it’s a full load.
Once your laundry is out of the machine, hang it outside to dry, or on an airer, rather than putting it in the tumble dryer. If you do use a dryer, take clothes out before they’re completely dry, as they’ll be easier to iron.
How many plug sockets have chargers permanently stuck in them? If an unused charger feels warm, it’s using energy, so pull it out! Standby is also a big waste, so try not to leave appliances napping.
See if you can get free or subsidized solar panels. If you buy your own panels, you’ll spend about £7,000, but over 20 years you’ll make at least £12,000. If you sell your energy back to the grid, you could make a tidy profit each year to spend on luxuries rather than give into the temptation of a Wonga.com payday loan.
You may be eligible for an energy-saving grant to help with the cost of energy-saving home improvements like loft insulation.
Make sure you’re getting the best deal on your electricity. There are lots of switching sites to help you find the cheapest provider in your area. It takes a few minutes, and could save you £500 a year.
Low-energy bulbs aren’t as dim as they used to be, and you can get LED spotlights that are as bright as halogen bulbs or old-fashioned bulbs. You can get these lights in lots of fittings, sizes and wattage. If an average household replaced its old bulbs with LEDs or compact fluorescent lamps, this would involve an initial outlay of £110, but would save £60 a year.
Initial outlay is important when you’re buying a new appliance, but you should overlook this if it’s an energy-efficient device. That tumble dryer might be cheap, but it might also cost you £130 a year to run, whereas the more expensive model costs just £40.
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