Seven ways to reduce your heating and electricity bills

Making ends meet is not easy. Your household bills never go down. They always go up and this is especially the case when it comes to your fuel bills. Fortunately, there are several ways you can reduce them. Below, is a roundup of the easiest ways to do it.

Change the type of light bulbs you use

Lighting consumes a surprising amount of power. You can only save so much by turning your lights off. But, you can switch to LED lighting and save. This is because this type of bulb consumes up to 85% less power. They are currently the most cost-efficient way to light your home. Now, I am not suggesting that you go out and buy new LED bulbs for every lighting fixture in your home. Simply replace each bulb as it goes.

Invest in a smart meter

If you have not already done so it is a good idea to get a smart meter. They are by far the easiest way to spot spikes in power consumption and work out what is causing them. Once you see how much power boiling a kettle consumes, you will soon stop boiling more water than you need.

Turn everything off at the plug

Leaving electrical items on standby consumes far more power than most people realize. You will be stunned by how much money you can save simply by turning everything off properly. A typical UK family will save £80 a year by doing this. For a family in the USA, the amount they save is around $100.

Sort out the draughts in your home

Most of us do not turn the heating on in rooms that we rarely use. We also use a thermostat to control the temperature in the various parts of our home. Yet, very few of us take the time to sort out the draughts. It only takes half an hour to go around your home on a windy day checking for them. Once you find one you just need to use some inexpensive draught exclusion tape to sort the issue out.

Hang some heavy curtains

A significant percentage of the heat you lose from your home leaves through your windows. So, it makes a lot of sense to install good quality curtains that can be drawn on cold days. You need to make sure that the curtains are wide enough to fully cover a few inches of the wall either side of each window. This makes a huge difference to how much hot air gets behind the curtains and escapes and it a great way of keeping your home warm on a budget.

Break the standby habit

When it comes to reducing your power bills, every little helps. For example, turning your electronics off completely instead of leaving them on standby can save the average household £80 a year.

Buy low consumption devices

Switching to low power consumption appliances can also save you a lot of money. If you need to replace an electrical appliance that you use a lot it makes sense to investigate the cost of replacing it with a more energy efficient version. Sometimes you can save a significant amount of money. For example, the UK consumer experts Which? found a freezer that cost only £30 a year to run. Yet, the most expensive freezer they tested cost £115 to do exactly the same job. You can read more about this study here.

Do you try to do any of the above to reduce your heating and electricity bills? Do share in a comment below.  Looking for money saving tips? Why not check out my money saving tips for Spring

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One comment

  1. These are all such great tips – really useful stuff! As it approaches winter, I’m always looking for ways to reduce my heating and electricity bills. LED lightbulbs are a brilliant investment and it’s definitely a good idea to start turning things off standy. Make sure you can a boiler service, too, that’s always a good thing to do to keep bills low.

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