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first thing to do is check whether you are on the best
gas/electric tariff for you. Click on my utilities tab and
go through and receive a free quote.
Back to Utilities Page.
It would make me
happy to know that you are not going to be like thousands
of other people and don't bother to check. At least going
through the free quote you will know. You may, of course,
already be on the cheapest - but wouldn't it be great to
know this for sure?
Cutting back on our gas/electric
How do we do this?
- To cut your heating bills by up to 10 per cent and
save you roughly about £40 in a year, turn your thermostat down by 1ºC.
- Check that your cylinder thermostat is set no higher
than 60ºC/140ºF. If your water is too hot you are
paying more and using more energy.
- When it starts to get dusk outside, close your
curtains and this will stop any heat you have escaping
out your windows.
- Try to remember to turn lights off when you leave a room.
- When appliances are on standby they use more energy
and costs you more money, so remember to turn these
off at the wall and when you're recharging make sure
you don't leave it on charge longer than necessary.
- It's best to use your washing machine when you have
a full load, but If you're not filling it up then try
and use the half-load or economy
programme.
- Watch how much water you put into your kettle. If
it's only you who wants a drink only boil enough for
you and not fill up the kettle. But remember to cover
the elements if you're using an electric kettle.
- Make sure any leaking taps are fixed, this wastes
energy and in one
week wastes enough hot water to fill half a bath.
- If you haven't already, replace your light bulbs with energy saving
recommended light bulbs, these can reduce your lighting
costs by up to £100 over the lifetime of the bulb -
and they last up to 12 times longer than ordinary
light bulbs.
These tips below are further energy saving measures
which could help you shave
up to £300 off your energy bill each year and enable you to
reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by two tonnes.
1. Insulating your loft
This you can quite easily do yourself or a neighbour
perhaps. It's one of the most important and simplest ways to save
energy. Insulating your loft is not expensive and a
standard 270mm layer could save as much as £180 to £220
a year on fuel bills.
2. Installing cavity wall insulation
If you insulate your walls this can be the most cost-effective way to save energy in the home - it
could save £130 to £160 on your annual heating bills!
Around 33% of heat is lost in a home without insulated
walls. To keep your home warm in winter install cavity wall insulation.
It is straightforward and inexpensive. If every
household in the UK, that could, installed cavity wall
insulation, together we'd save over £962 million of
energy every year!
3. Upgrade your boiler
How old is your boiler? If it's older than 15 years then
it's probably time to
replace it. New boilers now have to be, by law, of the
high-efficiency condensing type. These will help you save up
to a third on your heating bills.
4. Buy Energy Saving Recommended
appliances
If you are going to replace your washing machine
or fridge, look for
ones displaying the Energy Saving Recommended logo. Energy
saving appliances use less energy and could save you up to
£45 a year.
5. Wash your laundry at 30oC
It is recommended that we wash our clothes at 30oC rather than normal
temperatures which means we could use 40% less electricity.
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