EASY ENERGY-SAVING HACKS TO SAVE MONEY ON BILLS AFTER OFGEM PRICE CAP UPDATE

We’ve all become more energy-aware in the past few years.

While the Ofgem energy price cap is lower from July, prices are still high at a time the cost of living is affecting many of us. So, the MoneyMagpie team have put together their favourite energy saving hacks to help reduce your bills.

How much could you save?

A few small changes around the home could save you almost £300 a year according to a recent survey by Smart Energy GB. Some small home improvements can have a huge impact on your energy bills as penny-per-hour savings add up over each day, week, and month to help you save on your annual electricity and gas bills every year.

Summer cooling hacks

First of all, as we hope to hit a heatwave or two this summer, let’s think about keeping cool on a budget. A desktop fan costs around 11 pence per hour to run, so can be cost effective. But there are other ways to stay cool!

Traditional handheld fans never run out of battery or use energy, and can be kept in a pocket or bag with ease. If you’re at home, dunking your feet in a cool bowl of water is one of the quickest ways to cool down, as is putting a damp flannel on the back of your neck.

Do you need to wash that?

As you make the most of air drying in summer to reduce your tumble dryer use (they’re energy vampire appliances!), it’s a good time to consider how much you’re washing, too. Limit your washes if you can, and always run a full load.

Even reducing from four to three laundry loads a week could save you around £30 during the year, according to the Energy Saving Trust. Some items don’t need washing every time you wear them. Bras, for example, last a lot longer if you wash them every two or three wears. Jeans are similar.

Reduce the temperature

This applies to lots of things around the home. While we’re on the subject of washing, reducing your laundry by ten degrees for each wash will quickly save you a lot of pennies on the energy bill.

The same goes for your shower and hot water. Do you really need a scalding hot bath? Lowering the temperature of your boiler reduces the amount of energy it uses.

In winter, knocking a few degrees off your thermostat can also help keep energy bills low. Stick on an extra jumper, some thick socks, and take a hot water bottle to bed. If you’re still cold, put the heating up – but take on heat-saving measures first.

Minimise draughts

While we’re talking about reducing the thermostat, one of the fastest ways to keep your home warm in winter (and cooler in summer) is to eliminate draughts. Cracks around windows and doors let cold air in, making you feel chilly. Draught tape is cheap and easy to use, sealing off the spaces around door frames to minimise the chilly spots in your home.

In a similar vein, putting up thermal lined curtains can significantly improve the heat retention in a room. But did you know that installing PVC thermal liners (or, cheat mode: plastic shower curtains) can also reduce the heat in summer? Keeping thermal curtains closed in the day in summer reduces room temperature, which means you might not need to use that desk fan either.

Try a smart meter

One of the easiest ways to track your energy usage is with a smart meter. Putting the display where you can see it gives you greater visibility of your energy usage meaning you can adjust your habits accordingly which could help you save money in the long run. If you don’t have one installed yet, remember you can request one at no extra cost from your energy supplier.

Go off-peak

While it’s not possible to operate solely on off-peak tariffs, they can save you a lot of money every month if you’re savvy about it. If you have a water tank that needs heating for hot water, set it to heat during off-peak hours (usually between 12 midnight and 6am).

An electric immersion heater uses around three kWh, and at today’s average price of 24.5pence per kWh, that’s 73.5pence each time you heat the tank. However, heating off peak at an average rate of 12pence per kWh would cost 36 pence. That’s a daily saving of 37.5 pence a day, or £11 a month. Just by changing the time you heat the water!

Make the most of battery power

Another off-peak bonus is if you charge your appliances during the night, too. Use a timer switch on the wall plug to set the hours it should operate, and you’ll save a lot of cash over the course of each month.

Charge your laptop, tablet, Roomba, phone… any rechargeable device. It’s also handy to charge a powerpack or two sometimes, to make the most of the extra battery power during the day.

2024-07-02T11:42:22Z dg43tfdfdgfd