Your energy bills are about to soar to £1,755 - these seven ingenious tricks by experts can cut that in half... and no you HAVEN'T read these all before
Millions of households will see their energy bills rise by £35 in October as the price cap set by the regulator Ofgem is hiked once again. It means households will typically pay £1,755 a year for their gas and electricity.
But there are simple, low-cost steps you can take around the home to fight back against the price rise – and even cut your utility bills in half.
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1. Light a candle
Save £140
Don’t worry. Things have not got quite that bad that you shouldn’t turn the lights on. But a candle can provide a great, cheap tool to help you cut energy bills by £140 a year, according to independent organisation the Energy Saving Trust.
Some 10 per cent of the heat from your home disappears through windows. To test where cold air is coming from light the candle and carefully move it around the area where you suspect there is a draught. If the flame flickers – or goes out – there is a good chance you have found the source and it needs sorting.
Spend £20 on sticky-backed rubber seals from a DIY store such as Wickes. If you have single-glazed windows, consider covering them with a plastic film that costs £6.50 a metre to create a similar effect to double glazing. It comes with sticky tape to fix the film to window frames. A £15 brush-insulation bar fitted on the inside of the letterbox also help cut out draughts.
A candle can provide a great, cheap tool to help you cut energy bills by £140 a year, according to independent organisation the Energy Saving Trust
2. Shove a pillow up the chimney
Save £60
You can save at least £60 a year by blocking an unused chimney to stop unnecessary draughts, according to the Energy Saving Trust.
There are variety of ways you can do this, but the most cost effective is picking up an old pillow at the back of the airing cupboard and sticking it up until the space is blocked.
Another alternative is to use untreated sheep fleece, which can be purchased from an online shop such as eBay for less than £20. You might also purchase a specialist made-to-measure item such as a £95 Chimella – which works like an umbrella and block up the chimney flue – or a £20 Chimney Balloon.
Energy Saving Trust says: ‘With an inflatable draught excluder, which will fit snugly inside your chimney, just make sure it has a small vent, so air can pass through. Or you might prefer a draught excluder made for the specific size of your chimney. Breathable materials like wool allow air to pass through while keeping the heat in.’
You can save at least £60 a year by blocking an unused chimney with a pillow to stop unnecessary draughts
3. Defrost the freezer
Save £70
When a freezer gets frosted up it has to work harder to stay cold – using more electricity. Manufacturers such as Candy suggest you should defrost once a year – a process that can take 24 hours. Freezer maker Beko suggests defrosting once a frost layer of a quarter of an inch has formed – as this can halve the efficiency of the machine. It means you could save £70 simply be defrosting a freezer that uses £140 a year of electricity.
You can save money by adapting how you use your fridge and freezer as well. Every time you open the refrigerator door, up to 30 per cent of the cold air can escape. The fridge then has to work to cool down again to its optimum temperature, which uses energy and costs you money. Avoid standing in front of the open fridge while deciding what to have for dinner.
When a freezer gets frosted up it has to work harder to stay cold – using more electricity. Manufacturers such as Candy suggest you should defrost once a year
Defrosting food in advance can also halve cooking time – also saving your money on the energy bill. If you know what you’ll be having for dinner the next day, it can’t hurt to just take it out a few hours early and pop it in the fridge.
4. Unplug the energy vampires
Save £150
You can save about £150 a year by switching off devices left on standby – known as ‘energy vampires’, says energy supplier British Gas. Marc Robson, energy expert at British Gas, says: ‘At night, or when not in use, try switching off devices at the mains rather than switching to standby as even a standby light on a television uses energy. Try not to over-charge your mobile phone and laptop unnecessarily. As soon as they are charged, try and get into a habit of unplugging them.’
TVs are one of the biggest energy users, costing about £25 a year when left on standby. TV set top boxes and computer modems can cost £20 each a year, while microwaves can eat up about £15 in standby energy and computers and games consoles more than £10 each.
You can save about £150 a year by switching off devices left on standby – known as ‘energy vampires’, says energy supplier British Gas
A mobile charger might use less than £2 in energy when left plugged in and not being used – but several around the home soon add up.
5. Don't pack down loft insulation
Save £200
An uninsulated home can lose 25 per cent of its heat through the roof, says the Energy Saving Trust. It recommends insulating your attic roof space with 10 inch-thick insulation. Consumer group Which? says this can save a semi-detached home £200 a year in bills.
But Mike Edwards, co-founder of website DIY Doctor says: ‘There is a misguided conception that a loft packed with insulation keeps bills down, when the opposite could be true. The roof space should be cool and draughty. Otherwise, hot air hitting the cold roof creates condensation that rots wooden joists and insulation gets damp.’
Mike adds: ‘Do not tightly pack the insulation down. If under attic boards there should also be a 50mm air space between it and boards. Also leave a 25mm – 1 inch - gap between the insulation and the eaves, which is the part of the roof that overhangs the wall of a house.
Despite the savings you should budget at least £40 for a six-metre – 20 ft – roll. This means it could take five years to pay for a £1,000 investment in loft insulation.
6. Get out of the bath
Save £120
The amount of energy required to run an 80-litre bath can be more than three times more than the cost of a shower – and cost you at least 80p a dip, according to the comparison website Uswitch.
If two baths a week over a year total £160 then swapping baths for showers four times a week could knock at least £50 off your energy bill.
According to the Energy Saving Trust, by investing £20 in a water efficient shower head – that aerates the flow so that you still feel the pressure of a full shower, but less water comes out – you could knock a further £25 a year off your energy bill. It says cutting shower times from a typical eight minutes to four can also save £45 a year.
By investing £20 in a water efficient shower head, you could knock a further £25 a year off your energy bill
7. Bleed the radiators
Save £100
This is a good time of year to check the heating system is working – before you need to use it when the cold winter nights draw in. Dom Roque, managing director of Dom’s Heating and Plumbing, recommends checking on your heating system to make sure it is in good shape before having to call out a plumber.
He says: ‘If your radiator is not warming up properly and it is warm at the bottom and cold at the top then perhaps it needs bleeding. Air in radiators can also cause rust, so bleeding them every year is also a good habit that you can do yourself.’
To bleed a radiator you should look at the top of the unit for a small valve with a square-shaped tap on one of the ends that can be tightened or loosened with a radiator key. These can be bought for around £2 from a hardware store.
To open it turn the radiator anti-clockwise until there is a hiss – signalling air is escaping – or a trickle of water is seen than can be collected in a jug held just below the valve. Put a cloth on the floor to ensure it does not get damaged by any water spillage. Once water is flowing you turn the value clockwise until it stops – and is closed.
Inefficient radiators affect how well they heat a room so if there is trapped air you are wasting money. A radiator with trapped air can work at 50 pc efficiency, according to Roque, and if you have several not working this could cost £100 a year in lost heat. Do not bleed radiators when heating is on but turn it off and wait an hour to let it cool.
For guidance on bleeding radiators there are plenty of video clips on website such as YouTube you can view.
