Money

Nine (free) ways to save money on your energy bills

Published

2 days ago

September 17, 2024

Nine (free) ways to save money on your energy bills

Your gas costs you 8p per kWh, and 29p a day. Electricity costs 30p per kWH, and 53p per day.

Following an announcement by the energy regulator Ofgem, the unit rates for gas and electricity will fall to 6.89p and 27.35p per kWh respectively. And their requisite standing charges will remain the same.

As for which tips and tricks can actually save you serious cash, Telegraph Money crunches the numbers.

Adjust your boiler settings

Understandably, many people are a little cautious when it comes to tinkering with their boilers, but lowering the boiler flow temperature to 60C on a combi boiler could save you £100 a year.

Advice published by the Government says: “Reducing flow temperature isn’t the same as lowering your thermostat and won’t noticeably reduce the temperature of your home, but may increase the time it takes to reach the target temperature on your thermostat.”

However, for those over 65 or with pre-existing health conditions, it is advised to set a slightly higher boiler flow temperature of 65C to ensure your home heats up quickly enough.

Reduce your shower time

Whether you have an electric shower, or one using gas-heated water, they will cost roughly the same: 22p for every five minutes under the January price cap, or £1.52 a week, assuming one shower a day. This doubles to £3.04 for 10-minute showers. A family of four doing this would rack up £12.16 a week on showers alone.

Clearly, this bill can be easily cut if you simply reduce time spent in the shower. You can also cut costs by taking the opportunity to shower at work, or at the gym where possible.

Children taking long showers can be a difficult issue to address, but life insurance comparison site Reassured suggests: “Make sure to not put too much pressure on your kids. Maybe you can make it into a game, who can beat the quickest shower record in your family?”

Consider when to put the heating on

Experts advise you should start putting the heating on once temperatures dip below 15C. If you are the sort of household that turns on the heating for half the year and off for the other, the best dates to make the switch are typically when the clocks go back and forward.

Clocks go forward on the last Sunday in March – which in 2024 is the 31st – making it the ideal time to stop using heating. The last Sunday in October (the 27th) when the clocks go back, is as good an opportunity as any to turn it back on again.

Homes are typically colder in the mornings and evenings, so setting your heating on a timer to turn on an hour before you wake up and within the hour you arrive home is a reasonable timetable. Working from home, inevitably, will also use up more power if you are using heating or electricity all day.

To save money on bills, it is recommended not to use heating at night, or when you are not at home – but if you are going away for several days when it is very cold it is a good idea to put your heating on a timer to prevent pipes freezing up.

Get smart with radiator settings

You might be tempted to turn off radiators in rooms you are not using to save energy, but it turns out that your boiler will have to work harder to increase the temperature when you turn them back on, meaning you will not save money.

Instead, it is best to keep radiator thermostats at a low setting, at between 2.5 and 3 (roughly 18C). Charity Citizens Advice estimates that turning the heating down by even 1C can save up to 10pc on a household’s energy bill.

Slay ‘vampire’ appliances

Some electrical appliances quietly suck up energy even when left in standby mode. For most appliances, the amount wasted amounts to pennies, but these costs can add up to substantial bills over time. Turning unused appliances off at the plug could save £70 a year, the Government says.

Ethereum is still home to the most active crypto developers and is the most attractive chain to build applications on top of for big companies, argues Bitwise’s Matt Hougan.

Source link