Energy (and money) saving tips for the colder months

According to the Energy Saving Trust, the cost of living is at its highest for a decade, with household energy bills being the largest expense.

Even with the government freeze on energy bills, you may still find you’re paying more than you were previously, so it’s important to save money wherever possible.

Quick money saving tips

Here are some simple changes you can make to start saving money:

*The average kettle holds between 1.5 and 1.7 litres of water, while a cup of tea usually only needs between 150 and 250ml!

Invest now to save money later

While money may be tight, if you can make any of the changes below, you could start to see immediate savings on your energy bills.

Insulate your home

You could be losing heat through your roof, walls and floorboards, so making sure your home is insulated is one of the quickest ways to start saving money.

Energy Saving Trust estimates that just by installing cavity wall insulation, a detached home could save around £690 and 1200kg of carbon dioxide emissions a year.

Your household may be eligible for a government grant for free insulation. You can check the government website to find out more.

Invest in a new boiler

Most boilers installed after 2005 are condensing combi boilers and these are required to be at least 90% energy efficient. An old, non-condensing boiler may be less than 50% energy efficient.

If you live in a detached house and swap your G-rated boiler, with a less than 70% efficiency, you could save up to £840 a year on your energy bills, according to figures from Energy Saving Trust.

Even those living in flats will benefit; swapping from a G-rated boiler to an A-rated one, you can expect to save around £230 a year on your energy bill.

Home Emergency Assist work in partnership with Boiler Central, an online boiler business. You can get a quick quote today to find out how much you could save by swapping your boiler and get an extra £100 discount too when you use our discount code.

Upgrade to LED lighting

LED lights use up to 75% less energy than a traditional lightbulb and tend to last longer too. By replacing all the bulbs in your home, you could reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by around 40kg a year.

How much you can save depends on the bulbs you’re currently using, but swapping from 100 watt incandescent bulbs to LEDs will save you approximately £15 per bulb per year.

With lighting making up around 11% of the average UK household electricity consumption, it’s a good way to save money. If you don’t have one already, you can check to see if your energy provider is offering free smart meters. Getting one of these means you’ll be able to track how much power you’re using as you use it and how much it’s likely to cost you.

You can find many more tips and guides to saving money on your energy bills, buying energy efficient appliances and more at Energy Saving Trust.

Figures from: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/hub/quick-tips-to-save-energy/

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